Claudius there's a lot of grass is always greener thinking about Martinelli. If he was at any other club we'd all be dying to sign him. He's younger than Mudryk and has done way more in his career. I'd back him to have a better career too.

MistaT I think this is right and it's best for Nuno too. He's a talent but he's not going to do anything resembling what Zinchenko's doing. Surely that's why we're so hotly linked to Kiwior: we're looking for screening, positioning and press-beating qualities on each side, not freakishly athletic wingbacks.

Burnwinter
I think Kiwior is actually an alternate lineup player. He looks more like White than Zinchenko. Kiwior would be paired with Fresneda who plays more like Zinchenko and drives into midfield.

So we can flip the squad basically. These moves leave one clear that Tierney is done. Maybe Tomi goes to Saliba backup/utility. And then Holding also leaves.

CPM Tough to be so ruthless with an academy product but if he really attracts a £50m offer then it's the best thing for the club (and the player).

My view on this, is that every player has their price. Everyone speaks about Arsenal becoming a better selling club, but they're not willing to see players go when they're perhaps playing their best football. I can think of perhaps two or three instances where we've done this, and they're all players that came through the youth system (Willock, Martinez and Iwobi). We should've sold Maitland Niles in similar circumstances, but failed to do so (im not aftertiming here, we should've bitten Wolves' hands off).

Liverpool, a few seasons ago, were brilliant at maximising their assets. Harry WIlson, Rhian Brewster, Ryan Kent, Danny Ward, Dominic Solanke, Jordan Ibe...all went for ridiculous fees and have gone on to do next to nothing. They even sold players at the peak of their careers (Coutinho, Suarez) and trusted their scouting and recruitment, to build a squad capable of winning everything in Europe.

I don't think anyone on here is doubting Smith Rowe's ability (from what i've read anyway, and some seem to be over-reacting to this part), but we're yet to see him performing in this Arsenal side that's on a steep upwards trajectory in terms of where it's heading. He deserves every opportunity to regain his match fitness and play his way back into the side. What I do think some are perhaps under-estimating, is how difficult that will be for him, especially given how much Mikel seems to trust his starting XI. This is where my concern lies. The hope is, we continue blowing sides away early enough for him to get minutes again, and he recaptures that form. If that doesn't happen, and a side are willing to pay what you could consider a fair price, then I think Arsenal should listen to those offers and trust their recruitment process, which has almost been perfect these past 18 months.

James but we're yet to see him performing in this Arsenal side that's on a steep upwards trajectory in terms of where it's heading.

He's performed plenty, surely? From Dec 2021 to Dec 2022 he was among this teams best performers and a proven goal scorer to boot. Admittedly the last 12 months have been a different story but we know why.

As for how he breaks in, are we putting the same pressure on Vieira? Would we have been advocating the sale of Eddie under the same criteria? We're past the point where it's easy for anyone to break into the team especially in a season where Arteta will be eager to limit changes. But there's a clear pathway into it, Xhaka is not getting younger and ultimately as good as he's been it's clearly one of the few positions in the side that could potentially take us to another level.

Ultimately it may turn out that for whatever reason it doesn't work out for him. But when you're talking about that level of talent, I'd rather lose out on £20m by waiting too long than see us do a Chelsea and 'cash in' on a KDB or Salah.

RowJimmy I agree that everyone has a price. If someone offered 100M for ESR, then sure. What I don't think, right now, is that we get a better replacement for 50M. Particularly taking into account the real value to club culture of promoting from within.

I never said £50m was a decent price for him haha. But also, other clubs have shown there's talent available for less than that (see Napoli).

goon Admittedly the last 12 months have been a different story but we know why.

But this is my point, how much time do you afford him to do so? Arsenal and Mikel aren't going to sit around forever and wait for him to recapture that form. Yes, there's potential openings for him in the side with Xhaka etc. but equally, has he played in that 8 position for Arsenal? How do we know he'll be as effective there. True, you have to play him there to find out, but there's no guarantees on skillset alone.

As for Nketiah, he almost has to be the player for Smith Rowe to aspire to be now. Seems ridiculous, but it's almost a reset of his Arsenal career in some aspects, and he is going to have to put himself in a position, like Eddie, where he's undroppable. Martinelli did similar at the end of last season when Smith Rowe was clearly unfit.

Arsenal can't afford to make the mistakes Chelsea have made really. We can't write off £1bn of loans, so we have to become a better selling club.