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.
Retro there’s only one man on this forum that I’ll take a lecture from about the club’s finances - step forward US Marty
£2m a week is obscene, but that’s what the Qatari’s/Saudi’s/Sheikh’s have done to the game sadly, shat all over it.
I used to lurk rather than post back in those days, but I actually quite enjoyed his posts and thought he was a little hard done by to get banned. He was a bit obsessed with the board, but in that respect, he was right.
| Mikel Arteta has told players he wants them to compete at the highest level among themselves in every position if they expect to regularly win major honours. [@SkySportsPL, @MelissaReddy_] #afc
| It is understood that Aaron Ramsdale has welcomed the challenge of competing with David Raya and believes it will push both goalkeepers to elevate their game. #afc
| There will be no automatic first-choice goalkeeper at Arsenal when the deal for Raya is finalised with Arteta and Edu having designed the recruitment strategy this summer to ensure greater competition for starting spots in the squad. #afc
EXCL: Arsenal taking David Raya on £3m loan + £27m buy option. Brentford contract extension (#BrentfordFC get fee if #AFC sign & retain value if not). Said goodbyes today, medical likely Thurs. Paperwork stage. W/ @jaydmharris @gunnerblog @TheAthleticFC
EXCL: David Raya’s move to Arsenal from Brentford is set to be a loan with an option to buy.
£3m initial loan fee with £27m purchase option. Raya to sign extension with Brentford to give them security.
The plot thickens, would love to know what’s actually going on behind the scenes with this one. All very very strange.
So we pay 3m loan with an option(not mandatory)to buy next season for 27m ,so the 27m becomes next yrs problem if we take up the option,
Trying to get my head around this,he signs a 1 Yr extension to his Brentford contract until 2025,if we decide not to buy him after his season long loan then it means Brentford can still get a decent fee from other clubs.
Given my well known doubts about Ramsdale, this might well sound contrary, but Replacing Ramsdale...or bringing in a keeper to challenge him...would not be at the top of my list of things that urgently need doing.
Sure, I'd be happy to see Ramsdale replaced with a more reliable, top level keeper, but we desperately need a proper goal scoring striker and in my opinion, a centre mid to replace Partey. I'm resigned to the fact that Arteta won't sign a striker, because Jesus is his boy and I'm sure that he sees Havertz as his second string striker. Rodders was asking who we should go after and back in Jan I suggested Mitrovic and I'm not alone in that. I think SteveO seconded the idea back then and Augie and John F would also take the guy. He's better technically than many might realise and he has that tough aggressive streak that we lack in the side. He must be a nightmare to mark. I reckon we'd get him for 30m.
As for a centre mid, Caicedo is still available by the look of it and I also rate Douglas Luiz who we went after at the end of last summer (I think).
So, while I wouldn't be sorry to replace Ramsdale, there are far more pressing issues imo and we could have the world's best keeper between the sticks, but if we're weak up front and in centre mid (as we have been for years), then we'll come up short.
We've blown 65m on Havertz and I was going to say another 30m on Raya, although Mc's last post says we're only paying 3m now. Either way, there are more important areas to address.
As for Raya, I have no real idea whether he's an upgrade on Ramsdale or not. I've seen nowhere near enough of the bloke to know. Opinion on here seems to be that he's a good acquisition. Hope so.
The plot thickens, would love to know what’s actually going on behind the scenes with this one. All very very strange.
So we pay 3m loan with an option(not mandatory)to buy next season for 27m ,so the 27m becomes next yrs problem if we take up the option,
Trying to get my head around this,he signs a 1 Yr extension to his Brentford contract until 2025,if we decide not to buy him after his season long loan then it means Brentford can still get a decent fee from other clubs.
Yes but his value will probably have fallen off a cliff
| Mikel Arteta has told players he wants them to compete at the highest level among themselves in every position if they expect to regularly win major honours. [@SkySportsPL, @MelissaReddy_] #afc
EXCL: Arsenal taking David Raya on £3m loan + £27m buy option. Brentford contract extension (#BrentfordFC get fee if #AFC sign & retain value if not). Said goodbyes today, medical likely Thurs. Paperwork stage. W/ @jaydmharris @gunnerblog @TheAthleticFC
