Big Willie its just like saying Rice, Partey and Merino and Co are shielding / surrounding Saliba and Gabriel. Of course they are. And of course they're excellent players too, aren't they? But Saliba and Gabriel are world class in their own right. I daresay outside of the insane number of corner goals, Gabriel and Toure would compare quite similarly as players. Will's point which I clearly see is that you don't play on a team like the invincibles as mere a "decent" player. All those players were some of the very best of their generation. In every single position. I find it interesting that Kolo is seemingly so underrated.

      flobaba gabriel has surpassed kolo already for me, as an individual player. can't teach height, and his leadership is a different level. and maybe I still have some latent anger at kolo for bungling babel over in the CL quarters at anfield. it's entirely possible

          This is Kolo Touré we're discussing, who was an actual mainstay of an unbeaten Premier League defence. Think he might have been a decent player myself.

          Big Willie usimg the team's defensive decline after 2006 as proof of these faults does him a huge disservice. A similar argument could be made that Sol's flaws were exposed after he left us, if we ignored the fact he was playing for Portsmoth and their weak defence.

          Don't have a particular opinion about how good Kolo was for the invincibles, but it's quite relevant that Campbell left Arsenal on the decline. Kolo Toure was 25 (?) in 2006 and should've had his best years still ahead of him. Yet, I don't think we saw any world class seasons from him after that.

            9 days later

            Wouldn’t be the most exciting but he is talented. Another physical monster in the air

            DCL? Is it 2019? I rather sign Chris Wood.

            I would actually try and sign Mbeumbo from Brentford as a priority. That’s our wing sorted at least. He can be our Mane.

            We need a marquee signing in attack. We’ve not had one under Arteta

            • IBL likes this.

            We should go for Ferguson loan to buy. He's not happy at Brighton, he's still young and had heaps of potential, would be a better option than Jesus, would allow Arteta to see what he's like personality wise, would let the medical team assess him full, etc.

              Qwiss -- I can't imagine Brighton would let him come here as they'll see Havertz as first choice.

                Anything to PSV's Ismael Saibari (CM/AM) who could step into our left 8? He has 5 goals and 7 assists for a high flying PSV.

                It seems Partey is off the boil again and we may need Rice to play at the 6.

                I also was impressed by Dodi Lukebakio (RWF/CF) for Sevilla. Anything there? He caught my eye in highlights vs Atletico and has some decent stats this season and last.