Re: The Official Summer Transfer Rumours Thread

[MJ]

what saga?

I don't normally comment on false stories about myself but reports about contract demands & bust-ups with the boss are complete nonsense...

— Theo Walcott (@theowalcott) 26. März 2015

There have been no contract talks as yet and my current focus is not on contracts but on doing my best for Arsenal FC.

— Theo Walcott (@theowalcott) 26. März 2015

That would be encouraging if he hadn't contradicted Wenger who said contract talks are underway.

[Sri]

Meh.

Finishing the season well >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> What happens with/to Theo.

[Raptorgunner]

In few weeks you will hear Walcott talking about how its not about asking for 180k a week, its about winning trophies.

[Peccadillo]

Chelsea wont sell us Cech, spurs wont sell Lloris.

We should try to tie up someone abroad like Romero or Neto early. Not piss around with Mou.

[MJ]

Chelsea wont sell us Cech, spurs wont sell Lloris.

We should try to tie up someone abroad like Romero or Neto early. Not piss around with Mou.

Cech and Lloris would be obvious upgrades. No chance at Lloris but going by Cech's and Maureen's comments there's something there.

Romero and Neto are not in the same discussion, they'd be more like Ospina additions.

And I haven't thrown Ospina out with the bathwater in saying I want Cech, he's done pretty well as of late and deserves props.

[Raptorgunner]

Arsene Wenger: "The days of Arsenal being bullied in the transfer market are over"

Not sure what Man City are going to do now?

[Sri]

Fight for fourth place

[Chumlum]

Fight for fourth place

[Eman]

Chelsea wont sell us Cech, spurs wont sell Lloris.

We should try to tie up someone abroad like Romero or Neto early. Not piss around with Mou.

Cech and Lloris would be obvious upgrades. No chance at Lloris but going by Cech's and Maureen's comments there's something there.

Romero and Neto are not in the same discussion, they'd be more like Ospina additions.

And I haven't thrown Ospina out with the bathwater in saying I want Cech, he's done pretty well as of late and deserves props.

To earn a reputation as a world-class keeper, a GK has to perform year-in, year-out. Ospina has been damn near flawless this season, but yes Cech is Cech and would be an improvement. That said, would Lloris? He has a better reputation than his talent merits IMO; a very good keeper but I don't class him up with the likes of Cech, Courtois, Neuer, etc.

If we end up having to replace Szczesny and cannot get Cech, I'm in the Begovic bandwagon. At any rate, I expect to have the same keepers come the start of next season barring the odd young 3rd-choice signing.

[Sri]

The Frenchman added: “When all your main players get close to 30, you can’t buy a 30-year-old player. You have to buy a player who is 22 or 23 because if you buy another player of 30, they all die together. As a manager, in the long-term and short-term, you have to say: ‘OK, we can win the league’ but you cannot go without planning for the future. So the players we buy this summer have to be a bit younger – they cannot be 29 or 30. Age-wise you need a balance.”

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/09/alex-oxlade-chamberlain-arsenal?CMP=share_btn_tw


Can put the Cech stuff to bed now, surely?

[MJ]

Again, can a GK be thought of in the same discussion as outfied players when they're 30?

The Cech talk is a bit of a fantasy right now anyway but I'm not completely sure that that's a death sentence for it.

But, @Eman, Ospina has had more than a few shaky performances, he's been nowhere near flawless imo, he almost warranted getting dropped if we had someone more reliable than Szczesny on the bench. After Monaco he stabilized but that's only stable.

Imo we should have signed Lloris ahead of Spurs back in the day. Maybe if he were playing for Arsenal by now he'd have a better reputation but he's in the top 4 keepers in the league for me for sure.

[Sri]

I would rather keep Ospina over Szczesny right now, tbh..

[El Gunner]

The Frenchman added: “When all your main players get close to 30, you can’t buy a 30-year-old player. You have to buy a player who is 22 or 23 because if you buy another player of 30, they all die together. As a manager, in the long-term and short-term, you have to say: ‘OK, we can win the league’ but you cannot go without planning for the future. So the players we buy this summer have to be a bit younger – they cannot be 29 or 30. Age-wise you need a balance.”

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/09/alex-oxlade-chamberlain-arsenal?CMP=share_btn_tw


Can put the Cech stuff to bed now, surely?

[Sri]

Gotta love the old man

[Sri]

HYPOTHETICALLY: What would you feel about this Walcott+Cash = Sterling crap?

[MJ]

HYPOTHETICALLY: What would you feel about this Walcott+Cash = Sterling crap?

If we couldn't get Walcott to extend his deal and we were playing FIFA career mode then why not?

[Sri]

A 20 year old, with lots of talent but finishing which rivals Welbeck and even Sanogo, who declined a 100k p/w offer at Liverpool, for 20m pounds and who was arguably our best striker and did this:


I don't think it is that straightforward tbh

[Raptorgunner]

I dont rate Sterling tbh, and wont do a player trade for a kid who is causing trouble for his current team...when they are fighting for a CL spot.

I rather Theo stays but if he wants to go, we have Oxlade and Gnabry to replace him with.

Get Reus and get it over with.

[Sri]

I don't think Reus will be moving this summer, or Hummels or Gundogan for that matter- but obviously I have a bias/soft-spot for BVB here.

That said, it sucks that Ox, Gnabry, Theo and Reus have all seen significant time in the injury lists in the last couple of years :/

[Jay29]

Reus shouldn't enter the transfer discussion anymore after he signed a new deal. He's not going anywhere. End of.

Sterling has two years on his deal and Liverpool don't have to sell him this summer, even with the difficulties they're having over renewing his deal. He'll be linked with us all summer, no doubt, but I don't see this one as realistic either. However, given what a fantastic talent he is, I wouldn't object to it happening.

