As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Its a shame that we are having to sell the likes of Holding and AMN just because we can't find buyers for some of the clowns that we have. We will end up having to terminate their contracts or pay them off to leave. The likes of Kolasinac, Sokratis and Mustafi laundering 80-100k a week is beyond criminal.
Agreed.
It's a shame AFC can't just say to these players " you're not living up to what you're contracted to do and so we're terminating your contracts". In truth that's what should happen.
And to make matters worse other teams are low balling us with the offers for AMN and Holding they know that we are desperate to sell and will have to accept bids that are far below the market rate. It is years of bad decisions and bad squad management coming home to roost.
I'm not sure they will feel that they are low balling us the way most teams do when they low ball - other clubs will look at us as a team in need of an injection of top quality, and they will feel that if we are selling those 2 players it must be because we feel that they are not good enough, and they will then make their offers accordingly
Mari, Gabriel and Saliba incoming. All 6’3+ Central defenders.
Martinelli and saka secured to long term contracts.
Aubameyang seemingly happy to stay.
New right back (Soares) and Creative winger (Willian).
Viva la Revolution Central midfielder next please
CDM is by far the most important position for our forthcoming season. Had an ongoing argument with a few other gooners they keep banging on about signing creative midfielders. The most damning stat of last season was us conceding 48 goals, in 1991 we conceded 18. You sort out the defence/spine and the rest of the team functions as an attacking force more effectively. It's so fucking obvious what is needed.
Its a shame that we are having to sell the likes of Holding and AMN just because we can't find buyers for some of the clowns that we have. We will end up having to terminate their contracts or pay them off to leave. The likes of Kolasinac, Sokratis and Mustafi laundering 80-100k a week is beyond criminal.
Agreed.
It's a shame AFC can't just say to these players " you're not living up to what you're contracted to do and so we're terminating your contracts". In truth that's what should happen.
And to make matters worse other teams are low balling us with the offers for AMN and Holding they know that we are desperate to sell and will have to accept bids that are far below the market rate. It is years of bad decisions and bad squad management coming home to roost.
I'm not sure they will feel that they are low balling us the way most teams do when they low ball - other clubs will look at us as a team in need of an injection of top quality, and they will feel that if we are selling those 2 players it must be because we feel that they are not good enough, and they will then make their offers accordingly
But are we selling these players just because they are not good enough? Or are we selling them because they are the only ones who are saleable? Should we be selling Holding at all given we will have only 3 centre backs in our books this time next year? Should we be selling AMN given the back ups that we in the fullback positions?
Holding and AMN, 2 young, PL experienced English players would command a higher fee in normal circumstances, you just need to look at what is being demanded for Ben White. I dont blame other clubs for offering lower fees, they are well within their rights to get the best deal for themselves. Why pay extra at a fire sale. I'm just lammenting the mismanagement from our club that has led to this.
For years Arsenal have had a squad full of average joes or worse. Arteta seems to be getting rid of a lot of them and that should be celebrated!
Holding can play till he’s 40 and he’ll never be any better than championship standard. AMN had a good few games at the end of the season but before then he was an accident waiting to happen often and his attitude stinks at times, he was fined at least twice last season for turning up late to training.
For me it feels like maybe......just maybe, we are starting to turn a corner. I’m not convinced by Arteta but I do think he’s showing some promise in several areas and I’m happy to see what he can do this season with some of his own players in the squad. It sounds like maybe we are giving up on Partey because of his price but fuck me, if we did manage to sign Gabriel, then Partey and The midfielder from Lyon Who is very good but I can’t spell his name..... we’d have a decent team for next season!!
For years Arsenal have had a squad full of average joes or worse. Arteta seems to be getting rid of a lot of them and that should be celebrated!
Holding can play till he’s 40 and he’ll never be any better than championship standard. AMN had a good few games at the end of the season but before then he was an accident waiting to happen often and his attitude stinks at times, he was fined at least twice last season for turning up late to training.
For me it feels like maybe......just maybe, we are starting to turn a corner. I’m not convinced by Arteta but I do think he’s showing some promise in several areas and I’m happy to see what he can do this season with some of his own players in the squad. It sounds like maybe we are giving up on Partey because of his price but fuck me, if we did manage to sign Gabriel, then Partey and The midfielder from Lyon Who is very good but I can’t spell his name..... we’d have a decent team for next season!!
Teecee, that would be a valid argument if we were actually getting rid of those players, but from where I am not one seems to have gone. If that wasnt bad enough it seems that the one's who need to be fcuked out the door (xhaka, mustafi, ozil etc) dont seem to be anywhere close to leaving, so for me there is no point in celebrating the departure of players like maitland-niles (who are actually useful) if we are gonna be stuck with the real shite for the foreseeable future
I think that we have to accept that due to the stupidity of their contracts a number of our players are in fact unsaleable and we will have to see out their contracts before they go. The club now has to do a balancing act and sell those that are fringe players that can raise enough cash to enable us to buy better.
