The Official Summer Transfer Rumours Thread

[El Gunner]

@sri, so the baggage is just too much for you?... Is that the sole reason you wouldn't take Suarez?

[Sri]

@sri, so the baggage is just too much for you?... Is that the sole reason you wouldn't take Suarez?

Personally, yes. In the last decade or so, and from what I have seen in videos of the years before that, there has been one thing which stood out most - Arsenal is a club with class, where players behave with class. You didn't see Adebayor stamp an opponent while he was here. That is not to say there have been no rotten apples at all - just that we haven't had excessive dirty laundry being washed in public. No incests, cheating on your team mates, banging their wives, etc. etc. No excessive kicking, biting, diving, insulting, trash talking (expect Woj and Spuds), etc.

If we spend thrice our maximum transfer record on a striker, I expect him to stay for atleast 5-7 years and bang in 200 odd goals in that period, and play in a majority of games in that period, and stay out of any controversies, and uphold the class and traditions which this club stands for - which people like Bergkamp and Henry have done, which Persie did as a captain before he realized the presence of a dysfunctional little retard inside him.

Yes, Suarez is a loyal player (as he has shown at Ajax as well as Liverpool). Yes, he is prolific and should have been the player of the season gone by. He might well bang in those 200 goals in 5-7 years that I want from a marquee striker. Yes, he probably is even "World Class".

But can he keep his cool? Can he keep himself under leash, without kicking/biting/diving/..? This was the second time he has been suspended for biting - I don't care if its a way of showing love in South America. What's the point of buying such an expensive player, overpaying above his market value cause Liverpool won't sell cheap to a team they consider a rival, footing his wages, etc. if he is going to be suspended for chunks of the season and bring bad publicity?

That math, unfortunately, doesn't add up for me.

[Nishankly]

While i respect and understand your feelings Sri, The players you want are barely in the ratio of 5/100 nowdays.
You can't expect an ideal player in every transfer.

[Sri]

While i respect and understand your feelings Sri, The players you want are barely in the ratio of 5/100 nowdays.
You can't expect an ideal player in every transfer.

Nothing wrong in hoping.

[SamuelJayC]

McCarthy signing would make little sense. Like Szczesny he is young - having two young keepers I wouldn't understand.

Isn't the purpose of bringing in a keeper to provide experience and help teach Szczesny?

Why we haven't signed Julio Cesar already, I have no idea.

[urbaNRoots]

...unless Szczesny is going.

[SamuelJayC]

With Alonso, Illarremendi, Modric and Khedira all at Madrid, I wonder how happy Ancelotti can keep them (particularly the latter two). 4-2-3-1 system, only 2 can play, unless Modric plays behind forward, which seems unlikely given Isco and Ozil are at club.

I'd love us to get Khedira.

Khedira, Diego Lopez and Higuain.  

[SamuelJayC]

Honigstein says on @ESPNPressPass that Kondogbia is a "realistic possibility" for Arsenal this summer. #AFC

[urbaNRoots]

What do we need Khedira for? He's neither a DM or AM, Khedira offers nothing what we don't already have.

Diego Lopez and Higuain would be really nice indeed.

Higuain, Eriksen, Kondogbia and J. Cesar/Lopez would be a successful transfer window for me.

[REWB]

What do we need Khedira for? He's neither a DM or AM, Khedira offers nothing what we don't already have.

Diego Lopez and Higuain would be really nice indeed.

Higuain, Eriksen, Kondogbia and J. Cesar/Lopez would be a successful transfer window for me.

i agree with these transfers, they are perfect.

[furiouswindbottom]

Just get Fellaini, Higauin and Cesc.

Suarez? Top player but mental.

What are the odds of him doing something mental again? 50/50?

When he does it, how long a ban will the FA give him?

Too risky for me (for 35-40m anyway).

[<(^^,)>]

We can simply speculate in here about the transfers while our supposed targets seemed to be joining other clubs.

Victor Wanyama to Soton,Jedvaj to Roma,Vrsaljko to Genoa and Bony to Swansea.

Not that these are big players or worst case,they might not have been linked with Arsenal at all,but I feel we seem to be going a little too slow on the transfers side.

If we are delaying the signing of Higgy,I can understand since big money and a big club is involved.But I can't understand why we haven't yet signed even a back-up GK.That wouldn't be too difficult,IMO.Or is AW stll waiting for a top,top,top player...?  

[boyzis]

All talk in papers is rubbish. I expect none of targets reported to join.

[boyzis]

Paper make this sort of shit up every season. Get ready wenger will surprise everyone once again.

