Summer 24: Page 63 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Summer 24

Burnwinter

Claudius one of the great failures of all football regulation is that it focuses on profit and loss, and not cash flow.

Yes, there are a multitude of loopholes but PSR is precisely that: a three-window cap on reported losses.

There is a degree of regulation around player fees and wages, so latitude on this kind of reporting relies on compliance from other clubs or from parties outside the system. Two examples: the fraudulent deals we saw on young players earlier in the window, and the mysteriously high fees paid by Saudi interests for certain players.

In Boehly's case what you notice is that the outlets all report "Chelsea are confident of meeting their PSR commitments" although it will be a challenge for them to do so. My guess is Chelsea's bean counters will have taken the view that the benefits of hoarding all these players will outweigh the penalty they receive.

If there is an easy route Arsenal can take to circumvent PSR requirements, what would it be?

Burnwinter

Burnwinter There is a degree of regulation around player fees and wages

Speaking of, perhaps someone can confirm this … but doesn't transfer paperwork including fees and player contracts have to be registered transparently with the league?

Clrnc

Don Pacifico nope. Was never in doubt.

Bernard Woolley

Claudius It's the same thing Claude. Whether we get a loan from bankers or from the seller is all one and the same. For instance, a 40M payment over 5 years is effectively the same as a 30M payment now paid by a 5-year loan @ 8% p.a. interest (approximately). So, negotiating payment terms with your counterparty is no different economically from negotiating a bank loan.

Qwiss

Pepe LeFrits that seems like a load of old triple really. Don't think we'll be in for any of them. And if we were we'd probably have signed them by now, all easily gettable.

samthegooner

Going back to improving the attack, the issue that I see now is that there is a small group of wingers that would actually improve us. I went through basically every top class winger in the big leagues and put together a list of those names that I think would actually improve us.

Vinicius Jr (clearly going nowhere - not an option)
Musiala (not going anywhere this summer - also would cost 150m+)
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (no rumors about him at all this summer - he would be ideal but will clearly cost a ton)
Rafael Leao (going to cost at least 100m to pry from Milan)
Rodrygo (another one that is likely never leaving Madrid)
Nico Williams (we tried and he doesn't want to leave Bilbao now)
Xavi Simons (extended his loan at Leipzig since PSG didn't want to sell outright)
Bradley Barcola (this one is a bit of a leap since he hasn't shown it yet but PSG is also very unlikely to sell since they just got him last year)
Mohamed Kudus (should have gone in for him last summer but now he would cost a ton and West Ham unlikely to sell their best player to us twice in two summers)

There are other options out there that I think are marginal gains or could potentially be improvements like Eze, Kubo, Adeyimi, Openda, Gordon, Bakayoko and Mathys Tel but all of them will cost quite a bit and could block us from going for someone from the top group next summer. This is the issue that I think we are dealing with this summer- its not due to a lack of action from Edu/Arteta but rather, the targets that would move the needle are either already at big clubs, will be extremely expensive, or have decided their immediate future already this summer (Simons, Nico). I'd consider going for someone in that second group in the right conditions or a proven winger on loan (Sane, Gnabry, Raphinha) but if either of those don't work out, I'd much rather wait until next summer and take a run at a top winger (Nico, Kvara, Rodrygo) and a top striker (Isak, Sesko).

Big Willie

samthegooner This is the issue that I think we are dealing with this summer- its not due to a lack of action from Edu/Arteta but rather, the targets that would move the needle are either already at big clubs, will be extremely expensive, or have decided their immediate future already this summer

Well, that's always going to be the case, isn't it? The best attacking players usually cost more than top midfielders and defenders, and that's well known. We paid £105m for Rice in midfield, so spending a similar amount on a quality attacking player shouldn't be too much if we're serious about strengthening that area and not just looking for marginal gains. Aside from Vinicius (who obviously isn't available for even £200m) and Williams, who seems intent on staying in Spain, I don't think offering over +100m for any of the other targets would be outright rejected by their clubs. Why would we be any more able to make a run for Kvara, Williams, Rodrygo and/or Leao next season than we did this season if we can afford it and are clearly intent on making it happen?

The real issue here is that we don't have much money left to play with this summer because we've already spent 60-70m on Raya and Calafiori, plus another 30-40m on Merino, without seriously pursuing anyone from that list. You could even expand that list to include center forwards, and we'd see even more names who could be available with bids of +100m. If we're aiming for WC players and/or those with WC potential but only want to spend less than we did on Havertz, we'll always be in a position where we say we should save our resources for next summer, because either no one is available who can substantially improve us, or if they are, they're not available at a price we're willing to pay. Meanwhile we will continue to strengthen the GK and defensive positions.

lorddulaarsenal

Anthony Gordon would be a good addition

RowJimmy

lorddulaarsenal
If we're doing business with Newcastle it has to be for Isak or Guimaraes.

Clrnc

Prefer Eze if we are going down that route. More dynamic.

samthegooner

Eze would be my choice too. I still want more pace there but his ability 1v1 would be a nice offset to Saka doing the same things on the right. I’d be interested in Sane or Coman on loan but not if we had to pay a transfer fee. Gordon is also a good option but I agree that if we want to do business with Newcastle, it needs to be for Isak or Bruno.

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Big Willie

Very well said mate

goon

Big Willie

Feels like you're projecting here a little. Stories suggested we were after Sesko and 'liked' Williams, but both decided to stay. No indication that money was a problem.

Claudius

goon it’s carry different when your team is 8th or 5th and you’re trying to improve it, versus when it’s 2nd. Your defrees if freedom narrow significantly

Clrnc

goon If we signed Sesko, we might not have signed Calafiori and Merino. We probably only pursued them after Sesko rejected us and we have cash to spare. Otherwise it wouldn't have made sense to wait for Calafiori stock to rise in Euros then go for him, since apparently we have been on his case for year.

Big Willie

goon Feels like you're projecting here a little. Stories suggested we were after Sesko and 'liked' Williams, but both decided to stay. No indication that money was a problem.

Not really projecting at all tbh. There was a list of players who may be pretty much the few at a level that can really improve us that this seaon. And apparently they were all either unavailable or would cost upwards of 100m so we're better off saving our money to go get them next season. What would change between this summer and next to get these players? Will the players who wouldn't come to us this season choose to come to us next? Would we start bidding +100m for some of the others next season when we wouldn't do it this season.

The problem is either a lack of money or a lack of desire to actually go all out and spend whatever it takes to get the players here. There were 9 or 10 players in that post, maybe 2 or 3 chose to stay where they are, maybe a couple others are at clubs that won't sell even for 500m, but for the rest we could bring their clubs to the negotiating table with Rice level bids. If we have that kind of money that can spend those amounts that is. If not, it's not like we'll be able do so next year anyways unless we win big or sell big between now and then.