We are not going to get a Coutinho / Anelka game changer deal so it has to be softly , softly catchee monkey.
I think we are putting them all on the block and see what comes in ,the club clearly wants to trim us back to the bone , because for years we have had a huge wage bill but a squad severely lacking in quality and were massively overstaffed in non footballing areas .
Arteta seems to want a clear out too and lets face it we need it badly but we don't have a massive amount of money to spend so a lot of horse trading will have to be done .
Not everyone will be moved out but you have to see what you can get and plan accordingly ,the good thing is Arteta seems to know what he wants and the club are letting him take the lead .
I'm not convinced we will get it all done but at least we are trying to move out of the long shadow of shit cast by the Lord Wenger !
Who do people think we are going to sell Ozil to, nobody wants him mainly due to the wages he's on, so to say Arteta isn't moving him out doesn't give the whole picture, Mustafi is in the last Yr of his contract and is currently injured, I haven't seen anywhere in the media about any team in the world who have shown any kind of interest in him,and if so why would they pay a fee for him in his last Yr, when they can get him for nothing.
Easy to say move them on when there is no interest in them.
Xhaka does seem to be in favour with Arteta so he's not going anywhere unless some club offers real stupid money.
Who do people think we are going to sell Ozil to, nobody wants him mainly due to the wages he's on, so to say Arteta isn't moving him out doesn't give the whole picture, Mustafi is in the last Yr of his contract and is currently injured, I haven't seen anywhere in the media about any team in the world who have shown any kind of interest in him,and if so why would they pay a fee for him in his last Yr, when they can get him for nothing.
Easy to say move them on when there is no interest in them.
Xhaka does seem to be in favour with Arteta so he's not going anywhere unless some club offers real stupid money.
Completely agree with this McD, putting Ozil's idiotic wages to one side is a player of his age who has hardly played for 6 months and appears to have a very negative attitude something teams with limited transfer funds actually want to take a punt on, same goes for Xhaka and Kolasinac, both incredibly limited players, something we have lamented on here constantly, yet suddenly in a time where a lot of teams are scraping around for funds to buy players some seem to think that every man and his dog should be bidding for them.
Is it a case of reality biting in the footballing world under Chinese Coronavirus limitations, teams who might of under normal circumstances taken a punt on these players aren't willing to risk the funds.
None of us really know Arteta's mind or Edu's and maybe they do want rid of at least some of the dross but no-one is actually interested, the players who are linked with possible moves are younger players who may fetch some value and potentially improve elsewhere and so coaches may wish to buy them.
Who do people think we are going to sell Ozil to, nobody wants him mainly due to the wages he's on, so to say Arteta isn't moving him out doesn't give the whole picture, Mustafi is in the last Yr of his contract and is currently injured, I haven't seen anywhere in the media about any team in the world who have shown any kind of interest in him,and if so why would they pay a fee for him in his last Yr, when they can get him for nothing.
Easy to say move them on when there is no interest in them.
Xhaka does seem to be in favour with Arteta so he's not going anywhere unless some club offers real stupid money.
Completely agree with this McD, putting Ozil's idiotic wages to one side is a player of his age who has hardly played for 6 months and appears to have a very negative attitude something teams with limited transfer funds actually want to take a punt on, same goes for Xhaka and Kolasinac, both incredibly limited players, something we have lamented on here constantly, yet suddenly in a time where a lot of teams are scraping around for funds to buy players some seem to think that every man and his dog should be bidding for them.
Is it a case of reality biting in the footballing world under Chinese Coronavirus limitations, teams who might of under normal circumstances taken a punt on these players aren't willing to risk the funds.
None of us really know Arteta's mind or Edu's and maybe they do want rid of at least some of the dross but no-one is actually interested, the players who are linked with possible moves are younger players who may fetch some value and potentially improve elsewhere and so coaches may wish to buy them.
Two really good posts there lads. Agreed 100%. In the current climate and with the tail end of the player contract shit show Arsene and the Lizard left behind I think we need to be realistic about our expectations. We'll get shot of some of the deadwood but not all.
Who do people think we are going to sell Ozil to, nobody wants him mainly due to the wages he's on, so to say Arteta isn't moving him out doesn't give the whole picture, Mustafi is in the last Yr of his contract and is currently injured, I haven't seen anywhere in the media about any team in the world who have shown any kind of interest in him,and if so why would they pay a fee for him in his last Yr, when they can get him for nothing.
Easy to say move them on when there is no interest in them.
Xhaka does seem to be in favour with Arteta so he's not going anywhere unless some club offers real stupid money.
Completely agree with this McD, putting Ozil's idiotic wages to one side is a player of his age who has hardly played for 6 months and appears to have a very negative attitude something teams with limited transfer funds actually want to take a punt on, same goes for Xhaka and Kolasinac, both incredibly limited players, something we have lamented on here constantly, yet suddenly in a time where a lot of teams are scraping around for funds to buy players some seem to think that every man and his dog should be bidding for them.
