lorddulaarsenal Ornstein is out. He has no insider knowledge any more, he's just guessing. He was never able to predict anyway. Even at his most informed he just parroted what he was told after it was done.

QuincyAbeyie sorry. I have to completely disagree with this.
All of the names you are mentioning are either a) top performing strikers and/or b) playing at the biggest teams. It’s not like we are unearthing an unknown. The reality is given that we all know who these top players are and there is a limited market, it will be much harder to secure these names. Also buying strikers is much more straightforward from a metrics standpoint versus other positions where live scouting is much more important. For forwards the metrics are very well defined and predictive. So it makes the market much more competitive.

Arteta just dumped Nketiah, Nelson, Vieira and ESR in one summer. It’s clear the problem isn’t about accessing forwards in general. He wants specific high quality forwards. And that’s why I’d be comfortable with him overpaying for Cuhna or Williams. Because both have good qualities we need

Big Willie

Claudius that's my point..? Nothing suggests that Cunha would be more available after half a season of good form in the middle of the season, so if we buy him now the problem in the summer wasn't that no strikers were available and that they've somehow suddenly become available in January. It was that we want him more now than then. Identification issue. Not identifying his existence as a player, but our need for him.

HomeSteak would prefer him over Williams.

JazzG probably because we sold a bunch of players this summer. Including Nketiah and ESR who were pure profit.

Big Willie Yup, shows we have money to spend if we want.

I think this window we need to work hard for the wide player. In the summer go all out for a striker.

Marmoush and Cunha weren't as attractive in the summer, so the fact that they could have been purchased then is irrelevant.

It's precisely their form since the summer which is the reason clubs are now interested in them. Before that, no-one had even heard of Marmoush and Cunha had had only one good season under his name. The fact that he's now having the best season of his career is why clubs are interested in him.

QuincyAbeyie

Identifying which player with a very limited track record (a single season in both cases) is going to have a breakout is as easy to identify as which company in the stock market is going to break through it's ATH.

It's always obvious in hindsight and ridiculous to claim that it's an error on the part of the clubs. Either you're speculating on who will, in which case you could just as well end up with someone who doesn't build on their previous season, or you're waiting for more information/evidence of sustained performance before you pull the trigger.

Cunha was in the PL last season and looked excellent at times. I don't think its unreasonable to say that our scouts should have known about his ability then. He's been excellent since Pereira came in at Wolves. So what QuincyAbeyie is saying about us being able to buy him just as easily last summer is entirely correct.

daredevil so we agree that the issue isn't that players aren't available but that we don't know which available players will do well and not. Identification.

QuincyAbeyie how could a professional scout possibly identify talent before every casual fan who watches MOTD every now and then has started hyping them?

Sing it @QuincyAbeyie !

If Kvaratskhelia is truly available this window, we need to be all over it. He's got everything we need (okay maybe not game breaking pace but he's not slow by any means) to play opposite Saka. Can create chances in any game state, is a great finisher, and works his socks off on both sides of the ball. He's been on the top of my list for the LW since the summer and is the type of signing that would keep our title chances alive IMO. I like him more than Leao.

Guys, chill out. All well and good saying our scouts should identify X, Y, or Z or they're failing at their job but...

Big Willie

Didn't we sack them all?

Riot against the Kroenkes or just fold the club if Chelsea and Liverpool are strongly in for Kvarat and we are not.

daredevil Didn't we sack them all?

Yup, back during covid.

HomeSteak Jorginho wants to leave.

Of course he does, he hardly plays. Anyway his contract is up in June, just like Partey. We're going to need a big midfield signing as well as attacking signings this summer.

Qwiss we still make some very odd decisions on contracts. I think it would have been fine to let him go but when we kept him you presume their is a plan but then we don't seem to use them. It does worry be with how we approach transfers and squad building. Sterling another, nothing we've seen about him is a surprise from his time at Chelsea. It's why I didn't get the deal but you assume Arteta must have an idea of what he had in mind. But then he's never used and it makes you think did they really not have a clue?

Qwiss Of course he does, he hardly plays. Anyway his contract is up in June, just like Partey. We're going to need a big midfield signing as well as attacking signings this summer.

Yup, also why I wasn't that against the Merino signing. We are gonna need at least one if not two player in those positions in the summer.

There's no way we are getting close to £20m for Jorginho. I'd be surprised if we get close to breaking even on what we paid for him (_£10m if I recall) at this point. I don't think we have the depth to allow him to leave even if he is looking even more washed these days.

I will be very upset if we end up with Rashford at the end of this window unless it's for a short term loan. I have no confidence he will be anything more than dead weight moving forward and these reclamation projects like Sterling are not helping the squad whatsoever.

I'd rather us bring in a youth prospect like Nypan this window with eyes on developing for the future. Even if that means letting him stay at his club for the rest of the year.

If we don't get the Jorginho/Partey replacement right, we'll be screwed.

The only guy that looks good enough is Zubimendi. Everyone else that I know of will be a downgrade.

samthegooner we can't loan Rashford. We are maxed out for PL loans.

Qwiss also would he just stay on the bench like Rashford?

daredevil I don't know if I agree with this. Squads evolve and I think our next evolution has to be to a midfield setup with Rice at the 6. Of course we will hear complaints about his progressive passing but whenever he's had a chance to show it off, he's been solid iMO. I also think you can adapt to that by moving to a structure that I am a fan of which is pushing Odegaard deeper as a buildup specialist and bringing in a more output focused CAM to play where Odegaard plays now. Merino is versatile enough to provide depth at both of those positions and hopefully MLS can also provide depth at the 6 next year (as well as LB). There are far more options out there for advanced midfield roles - can go from the top of the market with Wirtz and Musiala to other good signings like Reijnders, Eze, Gibbs-White, Sudakov, Moleiro) and I want Rice in a more defensive role with two midfielders ahead of him that are better technicians, playmakers and ideally, can provide some goals).

With inverting outside backs like Timber/White and Calafiori/MLS, ball progression shouldn't be an issue and I think we struggle more with playmaking in the final third. I haven't seen Partey or Jorginho help much in that, nor has Rice in an advanced 8 role provided a ton of value there. A midfield like the following would be my (realistic) dream:
----- Rice (Merino/MLS) -----
Reijnders (Nwaneri) -- Odegaard (Merino)

samthegooner agree with the majority of this. Thoughtful post.