Trossard can still contribute, I'd definitely keep him for another season.
I agree the 6 position potentially looks a bit of a mess, unless MLS is earmarked for it.
Summer 2025 Transfer Window
CPM MLS is Partey’s replacement. I think he’ll mostly start at LB next year but there will be some games where Calafiori starts and he will be available at CM. I think Rice and Merino will also be available at the 6 if needed and then we could have Nypan (if signed), Merino/Rice, Odegaard and Nwaneri available at the other 8’s.
I do agree we will likely need a new LB or CB in case of departures. While I don’t think Kiwior is amazing, I’d be okay keeping him if it meant we could focus our efforts elsewhere this summer. Or at least hold him and Zinchenko for the start of the summer while we bolster the attack and then can address them and any replacements after. Hoping we bring in Zubimendi, Nypan and two attackers early and then can address other roles as needed with a one in and one out policy.
Saliba's contract will have 2 years left at the end of this season, so expect the summer to be full of noises about a move to Madrid. Saka, Gabby and Martinelli in the same boat but I'd be more confident about Saka and Gabby in particular staying for another contract at least. Martinelli probably too, but we might sell him for the right money.
Who are we likely to sell for actual money this summer, as opposed to leaving on a free?
Zinchenko?
Kiwior and Trossard maybe.
Martinelli if we got a big offer.
Asterix do not under any circumstances sell Martinelli.
We have a lot of left backs, so can afford to sell Kiwior, and maybe cash in on Trossard if one of the Saudi teams wants to show him off. But it's also worth noting that we have a pretty small squad that's undergone a ton of change over the last 3-4 years. So this isn't the time to be dumping players. We should be adding
Not trying to give Arteta any ideas but reckon this guy will be in demand in the summer.
JazzG never heard of him, but wow, a 6'5" 19 year old centre back, doing it in the PL already? We should definitely consider this one.
As we think about striker this summer, there are a few options of a good age and quality, so we should bid simultaneously and grab what lands, hoping for Isak but settling for one of the other two if Isak drags or fails
- Isak
- Sesko
- Ekitike
Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert I've seen him a couple times, looks decent player. Reckon someone like Liverpool or Chelsea might be looking closely at him.
JazzG He's very good on the ball. Extremely two-footed but definitely lacks the strength right now to be top level, although I think he could certainly get there. If for any reason we sold Saliba, he would be high on my list although it would be a substantial step down immediately of course.
Yeah Huijsen looks destined to play for a top club
Asterix Any one of these players would likely need to be replaced. I view it currently as:
Jorginho leaving: replaced by Zubimendi
Partey leaving : covered by MLS in midfield in a like for like with profile but mostly by Zubimendi in minutes
Zinchenko : LB cover in case MLS is moved more regularly to the midfield. We would need to replace him if we sold him, ideally for a younger LB prospect like Ishe Samuels-Smith.
Kiwior: LCB cover that we will need due to Tomi's availability issues and Calafiori likely being used a lot at LB. If we sell him, we will need to replace since we don't have an internal solution IMO.
Trossard: If we can't resign him by mid-summer then we need to sell IMO. Would look to replace him with someone like Cunha - but likely would need someone in a lower price bracket. Maybe someone like Lee Kang-In at PSG would be a good call.
Martinelli : Would only sell if there was an extremely good offer over 70-80m. Obviously would need to replace him.
samthegooner You look at someone like Liverpool, they'll need to replace Van Dijk soon. I think he'd stay another year or two and that would give a younger CB time to bed in. However if Van Dijk leaves then they'll need to bring a more experienced player in.
We also need to think about Saliba, this summer he'll have two years on his contract, we can't let him run it down to one year so need to be working hard to extend now.
- Edited
Saliba, Saka and Gabriel M contracts need to be top priority this summer... Squad is coming into its prime and next 3-5 years will be its peak.. massive risk to lose any of them now.
Saka Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus contracts all expire in 2027. Four of those five players defo we need to sort contracts out ASAP.
In 2026 we have Trossard, Zinchenko & Tomi.
Seeing more links with Ekitike today, along with Liverpool. Really conflicted on him vs. Sesko personally. Ekitike looks like a younger version of Isak but I'm a tad bit wary of this being his first good year, especially since its at Frankfurt and we know their history with producing prolific strikers there who don't always translate at their next club (Jovic, Kolo Muani, etc.). That being said, he's still very young and has always been hyped as a big prospect so it makes sense that he may have just needed some time to develop. He definitely caught my eye when watching a lot of Marmoush highlights earlier in the year and his agility for his size is very Isak-esque.
I do wonder if we would go for him given all of the legwork it seems like we have done for Sesko up to this point. My hope is that our previous transfer diligence should be irrelevant and we simply go for the best player at the end of the year. I'm also still a Sesko fan but he looks a lot more stiff in his movements compared to Ekitike. However, he has always outperformed his xG year after year and looks to be the more clinical. They've played similar minutes this year (both around 1,500) and Ekitike has 12g/3a from 15.1xG while Sesko has 9g/3a from 5.6xG. The shots number is pretty stunning as Ekitike has taken 75 shots while Sesko has only taken 36. I love the efficiency from Sesko but I also question whether some of that lack of volume is indicative of not having that killer attitude that wants to score all the time. I haven't watched a ton of full games of them this year to really get a good feel for Leipzig and Frankfurt's play style so if anyone has, please share!
Ekitike looks decent, would definitely prefer him to Sesko... Gives me a bit of Adebayor vibes which is both good and bad... Can't say either are getting me THAT excited.
I have a feeling in the back of my head that the bust factor is much higher for Sesko than it is for Ekitike. It's probably due to personal bias against taller forwards who have stiffer movements and players who don't seem to have the "dog" in them. I am in love with Sesko's ball striking ability but I'm worried that he might be closer to someone like Scamacca than someone like Haaland and that we would be looking for another striker sooner rather than later. I have been bullish on him but candidly, hoped he would be more of a main man this year for Leipzig as opposed to continuing to look like a work in progress. That being said, he's on pace to improve on his production numbers from last year so it's really tough to tell how he would translate.
Ekitike just looks so much more involved game to game but I'm wary of the Frankfurt striker machine. I think it will be very interesting to see how both players finish the season and I hope we are keeping a completely open mind despite having done a lot of legwork on Sesko over the last 12 months.