Is it a case of reality biting in the footballing world under Chinese Coronavirus limitations, teams who might of under normal circumstances taken a punt on these players aren't willing to risk the funds.
None of us really know Arteta's mind or Edu's and maybe they do want rid of at least some of the dross but no-one is actually interested, the players who are linked with possible moves are younger players who may fetch some value and potentially improve elsewhere and so coaches may wish to buy them.
Two really good posts there lads. Agreed 100%. In the current climate and with the tail end of the player contract shit show Arsene and the Lizard left behind I think we need to be realistic about our expectations. We'll get shot of some of the deadwood but not all.
Ozil has 9 months of his contract left so still about £13.5M to go. I can't help but think the club should try offering him a one off final lump sum to fu.ck off now, say £9M and be done with him for good. There's nothing to lose.
Who do people think we are going to sell Ozil to, nobody wants him mainly due to the wages he's on, so to say Arteta isn't moving him out doesn't give the whole picture, Mustafi is in the last Yr of his contract and is currently injured, I haven't seen anywhere in the media about any team in the world who have shown any kind of interest in him,and if so why would they pay a fee for him in his last Yr, when they can get him for nothing.
Easy to say move them on when there is no interest in them.
Xhaka does seem to be in favour with Arteta so he's not going anywhere unless some club offers real stupid money.
Let me clarify mc, the point I was making regarding not getting rid of the shite players in the squad wasnt aimed at arteta, and was more made in a general "let's hold off on the celebrations until those c.unts are finally gone". I have comtinually said that I dont believe dynamite would move that half turkish/half german c.unt out of our club even a day before his contract expires, but it doesnt mean that I cant hope and dream that he will fcuk off any day now.
Anyway like I say, my original post was saying that for me selling maitland-niles and holding is not celebration time and is bad club management when they should be looking at other departures first
Who do people think we are going to sell Ozil to, nobody wants him mainly due to the wages he's on, so to say Arteta isn't moving him out doesn't give the whole picture, Mustafi is in the last Yr of his contract and is currently injured, I haven't seen anywhere in the media about any team in the world who have shown any kind of interest in him,and if so why would they pay a fee for him in his last Yr, when they can get him for nothing.
Easy to say move them on when there is no interest in them.
Xhaka does seem to be in favour with Arteta so he's not going anywhere unless some club offers real stupid money.
Completely agree with this McD, putting Ozil's idiotic wages to one side is a player of his age who has hardly played for 6 months and appears to have a very negative attitude something teams with limited transfer funds actually want to take a punt on, same goes for Xhaka and Kolasinac, both incredibly limited players, something we have lamented on here constantly, yet suddenly in a time where a lot of teams are scraping around for funds to buy players some seem to think that every man and his dog should be bidding for them.
Is it a case of reality biting in the footballing world under Chinese Coronavirus limitations, teams who might of under normal circumstances taken a punt on these players aren't willing to risk the funds.
None of us really know Arteta's mind or Edu's and maybe they do want rid of at least some of the dross but no-one is actually interested, the players who are linked with possible moves are younger players who may fetch some value and potentially improve elsewhere and so coaches may wish to buy them.
Two really good posts there lads. Agreed 100%. In the current climate and with the tail end of the player contract shit show Arsene and the Lizard left behind I think we need to be realistic about our expectations. We'll get shot of some of the deadwood but not all.
Ozil has 9 months of his contract left so still about £13.5M to go. I can't help but think the club should try offering him a one off final lump sum to fu.ck off now, say £9M and be done with him for good. There's nothing to lose.
I see Messi wants to come to the Arsenal
And if we still had wenger in charge we would have almost signed him by now, but of course ye peasants chased him away
Apparently Messi was seen in the chippy on Blackstock Road earlier tonight!
Lionel Messi hands in Barcelona transfer request
By Guillem Balague
Spanish football writer
28 minutes ago From the sectionEuropean Football
Share this page
Lionel Messi looking dejected during Barcelona's Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich
Barcelona's season ended with an 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals
Forward Lionel Messi has asked to leave Spanish giants Barcelona this summer.
The Argentina international, 33, sent a fax to the club on Tuesday saying he wishes to exercise a clause in his contract, allowing him to leave for free with immediate effect.
Barca were beaten 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals on 16 August.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner made his debut for Barca in 2004 and has won the Champions League four times.
Barcelona, though, believe the clause has now expired and Messi is contracted to the club until 2021 with a 700m euro buy-out clause.
The board will meet soon and some consider the only thing that could placate Messi is the resignation of the president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and early elections. But the Argentine seems determined to leave the club no matter what.
A legal battle is now set to follow between the club and the player. Messi had a clause in his contract which allowed him to leave for free, if he informed the club of his desire before 10 June.
That date has now passed so Barca believe the clause has expired but Messi and his team feel it should be extended to cover the prolonged season - which ran until August due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Central midfielder next please 