[MJ]

I'm still very interested in seeing what Gervinho could do with a full uninterrupted season under his belt. He played very well at the beginning of last season (was our top scorer for a while) and had 4 great games back to back after AFCON after which he, admittedly, burnt out.

Not saying he's lived up to expectations (we were hoping for 15+ goals and assists per season after his last season with Lille ) but he's definitely shown that there's more to him than most people give him credit for.

If we recoup his transfer fee, fine, as long as we sign someone as good or better than him. But if not, selling him is unnecessary. He brings depth, if nothing else.

[Adit]

With Alonso, Illarremendi, Modric and Khedira all at Madrid, I wonder how happy Ancelotti can keep them (particularly the latter two). 4-2-3-1 system, only 2 can play, unless Modric plays behind forward, which seems unlikely given Isco and Ozil are at club.

I'd love us to get Khedira.

Khedira, Diego Lopez and Higuain.  

It is believed that we are going for a 3 man midfield so 4 players for 3 position is actually short..we are in for MOAR midfielders..

[EL Patron]

I'm still very interested in seeing what Gervinho could do with a full uninterrupted season under his belt. He played very well at the beginning of last season (was our top scorer for a while) and had 4 great games back to back after AFCON after which he, admittedly,  burnt out.

Not saying he's lived up to expectations (we were hoping for 15+ goals and assists per season after his last season with Lille ) but he's definitely shown that there's more to him than most people give him credit for.

If we recoup his transfer fee, fine, as long as we sign someone as good or better than him. But if not, selling him is unnecessary. He brings depth, if nothing else.

Gervais is too hit and miss for a club which wants to challenge for trophies, he is had a few decent moments but hasn't showed the consistency required to be a starter here. It would be best for both parties to move on, if he stays here he will spend most of his time on the bench and he will loose confidence then we will struggle to sell him like Chamack and others.

[Jay29]

We can simply speculate in here about the transfers while our supposed targets seemed to be joining other clubs.

Victor Wanyama to Soton,Jedvaj to Roma,Vrsaljko to Genoa and Bony to Swansea.

Not that these are big players or worst case,they might not have been linked with Arsenal at all,but I feel we seem to be going a little too slow on the transfers side.

If we are delaying the signing of Higgy,I can understand since big money and a big club is involved.But I can't understand why we haven't yet signed even a back-up GK.That wouldn't be too difficult,IMO.Or is AW stll waiting for a top,top,top player...?    

Chances are Arsenal are prioritising other positions. The market for strikers is very active right now, but barely any keepers are moving clubs. Arsenal can afford to wait.

[MJ]

Gervais is too hit and miss for a club which wants to challenge for trophies, he is had a few decent moments but hasn't showed the consistency required to be a starter here. It would be best for both parties to move on, if he stays here he will spend most of his time on the bench and he will loose confidence then we will struggle to sell him like Chamack and others.

I would be inclined to agree with you if his two seasons here weren't both interrupted by AFCON and injuries/suspensions. With a full season I think he could recapture the kind of form he showed when he was played consistently. If not, he provides able depth, and as I said, I wouldn't be too loath to losing him as long as we get what we paid for him to buy a better/more well adjusted player.

[Wilson37]

guys.. any chance that Suarez bid was a tactic.. i know that we dont resolve to such tactics.. but ?

personally, i am also against Suarez transfer as for all the reasons Sri mentioned.. too risky of a player to have at our club maintaining our class.. diver, cheater, racist, biter,... and what not ?

and i would close my eyes blindly and give Madrid 30 million for Higuain than paying 40 for Suarez..

[Wilson37]

Gervais is too hit and miss for a club which wants to challenge for trophies, he is had a few decent moments but hasn't showed the consistency required to be a starter here. It would be best for both parties to move on, if he stays here he will spend most of his time on the bench and he will loose confidence then we will struggle to sell him like Chamack and others.

I would be inclined to agree with you if his two seasons here weren't both interrupted by AFCON and injuries/suspensions. With a full season I think he could recapture the kind of form he showed when he was played consistently. If not, he provides able depth, and as I said, I wouldn't be too loath to losing him as long as we get what we paid for him to buy a better/more well adjusted player.

we have had seen enough of Gervais.. i find no reason to believe that he will be any different in the next season.. it is good that we part ways..
he could be used as that imact supersub late in the match and start cup matches.. but we would benefit more in the long term by giving those chances to Gnabry and other youngsters..
last years cup matches were the most terrible.. Arshavin, Chamakh, Santos, Gervais took away a nice chunk of our youngsters time..

