JazzG The Arsenal fanbase would go nuclear if we signed a defensive player this window over an attacker

This is the thing that kills me with fans. This idea of equating transfers. That one transfer in one part of the field negates a transfer in another part of the field. If we find a defender, mid or goalie we like for the long term, we should buy him.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put the majority of our effort into getting a forward.

PSR and limits on spending above your means say otherwise. We are not one of the top 3 or 4 teams in revenue and profits like we used to be in the late 00s and early 2010s. So prioritisation becomes crucial. We couldn't even sign Raya last season because of PSR and had to defer his signing to the summer.

Wasn't our net spend like £12m this summer? I think we are nowhere breaching and have good headroom to splash out. I honestly think in the summer we just put all our eggs in the Williams basket and ended up fucking ourselves over.

Ornstein mentioning City working to sign Marmoush as well, really like the guy and think he would be ideal for us.

Claudius this mentality is arguably why we've found ourselves in this situation. the budget is finite and now has to be laser focused on the clear and obvious part of the team that isn't performing

Seems to be a lot of movement this January

JazzG Wasn't our net spend like £12m this summer? I think we are nowhere breaching and have good headroom to splash out.

Which makes you wonder why that was considering the amount of spending we did in the past years with no incoming funds, as well as the fact that we had to agree to a loan with obligation with Brentford for Raya in 2023 because we could not sign him outright then without having PSR issues. Otherwise what is the point of a loan with obligation if not to help manage PSR and FFP cashflow issues.

The sales of ESR and Nketiah last summer have given us quite a bit in terms of PSR, compared to where we were at the end of the summer of 2023. However we need to be careful with future signings being in the right positions otherwise we'lll be in a position where we have to either sell our academy graduates like Saka/Nwaneri/MLS or our most valuable non academy players who did not come for big fees like Saliba/Gabriel.

JazzG I honestly think in the summer we just put all our eggs in the Williams basket and ended up fucking ourselves over.

Even if that is the case, if we had plenty of money we could have bought another player attacker and then went for Williams if it became possible. It's not like Arteta has any issues replacing someone even if he bought him a year or so ago. If we are in fact putting all our eggs into the Williams basket, that would mean it is all our eggs, with not much left to bake another signing.

Gazza M obviously the budget is finite but you can eat and drink at the same time. That’s all I’m saying. If while you’re chasing your star striker, another required target becomes available you don’t sit there and say “oh I still don’t have my star striker, so I can’t solve the Zinchenko issue or the L8 issue”. You need to address the whole team. 22 places with a 4 year average contract, means you need to deal with 5-6 signings/renewals each summer. Quick math

Claudius Quick math also tells me that with this approach you can't say later on that the forward signings you want are too expensive.

QuincyAbeyie this is literally what any organisation that wants to replace and improve its personnel needs to do

Claudius but your example of our "star striker not being available" is made up. It's an identification issue. If we sign Cunha this January it's not because he wasn't available in the summer and will be easier to sign in the janny tranny. It will be because we've realized the error of our ways a bit too late. Same with City and Marmoush.

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.