Summer 24: Page 39 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Summer 24

flobaba

We would likely not plan to resolve all our issues via the transfer window. Tactical reshuffles and internal promotions will also a part of our strategy. Nothing wrong with our left wing if Merino (or whoever our midfield signing will be) can bring the balance and help form a strong left side "pod". A striker of the sort of quality needed to elevate us significantly is a nice to have, not a must have based on the number of goals we scored last season. Sometimes it's more profitable to lean into your strengths than to put in much more effort (funds which we may not have) to improve your weaknesses. We were two points off the champions last year, and had the best defensive record in the league. Our main signing (Calafiori) and the player we are linked to (MM) look like they will tighten up the ship defensively even further and give us the ability to control games better. Martinelli is fit, Gabby J is fit.

I think we are ready, or very close.

GooneriC

Still need a striker. Can't see Jesus giving us the goals we need

flobaba

City scored 96 goals in the league last season with Haaland the best striker in the league/world. We scored 91 goals, with Jesus mostly injured and Martinelli out of form/injured as well.

If I owned Arsenal it would be hard to convince me to splurge on an attacking signing right now. I'd rather get more out of what we already have. The capacity is already there.

lorddulaarsenal

flobaba arguement is we struggled to lay a glove on opponents in bigger matches - City, Bayern…

JazzG

flobaba If I owned Arsenal it would be hard to convince me to splurge on an attacking signing right now. I'd rather get more out of what we already have. The capacity is already there.

We had a little purple patch after Dubai though where we were banging in 5+ goals a game and I think that made our goal scored column look a lot beefier than our attacking play probably deserved. Signing a good midfielder and having Havertz/Jesus on top form up top will help.

Last season Trossard stepped up but Martinelli had a poor season. We need another wide player, ideally someone who can cover both wings as Saka had to play too many games imo. Ideally someone really quick because that is one thing our team is missing, a super quick wide player.

daredevil

JazzG

We aren't going to sign a starting winger who can cover both flanks, when we already have 4 first team players who can play both flanks. At least, not without selling someone which we won't do, and rightly so. At best, we will sign a young prospect who hopefully is an upgrade on Nelson, and is more suited to the role than Vieira.

HomeSteak

JazzG

The fact we are showing so much interest in Nico Williams indicates we are looking for a player who can cover both flanks. If Nelson leaves we only have Saka, Martinelli & Trossard in our squad as wide players. Jesus can provide cover as well but if we lose Eddie that leaves us with only Havertz and Jesus up top. If we are gonna lose ESR, Nelson & Eddie this window we definitely need another wide player.

I think/hope this season Arteta will be rotating his squad a lot more, we can't just hope our our players stay fit and we also can't have a repeat of Bayern where key players looked absolutely finished physically.

daredevil

samthegooner

You completely disregarded Trossard in your analysis. We aren't going to sideline him after the season he had, nor should we.

JazzG

Trossard, Martinelli, Saka, Jesus is enough wing cover. Vieira can also play right wing worst case. I just don't see a gap here.

If we sold someone then I can see us bid for someone, but I'm not convinced we are after a winger without that, unless its a young talent to replace Nelson

mdgoonah41

i saw we were linked to some swedish striker in the portuguese league? is that legit? is he any good?

JazzG

Hopefully we can get this one wrapped up and get him integrated into the squad quickly. Will give us much needed depth in midfield.

samthegooner

With Nico staying at Bilbao, we definitely will need to pivot to another wide player to finish off a successful summer (assuming Merino joins as well).
To me, that wide player has to have several traits:

First team ready: needs to compete for a starting spot with Martinelli as well as add quality minutes off the bench at both wings.
Top end pace: Martinelli is our only transition threat in behind defenses right now. Adding top end speed to the attack would add another dimension to us, especially in Europe.
1v1 ability: Adding another player who can beat their man reliably 1v1 will help in the league against the increasing number of pesky mid-low blocks and in Europe where individual talents win games and where we looked far too formulaic towards the business end of UCL.
Ballstriking: City and Liverpool steal at least 3-4 games a season solely from the great ball striking they have distributed across their teams. While we can't fix that overnight, continuing to add more ball striking to the attack is a must for me especially if we are going to focus on Kai as our 9 (which I am a fan of).