Walcott, I feel, will renew eventually. We've been here before with his contract. Wenger has alluded to how difficult Walcott's representatives can be and though there's some annoyance there, I think there's a will from both parties to sort something out.

Even if we do sell him, his decreased importance to the team due to injury and the acquisition of Alexis and Welbeck means it's not as heavy a loss as it would have been a couple of years ago. I don't think we'd even need to bring someone in to replace him, not with Chamberlain and Gnabry already at the club. Sign a back-up striker for Giroud and we'll have two players for every forward position again.

On the subject of wide players: James Milner on a free. Yes or no?

[MJ]

A 20 year old, with lots of talent but finishing which rivals Welbeck and even Sanogo, who declined a 100k p/w offer at Liverpool, for 20m pounds and who was arguably our best striker and did this:

I don't think it is that straightforward tbh

lmao, that's entrapment.

I said 'IF we can't get Walcott to extend' meaning that's my priority and sure, IF this was a FIFA career mode fantasy kind of transfer market.

I was also going to ask why we'd bother with someone who had turned down 90kpw at Liverpool but Sterling said that it's about more than money meaning he's probably waiting to see if Liverpool can make top 4 before he signs or decides to move on. CL qualification factors in here.

So it's not that straightforward either

[Sri]

Yes yes, the entrapment was unintentional - sorry about that.. I was only answering my own post - that is, putting out my views on that question..

The whole 'It's not about the money' line, we have heard a lot of over recent years. Only, in our case, it was 'trophies' instead of 'top 4/CL'. As recently as last summer, a player left us to join City in search of 'trophies'.

If there is anyone who sees through that jazzy line, it is us Arsenal fans.

Theo extending and signing Sterling should in fact be mutually exclusive things.

We would like Theo to extend. If he doesn't, despite all that he has done (and not done *cough* next Henry *cough*) over the years, I doubt many of us would lose a wink of sleep over it with the current alternatives - including Ox, Gnabry and Welbeck. The only thing Theo has on them is his PL experience at Arsenal and his finishing. It's telling that he's not started despite being fit for over a month - even when Welbeck picked up a knock which saw Ramsey on the RW (although tactics played a role too, in this case).

In that context, do we really want Sterling, even if Theo is sold?

[Sri]

Missed Jay's post - Milner: as a 30 year old squad player?

I would be tempted, if indeed we are looking at a wide player.

But remember AW quotes in the last two weeks?

a. He wants a 15-20 goal player.
b. He wants someone around 22-23 years of age.

Sterling fits that bill somewhat - he has 10 goals in all competitions this season and that can realistically improve in the next, if he can figure out how to shoot (him and Welbeck could attend that summer camp together tbf).

Dybala does as well, 21 y.o. and 13 goals this season.

Milner fails on both counts though.

[Jay29]

Milner's versatility appeals to me, along with his experience and the fact he's English. Central midfield is one area we could so some depth, what with Wilshere and Ramsey's constant injury issues, Arteta's age and Flamini unlikely to be with us much longer. I feel he would be a useful short-term option to pick up for free.

As far as 15-20 goal a season players go, Ramsey could be that guy. 16 goals last year despite missing three/four months with injury, 8 goals this year despite injury problems preventing him from having a real run of form. I think Ozil could probably get up 15 goals, too, if he improved his finishing a bit. Then there's Walcott, too. There are internal solutions.

[Sri]

I have to admit, when I first read that AW quote on 15-20 goals, my inclination was also towards such an internal solution - the likes of Ox, Ramsey and Ozil scoring more. Cazorla too, if Arteta comes back and takes over the penalty duty. However, that doesn't preclude us signing a young-ish attacker. More so, if we decide to cash in on Theo.

I suspect we'd feel tempted to hang on to Theo and let him off on a free next summer though. Podolski and Campbell are there too, but probably heading out as well.

Flamini is out of contract this summer. I could have sworn he had another year left in his contract! If you take Flamini and Diaby out, there is definitely room in the squad for Milner. Even more so if Rosicky leaves, which I see as a definite possibility this summer. 3 year deal sounds fair too, although he has every right to expect a longer and richer contract offer.

[Eman]

On the topic of Theo vs. Sterling: Theo all day. He has been prolific and incredibly good for us when fit for years now. It's easy to forget, but it wasn't long ago that he was probably the best player in our front 3. Sterling has tons of potential and may become a better player, but when you consider his contract demands at Liverpool and the adjusting period he'd need to go through, I wouldn't lose Theo for him.

But, @Eman, Ospina has had more than a few shaky performances, he's been nowhere near flawless imo, he almost warranted getting dropped if we had someone more reliable than Szczesny on the bench. After Monaco he stabilized but that's only stable.

That's the thing, every goalkeeper has some shaky performances; even Courois and De Gea have conceded some garbage goals this year. Ospina had a small handful of shaky performances during which time people were freaking out unnecessarily because he hasn't been here long enough to build a reputation, but he has rarely conceded poor goals and right now is doing everything right. I don't think anyone else could realistically be expected to have done better over as many games as Ospina has played, so I really don't consider improving our GKs a priority. If Ospina is as good as he is right now for the next 5 years, we will be perfectly alright.

On the subject of wide players: James Milner on a free. Yes or no?

I say no because of the options we already have. Sanchez, Walcott, Welbeck, AOC, Gnabry, Campbell, potentially Podolski are already there, and we aren't going to let both Podolski and Campbell go. Milner would probably want strong wages and a better guarantee of playing than City could give him, which he is not going to get here.

For me, in a perfect world, we would sign Cavani and solidify outstanding options in every position in our front 3 with only one signing.

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