He was supposed to be hot shit even before this season, no? Sign and then loan if we sign him at all, probably.

6 days later

Shame we're down three right backs (Tomiyasu, Timber, Partey). Sami Mokbel and a few others suggest we'll be on the lookout for yet another defender.

Super onboard with this. Classy player with stature. Will fit in nicely with our collection of Skilled Goons

This the same guy who was playing for Coventry last season?

He must have come on quite a bit since then to be linked with us.

Need reinforcements in the attack.

Nketiah isn’t up to the task, and in the attacking mid areas Smith Rowe and Vieira don’t appear to be cut out for it physically.

Let’s get Ivan Toney. Can’t deal with Nketiah anymore.

    Paulinha to allow Rice to rest or play In the Xhaka role.

    A striker who gives us a different style up top to Jesus

    An attacking midfielder who can give Havertz and Odegaard some serious competition

    A fullback to replace the crock and the flake, a keeper to replace tweedle dee and tweedle dum, a real live actual striker who actually really strikes, someone to fuck Jorginho off forever, a winger who uses his eyes to pass, and a midfielder taller than an oompa loompa who can sprint without his entire body rupturing.

    Win the CL, who cares about the league. It's broken.

      Gurgen Really? Haven't seen him much, just saw that he's mostly an impact sub for Leipzig.

        Gurgen Haha he's amazing in my FM as well. Basically Slovenia's Haaland

          lorddulaarsenal I'm still with you here. He'd be a great option to have and makes those runs we need to get on the other end of hopeful balls in the box. I'd want to make sure he wants to be here though.

            lorddulaarsenal I’d be tempted by Vlahovic

            Still so easy to visualise how Vlahovic's highlights reel would fit nicely into the way we play. He's big, quick, good on the ball and can hold off a player and win duels as well. Ever so slightly worrying what his motivation might be if we scoop him up after this spell enduring corruption and low morale in Italy ... we need to avoid nihilists in this squad ...

              I'm so unimpressed with the striker market. Osimhen, Vlahovic, Boniface, Toney...I'm not convinced by any of them. We need a truly world class goal scorer if we want to win the biggest competitions. Do we have to be looking at LFW instead?

              • Doc likes this.

              Intriguing what will happen in the Jan tran. Can see us not moving for anyone.

                lorddulaarsenal wouldn't surprise me, either. The trouble is, we need someone if we're going to push on. We've neglected the attack too long. Trossard is seen as a great buy, but he is the quintessential squadie. We need a real contender.

                  Just watched a Toney highlights vid to remind me of his style. He’s such an all rounder - kind of Kane-seque. Wouldn’t be against it

                    Keep seeing links about Kiwior going on loan to Milan. Surely we wouldn't even consider that under current circumstances so the only conclusion I can come to is that his agent is trying to put pressure on us to give him more game time? Realistically, think he'll get a lot of minutes over the next couple of months.

                      Can't imagine him being happy playing at LB too. Looks awful again against PSV being toyed by Bakoyoko. He lacks the agility to be a fullback, reminds me of Xhaka playing there.

                        lorddulaarsenal He was phenomenal for large stretches last year and looked like he was a top 3-4 striker in the league heading into the World Cup and then the gambling stories surfaced. I remember being completely stunned he didn't make the WC roster for England but then that story made all the sense.

                        For me, its all dependent on the deal. For the rumored 70-80m pounds that they have said is his price, I'd pass since I'd prefer someone younger and more in line with our project (Osimhen, Ferguson, Boniface, Vlahovic). But if we could somehow finagle a loan or a better deal, it's a no brainer to me. His passing is incredibly underrated - he's the closest thing to Kane we have seen as a striker in that regard. Add that to his strength and hold up play and I think he would fit perfectly with Saka/Martinelli/Jesus, while giving us the goals/presence at the top of our attack that we currently don't have.

                          KingslandBarge There were reports earlier in July that a 5 million pound move was in the works. Not sure how genuine, but rumour has popped up again after the PSV match earlier this week.
                          https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/39111413/villarreal-interested-arsenal-defender-cedric-sources
                          Again, another reason it was important to shopwindow certain peripheral senior players in a low-stakes match broadcasted widely with the Winter transfer window coming up. Lad's on 100k a week. Desperately need someone to take him.

                            Dunno how reliable to this guy is.

                            Option would be great. Not keen on obligation since I think it will stop us from going for the highest quality.

                            If we're really after Toney, hopefully Brentford pick up a decent points haul over the next month so that they're sitting nicely mid-table when the window is open.

                            Personally I would only consider this as a obligation, I like our policy of signing big money players under 25.

                            Toney is a good player but don't think he is someone who transforms our frontline.

                            Could hardly complain if we signed Toney on loan for the rest of the season, it would be a ridiculously convenient deal, and forgive the fact he's not an ideal recruit.

                            He’s an excellent player and strikes me as the type that would improve here too

                            Why would they give us Toney with no obligation? Not a deal that makes any sense for Brentford.