Arsenal OUTS 2023 😞 : Page 15 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Arsenal OUTS 2023 😞

QuincyAbeyie

He should leave for obvious reasons, but we needed to strengthen the squad. Rice in addition to Partey is great, Rice to replace him is a sideways move. And we're letting Xhaka go as well.

goon

Guess that answers where Rice will play, at least some of the time if not all the time.

I suspect this might just be pragmatism. The club probably doesn’t want to renew his contract while this represents the last chance of selling while he’s still rated highly.

QuincyAbeyie

goon wonder who we might be targeting as the 8 though? I can't remember any credible links, and it seems like Havertz is intended to play in the front line.

JazzG

Clrnc I think if the case wasn't looking good there would be no chance we could even sell him. I wonder if the player himself wants to leave? Also I remember reading that mid July is when we will hear about his case.

Gazza M Not ideal to have such a major change in the middle but as long as we bring in quality replacements we will be alright. We have a good system and good players should be able to slot in.

DiabyKungFu

QuincyAbeyie

As the guy who gave you all the exclusive news that we're not paying £90m+ for Declan Rice in order to play him as an attacking midfielder, let me be the first to tell you that we're not giving Kai Havertz Saka-level wages in order for him to be a utility player. He may very well get outcompeted by Vieira and/or Smith-Rowe, but I'm sure the plan is for him to play the left attacking midfield position.

QuincyAbeyie

Literally nobody would've played Rice as an attacking midfielder. But if Partey stays and we don't sign anyone other than Havertz for the 8, I can definitely see Rice playing CM.

HomeSteak

In the end our options in the middle of the park will be worse then last season

RocktheCasbah

HomeSteak I don't think that's true at all, but let's see.

Qwiss

HomeSteak I don't think Arteta will let that happen. If Partey and Xhaka are going we need more than just Rice and Havertz. Arteta wont want to go into next season without another strong addition in midfield.

Don Pacifico

RocktheCasbah agree. Worth remembering that Partey has had just one season where he was (a) consistently fit and (b) consistently good. I personally think that for all his highlights, he's been a bit of a disappointment (and that's only taking into account his on-field performance); now I know that's partly down to his midfield partner putting additional strain on what he's responsible for but overall, I can't shake the fact that I expected more from him.

If we re-structure our midfield (as it looks like we are doing), I think it could make us more robust and hopefully mean that our performances aren't as reliant on one player performing exceptionally every game.

DiabyKungFu

I reckon Rice will be about 90-95% as good as Partey on a per-minute basis and should be capable of absorbing about two times as many minutes per season which would make him an overall more valuable player than Partey. I don't really believe in Havertz at all, but I also don't think improving on Xhaka would be some gargantuan task. You would think that one of Havertz, Vieira and Smith-Rowe has a good chance of distinguishing themselves over the course of the season. I could see this working out to maybe being a 7/10 transfer window potentially if things go well.

JazzG

DiabyKungFu I think defensively he'll be superior to Partey, will cover far more ground and more disciplined. Partey clearly the better passer of the ball but I do wonder in a better side with more options how good Rice's passing would be.

The more I think about this I think the club might think we have a chance of signing Gundogan.

lorddulaarsenal

Interest in Partey from Saudi

Shame things didn’t work out. He’s an elite player, but if we can get dense Vaseline money for him let’s do it

Qwiss

lorddulaarsenal Interest in Partey from Saudi

Hopefully we get Klaus back

Gurgen

Pepe LeFrits He’ll fit right in with their idea of women’s rights, perfect place for him

lorddulaarsenal

Yeah hope big Klaus is keeping well.

goon

My concern isn't really whether we'll be strong or weaker or about numbers, but for me this window was about building on the foundations of what we built last season and apply finishing touches. Taking Partey out goes well beyond that, it's a big structural change. Until you see how it pans out on the pitch, it feels uncomfortable.

Gurgen

goon We already saw it last season. It went fine in general.

JazzG

goon What was really telling for me is the last few games when Arteta dropped Partey, clearly was not happy with his performances. Last 5 games I think it was.

Gazza M

goon pretty much this. we're not a team that should be doing a root and stem rebuild of midfield at this stage. unless there's legitimate external or internal pressures we're not privy too, it seems as though we're giving ourselves more work to do than necessary

Tam

We are very reliant on Partey, his absence affects how the team functions. Similar to Zinchenko and Saliba.

From a footballing perspective it would be preferable to keep him around whilst the team grows and smooth the transition but I'd like to see him gone for the off field issues. I'm taking the view that it would be best to replace him in a team still finding it's way, rather than keeping him around and having to learn how to play without him once the team is much more developed.

There are good footballing reasons to replace him too. He's far from the most reliable form and fitness wise, and you'd expect the increasing demands both in terms of expectations and numbers of games, will take their toll on players like him.

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