Phase 7 recruitment - this isn’t about adding depth but top tier quality.
Loadsa rumours. Pick 2 from this lot
Tonali, Alvarez, Barcola, Yildiz, Olise, Jamal, Gordon, Anderson, Rogers, Stankovic, Leao, Bouaddi, Esposito
lorddulaarsenal Yeah I'm team @samthegooner on transfers, I'd go Alvarez and Bouaddi. The former is still "only" 26 so in step with our other stars. If we can get the latter for Zubi-ish money that's the kind of punt we could be making.
I often think that you enjoy transfer windows more than the actual football Dules. 😉
I think you may be right there Don!
We need to get it right in attack this summer.
An elite attacker would elevate this team to another level. We have all the ingredients except one at the moment - elite attacking quality. And it's arguably the most important piece of the puzzle.
We need to nail it. Complete the picture Berta!
Yup. For me Alvarez is the obvious Jesus upgrade. Worried what we do with Trossard. Way he is balling, I’d be tempted to give him 2 years. And then maybe a young DM for Norgaard.
Alvarez and Yildiz to replace Jesus and Trossard. I'd sell Odegaard too if we can get Rogers
Signing Yildiz means Martinelli becomes first choice again. Yildiz will take a long while to get up to speed regarding the OOP elements.
Rogers is also not a passing midfielder and is all about end product. He'd be a better alternative to Eze.
Hasn't Yildiz just extended his contract?
Yes, And? 🙂
Means he'll cost more.
I'd be looking for only the very best players or those close to becoming the very best this summer. Jesus needs replacing, especially with Kai back in midfield. Gyokeres and Alvarez would be good forward depth. On the left I'd only move if the opportunity is good enough, otherwise let Trossard run down his deal. He's as productive as a lot of the names people talk about, this would also give Dowman time to see if he can be ready for the main squad. Everywhere else is pretty solid, I'd only make moves if someone wants out or a truly incredible player is available.
Qwiss I agree with this on the whole but I also think we need to include some future oriented signings, eg. Bouaddi. Yildiz and Barcola are both interesting for that reason. But we don't have a lot of squad space (even if we have money).
RowJimmy I'd count those guys in "those close to becoming the very best". Although I'd say the jury is out on how ready Bouaddi is for me, especially in terms of Arteta trusting him.
Yıldız is out for me. Good example of a guy whose value has leapt too much while we held an interest. Šeško was similar. £80m for a player from Serie A is bad business in nearly all cases.
So don't go for Yıldız, find the next Yıldız. We need to rebalance our average squad age back down towards 20. Alvarez is different because we haven't "solved" 9.
Burnwinter
Back down towards 20?
It took 3-5 years of development for our early 20 year olds to grow to 24-27 and eventually (potentially) win a trophy
daredevil You understand "towards 20" doesn't mean 20, yes?
Dixon and Mooney bring the average age down a bit
lorddulaarsenal Dixon and Mooney bring the average age down a bit
And the excitement levels up a bit!
But youngsters we could target are Esposito or Kroupi
lorddulaarsenal seems like everyone is linked with Kroupi. Bournemouth will make an obscene amount of money outta him.
The new kid on the block at Napoli looks interesting too - Vergara.