I still want to look at more potential targets since I was pretty in the bag for Nico Williams but right now in order my favorites are:

Pedro Neto (the health is hugely concerning but if we could get him for 50m or less, its likely worth it as he has shown time and again he can tear any EPL team apart, even City)
Leroy Sane (Arteta's worked wonders with him before and while his production dipped last year, he still looked very threatening every time I watched Bayern)
Karim Adeyimi (I haven't watched enough of him but his blinding pace and relative youth is very appealing - need to watch more of him though to be honest)
Raphinha (I know people here aren't fans of him but he's still a quality player who would be a demon in our press and a transition beast)

I also love Desire Doue and Xavi Simons but it seems they are already on their way to PSG/Bayern and Leipzig. Any other names?

Don Pacifico

A side-point to the anxiety about transfer inactivity.

Whilst not a precise analogue, in 2002-2003 we finished 5 points behind the leaders. That summer, our only major signing was Jens Lehmann.

I would love some additional attacking talent but I'd still feel relatively confident going into next season if we didn't get anyone in.

samthegooner

Don Pacifico Completely agree. We finished the season winning 16 of 18 on the trot with our only blemishes being the City draw and Villa loss. That is not a team that desperately needs weaknesses to be addressed. I do agree that there are areas we should be improving this summer that we have not as of yet (LCM, winger) but we have already brought in a world class player who was wanted by the biggest clubs in the world in a market that has been stunted a bit by International tournaments and PSR gymnastics. Even if we only add Merino to finish the window, by no means would I consider this summer to be a failure (although I would be a little disappointed). However, I like our title chances a lot if we can add Merino and a winger, with City likely just running it back another year older.

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Don Pacifico

You are also not too bothered if we don’t win a trophy or not :-)

When was the last time we were fully happy with our squad going into the season and when was the last time we won something major?

I think after getting in Merino, a minimum would be a winger/attacker.

We can’t keep going into new seasons always being one player short as ultimately it costs us.

Don Pacifico

Sicario2 - Tier 1 as others have said, the market is slow this summer. We've had our targets (eg. Sesko, Williams) but they haven't come off; whilst we'd normally pivot to another option, it doesn't seem as though there are many on the market and/or we're not willing to invest in players we don't think are right.

At this point, the margin between victory and 2nd place is really tough to make so if we don't think a player is going to help us make that jump, then why sink £50 odd million on them (especially given we've clearly spent up to our financial limits)?

If we'd rather hold money back for an actual game-changer, I'm fully on board with that strategy, even if it means waiting beyond this summer.

Clrnc

I am fully on board with having Merino and Calafiori. I think they are floor raisers and will further strengthen our squad depth. Merino is basically Elneny replacement and he will probably start if he comes.

But we do firmly also need another attacker (winger or striker) when we sell Nelson + Nketiah.

Qwiss

Clrnc yeah I am happy enough with those 2 signings in their own right but Merino isn't the sort of mid I was hoping for and I would want to see us add some real quality elsewhere if we aren't getting that marquee midfielder in.

Clrnc

Qwiss I think we are missing a trick not going for Oriley of Celtic but Merino is good enough for me as we don't seem to have the money and maybe we are saving for the blockbuster attacker? Merino reminds me a lot of Arteta. Solid midfielder, not world class but dependable enough.

We have been close to the FFP limit for a few windows now after some bad spending and terrible sales so we really need to be careful splashing cash this window

lorddulaarsenal

I recon a late move for Neto will happen

MistaT

I wouldn’t be opposed to a loan for Raphina.

Think he’d do a decent job seeing out games at the very least so we could rest Saka.

He’s shown he can do it in the league, and he has it all to prove otherwise his time at Barcelona will be damning.

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