Qwiss result of a bad handover of multiple executive roles. We are going through a similar phase of transition. The risk that our new DoF doesn’t handle Saka, Saliba, Gabriel and Martinelli is high.
Also Trossard, Zinchenko and Tomi all expire in a year.

Claudius later 3 all need to be sold. No value running those contracts down and none should be renewed. Tomi may prove unsellable with his fitness

Even if Salah stays, his performance level will drop if not through ageing through reduced motivation

lorddulaarsenal he's in his usual late season slump now too. One of the greats but you can outrun father time.

Qwiss -- you think Dules can outrun father time??!!

High praise

MistaT Dules can but he's the only one.

Qwiss No value running those contracts down and none should be renewed. Tomi may prove unsellable with his fitness

Wouldn't be surprised if Zinny and Trossard ran their own contracts down. They both have a year to go as I understand it. Tross has been rejecting our offers in talks, I presume he reasons he'll have enough juice left to attract interest when he's available on a free.

MistaT you think Dules can outrun father time??!!

So long as he keeps lean

Burnwinter If they do they do. Can't blame them but we need to make it somewhat attractive for them to leave, not much point in trying to drive a hard bargain with those guys. I wouldn't mind Tross as a 4th choice winger, 3rd choice striker for one more year if he wants to run down his deal though. As long as we don't extend him.

Burnwinter lean I can do.

Staying awake beyond 9pm these days naaah

Me refractory period has increased by an extra minute or two. Nearly a 50% increase yikes. Pop Time shows no mercy no nobody

Rio Ferdinand is so stressed by these knuckleheads

Saliba, Gabriel and Saka. You don't sell one of the best in the world to get another one of the best in the world in another position. You just weaken yourself on an area where you are one of the best to strengthen another. If you want to get a top striker you get him and keep the most important players. You don't sell one of your only world class players to do so.

lorddulaarsenal 45 is a bastard, I've gotten reading glasses and gotten twice as gray in the past couple of years

Burnwinter 45 is a bastard, I've gotten reading glasses and gotten twice as gray in the past couple of years

I feel you man. Got quite a few new greys popping up as well as feeling my eyesight get worse over the past year and I just turned 38. I'm in denial and avoiding wearing my prescription glasses for now.

Big Willie Comes at you pretty fast eh? I'm not doing appallingly badly, but the eyesight thing is a bit annoying. Means I'm wearing glasses 80% of the time since I work with software. Also need to shave the beard, but that's been necessary for a little while, just working round to it.

Lol wait until you guys hit 50..

I'ma need photos guys.

USArsenal can't believe I'm only just over two years away from this milestone - I still feel like I'm 27. But I think it's a curse and a gift that most men feel like this, sure I've said before but I'll never forget my Grandad telling me and Jo he couldn't wait to see what happened when he grew up. He was about 85 at the time.

RocktheCasbah "Growing up", at least where one's had the luck not to be run into the ground by a hard life, seems a one-two punch. The jab is the realisation you're never going to grow up, but the cross is still gradually getting bored by your own nonsense.

Him, Sesko, Ekitike and Delap offer cheaper alternatives to Isak.

Any of them would improve us.

Not interested in Gyokeres. Overvalued (even by today's standards), one dimensional and with limited scope for improvement.

Hope this is a case of 'assessing our options'...

This kid is going to be a killer. Must be nice to have a monopoly on French talent

I don't think Havertz is being replaced. I actually think it's unlikely our striker signing plays more minutes than Havertz next season. At least in the short term, Havertz will be a better player overall than whoever we sign (barring an Isak longshot). And I also wonder whether we might benefit from more 4-4-2 if we had a proper box finisher in the squad.

We need a plan for parked buses. We don't need to play those games with a 6 and two 8's, which is what we've been doing this year with Partey-Rice-Ødegaard. Particularly with our defensive strength and use of inverted fullbacks, a two-man midfield should be enough to control the game. Havertz can keep the tactical/movement responsibilities of a #9, and then there's room for another forward with less responsibility, who hangs around the box looking to finish chances. Old school big man-little man. I'm not in love with Gyokeres but he could be the little guy goal poacher. Nwaneri might be able to play that role too. You could start certain games in this state (away at Everton, etc.), or substitute into it around 65'.

It's great to have the ControlBall capacity, it's made us really strong in big games, but sometimes you need to fit a poacher or a maverick into the team to make the difference. Fergie used to stack his teams with forwards who weren't the best all-around players but had a knack for scoring goals. United won a lot of leagues scoring off of scrubby rebounds.

CPM I'm not in love with Gyokeres but he could be the little guy goal poacher.

He's 6'2"

I don't really think we are in a position to be picky...there are risks with any player we sign.

Was actually impressed with Gyokeres against us. I like how direct he is too. We need that. If he has a sight on goal you can be sure he's pulling the trigger not like our other 9's who will pass it off or take too many touches.

Quick google seems to suggest he has been consistently outperforming his xg too which is always a good sign for a striker.

I'd be OK with Gyokeres if we also got Williams

Havertz is a bit of a fail safe for us so we should be going with someone younger and with a higher ceiling - Eketike, Delap, Sesko etc. Of course if we can get a sure thing (Isak) then that should be the priority but we should be avoiding guys like Gyokeres who pretty much are what they are at this point.

But we need a top LW if we're going with a younger guy up front. Which is why I feel like Marmoush and Kvara (especially in the summer when his stock was lower) were big misses - of course they might still have chosen PSG and City but if we want to compete for the big trophies we also need to compete for the big players.

CPM I don't think Havertz is being replaced.

Agree. The problem we have with Havertz is that any signing at 9 that isn't both good and in form will likely end up getting rotated due to the benefits of Havertz's all-round game and athleticism.

That's not necessarily a disaster, but we can't expect a huge delta from a player who's coming off the bench. I want a signing who could either complement or ultimately displace Havertz and allow him to be moved on.

Either Sesko or Ekitike for me. Thing is I doubt Frankfurt would wanna let go so soon after Marmoush left.

RocktheCasbah

Yeah, i'll be honest, i never felt my age until the past year or so. I don't know if its catching up to me, or just the stress of work, but only really in the past 6 months have i started to feel like i am 50. Though i still have my moments.

JazzG so he has 25 non-penalty goals?

The thing to worry about Gyokeres is not if he can get better. It's if he can stay good for at least the next 5 years, in a different league.