Sterling

Gazza M

still looks reasonably sharp. I can see him earning a spot at LW. quicker than trossard but maybe not as clinical. more efficient than marti but not as quick.

HomeSteak

Can play left, right and in emergency striker. Better then Nelson, no loan fee, we pay less then half of his wages, so I assume he will cost us some where around 6.2 mil for a year. Get me 10+ goals and assists off the bench and I'm ok with it. Seems to score against City and in big games, have a feeling he will get to a lot of cut backs.
Having both Sterling and Saka, The Sun, The Mail and so on will hate us so much lol

Claudius

HomeSteak he’s sharp. Was looking at his data yesterday and impressed. He still has it. Definitely much much better loan than Sancho.
Folks wanted a credible Saka relief. They have it. Should be beyond happy. He can also play really well with Saka. Look at their England games together. He knows and accepts Jesus too. Should ramp up quickly.

lorddulaarsenal

Claudius also knows and accepts Kai and Jorgi!

Burnwinter

I'd be stoked with a goal or an assist every three times he rolls out if he's predominantly used as a substitute. If he can give Saka some time off he'll be a good asset for this season. Better to view him as an upgrade on Nelson than a big signing. Chelsea's gonna pay for half of every goal he scores, can't complain about that.

lorddulaarsenal

Burnwinter think you’re under selling him Burnsy. He’s a top player who has excelled in the deep end.

Get him as fit as he can be and that talent will be unlocked to the max.

Irishgunner

Super signing I think - low wages, no fee, no downside risk

Burnwinter

lorddulaarsenal Nah I agree with you. I just don't think he has to do amazingly to be a good upgrade on the options we've had to back up Saka. If he scores a few before Christmas he'll be Mr Popular.

invisibleman18

Said my bit in the transfer threads. I'm disappointed the best we could do for a forward was wait to see what Chelsea were throwing out on deadline day. Is it a budget issue and we simply can't afford what a top goalscorer costs or are we still not seen as an attractive enough option for the best players?

I don't see that he has much to offer on the pitch and fear we'll see the same kind of issues that saw him piss everyone off and get frozen out at Chelsea. But obviously hope I'm wrong and he plays well enough that we want to keep him. I seem to be the only one not happy so must be missing something. He's here now so have to keep an open mind.

Clrnc

invisibleman18 I am not going to be the annoying Mr Sunshine to pretend that Raheem was our dream signing and everything is amazing and all, which is always the case when we signed a player none of us wanted from our rival before suddenly saying he's a world beater.

But...

Let me show you some positives.

First:
Misconception that Raheem was finished at Chelsea. Deep dive into the stats and he wasn't. Sure he isn't a world beater like last time, but he is still very servicable. I am going to make a bold prediction that he is not only going to be a Nelson replacement, but he will take Martinelli place in many games.

Look at his performances

If he can have the impact Benayoun had (coincidentally the last player that played for the big 3), we will be laughing ourselves to some trophies this year. It's quite obvious we don't want him permanently, otherwise we would have inserted a clause in as the wide player we really want should be more available next season so for one year there's probably nobody better than Sterling in the market. Have I also mentioned Arteta loves him and vice versa?

Look at his stats man, this guy is no Willian. In fact the last 2 signings we did from Chelsea all turned out great. Jorginho really kick started our league challenge and Havertz was our top 3 players in the 2nd half of the season clearly.

awooga83

invisibleman18 I'm pretty much at the same place as you. I thought we were targeting that forward role to really add some higher quality rather then a floor raiser. He's better then Nelson and will be an option in general games but is he a difference maker for those games we struggle I don't see it. Watching him last year at Chelsea he looked terrible was a real negative impact fighting with team mates and his quality really deteriorated so at the time I was thinking they are lumbered with this player for a while which is good for us as a rival. 8 goals in the league last year doesn't look like it'll shift the dial.

I also don't believe that he can have be part of a serious plan if we were scrambling around in deadline day so what was the approach for upgrading attack supposed to be. I've seen people say if we can't get our top target then we should keep our powder dry but we've pretty much not done that at the back getting targets then deciding or following up on preferred option anyway so outlaying further cash.

I'm really not sure how he'll fit Arteta's Arsenal either but that's what we'll see I guess. It doesn't give me a great feeling on the window as a whole to pick up a player frozen out by Chelsea who looked well past his heights last season to me but it's where we are. See what he does now over the season.

RocktheCasbah

As I've said elsewhere, I think that all he has to do is be trusted by Mikel to take some of the load off Saka in a way that Nelson wasn't (which he will be) and I think he'll be a positive move. As it happens, I think we'll get more out of him than that, I believe he can play across the front line too, so whilst I would have been really excited to see him with for us five years ago, I'm still pretty excited to see what he can do.. Saka/ Sterling/Martinelli/Trossard is a pretty tasty gang of four.

IBL

Honestly never thought I'd see the day when Sterling would be in an Arsenal shirt.

If Arteta can get him close to his City levels then we have a good player here, just hope he can unlearn some of the rubbish I've seen him do at Chelsea.

Kel Varnsen

My only worry about him, is his defensive contribution. Arteta wants his wingers to press, cover space, and track runners.

Dragan

Wont be surprised if within a couple of months Sterling becomes our first choice LW while Martinelli comes on to rest Saka in the last 15 minutes of matches.

invisibleman18

Clrnc thanks for this. My initial annoyance was disappointment at going into another season without a goalscorer and it's where I think we'll fall short of the title. But softened a bit on this now. I still don't expect much but can appreciate it's low risk given it's a loan, he's proven in the EPL and is essentially replacing the position of someone who didn't contribute anything and barely even played. Hopefully he can provide something. I'm just burned by previous bargain bin signings from Chelsea like Willian and Luiz.

Panda

Happy with this. Very low risk addition. If he isn't any good for us he'll be back at Chelsea next summer.

I have a feeling we won't want him to go though. I think he'll be very good and will probably get around 15 G/A in all competitions.

Unfair to judge him on his time at Chelsea, that place is a mess and they treat the players like dirt. I actually think that will make him even more grateful and excited for this move and there is no way he will have "attitude" issues here as he'll be a valued and accepted member of the squad. Do people seriously think he is going to demand the ball from Saka or Odegaard to take a penalty?

We now have Trossard, Jesus and Sterling as attacking cover. 3 versatile options that should help plug any gaps that appear over the season through form/fitness/suspension issues.

Welcome Raheem ❤️ hope you enjoy your time at Arsenal!

Don Pacifico

Remember being linked to him when he was at QPR. Feels weird that he's going to play for us now. Overall, think we got a good deal.

Clrnc

Don Pacifico He looks so natural in red.

Don Pacifico

Clrnc agreed. He's not the signing we wanted at the start of the window but given all the variables associated with this deal, I think it should work out well for us. Worst case scenario, he's an upgrade on Nelson who never played. Best case scenario, he's an upgrade.on Martinelli who helps us rest Saka from time-to-time.

Clrnc

Don Pacifico

The UCL teams won't know what hit them, with these 2 terrorising them on the wings. Great telepathy in many instances.

Us giving him number 10 also shows that he will be important for us

Claudius

Clrnc power up. Ability to keep intensity up for 990 minutes. Especially as games open. We can start Trossard and Saka. And finish Sterling and Martinelli. Or various permutations thereof. As an opposing manager, it probably means you have to waste 1 or 2 subs on fullbacks. Or die.