[The Verminator]

http://arsenal-news.com/arsenal-boss-sensationally-hints-deal-has-been-struck/9714

“As you know the transfer period demands secrets and confidentiality, so I can’t answer the question.”

If these quotes are true, imo they hint that a deal for Suarez has been struck, or negotiations are progressing very well, otherwise Wenger would say that there's nothing to update us on like he usually says or some other kind of crap. But another part of me thinks there is no chance that a deal has been struck so i'm not going to look to far into his words. I believe it's almost impossible for Suarez to come to Arsenal (don't even want him anyway).

[SamuelJayC]

So, as of today, 13th July, our starting XI and bench reads:

Szczesny; Sagna Mertesacker Koscielny Gibbs; Arteta Wilshere; Walcott Cazorla Podolski; Giroud

Fabianski, Vermaelen, Monreal, Ramsey, Rosicky, Chamberlain, Sanogo*

*Assuming Gervinho does indeed go to Roma, and Chamakh/Park/Bendtner all go, Diaby injured*

Obviously, we're (hopefully!) going to be adding 2-3 big players to the squad, but looking at that XI and bench, we would struggle to finish top 4 again should we not add. Looking at the squad above, I'm still a little surprised we did in fact finish in top 4 - not saying Spurs, Pool were stronger or anything, they aren't, but squad just looked so weak compared to previous years.

Thoughts?

[MarcoReus]

patience is a deadly game

[Chumlum]

guys.. any chance that Suarez bid was a tactic.. i know that we dont resolve to such tactics.. but ?

personally, i am also against Suarez transfer as for all the reasons Sri mentioned.. too risky of a player to have at our club maintaining our class.. diver, cheater, racist, biter,... and what not ?

and i would close my eyes blindly and give Madrid 30 million for Higuain than paying 40 for Suarez..

This is a long read and maybe a little repetitive so just skip it if you're so inclined.

People say things like "Suarez is WC, he wins you games on his own, he is clearly far superior to Higuain." But nobody ever really goes in detail about what they mean by any of this - I have said many times that Suarez is of course a player capable of amazing things, but he does have shortcomings to his game. When asked to provide rebuttals, his biggest advocates mostly seem to offer platitudes.

Maybe I sound like a broken record, but Arsenal fans who think Suarez is somehow obviously a far far better choice than Higuain really, truly should look at a couple articles on 7amkickoff.

http://www.7amkickoff.com/2013/top-reasons-why-suarez-cant-be-an-arsenal-target-plus-numbers-comparing-him-to-higuain/

Suarez is inefficient: last season his shots on goal percentage was 39% (as opposed to Higuain at 55%), his dribbled attempted was 291 but successful dribbled was only 95. (Higuain attempted 45, achieved 20.) He turned the ball over 79 times (versus Higgy's 32). And while Suarez definitely scored more goals than Higuain (23 vs 16), he also played over 1200 extra minutes! And they both had five assists. If Suarez is truly so much more creative than Higuain, wouldn't he be able to notch up just a couple extra assists in those 1200 extra minutes on the pitch?

It's also worth looking at this article about "game winning goals." http://www.7amkickoff.com/2013/game-winning-goals-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-cazorla/ You might not agree with 7amkickoff's methods or definitions here, and that's cool. But it is something to consider when trotting out the platitude about Suarez being a player who "wins you games on his own," because in some circumstances he can be shown to fail at this. What then is ultimately meant by this phrase? For instance Gareth Bale, much as I hate him, is a player who has recently excelled at winning his team games on his own. Suarez pales in comparison.

Stats are not everything of course. In fact I think that sometimes people make too big a deal about stats, and football is not a sport as conducive to stats as e.g. baseball. But they obviously can be useful, and they can help us take a step back and be rational without resorting to platitudes and gross generalizations.

I don't say any of this to denigrate Suarez's talent or to say he's rubbish or even overrated. Not at all. I do honestly think that he's an elite player, and yes it's unfortunate we don't get to see him do his thing in the Champions League. But I also think there are some rough patches to his game that his cheerleaders turn a big blind eye towards. Even if you think Suarez is, in the end, a better player than Higuain - and that's a perfectly reasonable position - he is still definitely more wasteful, less clinical.

Combine that with his a proven track record of horrible decision-making leading to red cards, bans, and controversy. Plus England isn't his favorite place. Now compare next to Higuain, who is not a scrub (his solid goal returns for Madrid & Argentina attest) who comports himself as a real pro, and is likely to be substantially less expensive (which could allow greater funds for investment elsewhere). I'm just sayin' ...

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