Re: The Official Summer Transfer Rumours Thread

by Jay29 Wed Aug 26, 2020 11:22 am

Wolves made formal offer (below £20m) for Ainsley Maitland-Niles yesterday. Rejected by Arsenal as they seek higher fee for versatile 22yo. Among other interested clubs, 2 in Germany understood to be preparing bids. Background for @TheAthleticUK #WWFC #AFC https://t.co/CxhbX2McWn
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 26, 2020

by El Gunner Wed Aug 26, 2020 12:52 pm

thank god, 25mil pounds minimum. In the current climate, a player like him goes for 30mil, especially being an English player to another English team. But i wont be greedy

by Jay29 Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:53 am

Arteta spoke about transfers in his recent press conference:

On Auba: "I'm pretty confident we're going to find an agreement to extend his contract soon."

On Gabriel: "When we get it [done], I will be very pleased. He’s a player we followed and were determined that he was the right profile for us to improve our squad. If we are able to finalise it we will be delighted."

On Ceballos: "We've had some talks. Dani knows really well what I think about him – he was pretty clear with me that his intention was to remain with us."

On Guendouzi: “I have been really clear that everybody starts from zero. He is going to be part of the team and at the moment he is like any other player in our squad."

On Elneny: "Like anybody else, at the moment he is with us and will be given all of our support and the best possible environment to perform as high as he can. We don't know [if he'll stay] – October 6 is still too far away and it is pretty unpredictable too."

On Maitland-Niles: "Yes, we are reading a lot of news about our players which is not bad that other clubs want him but with Ainsley, he's a player that I've said since I joined that I really like. The best way to show that is that I have played him in the most important games of the season and he responded really well, so that's where we are with the player."

-------------------------------------------------

Sounds like Guendouzi and Elneny will be sticking around while the club sorts out more midfield signings. If everyone gets a fresh start, then maybe Ozil will come back too (lol).

The links with Amadou Diawara have come back but it seems dependent on Torreira's future. Fiorentina want him but they're looking for a loan.

Arteta and Edu are reportedly "in love" with Aouar but there's competition from everywhere and the bidding is starting at 50m. Seems unrealistic at this stage.

by El Gunner Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:57 am

so nothing exciting to know really, just like Wenger, keeping his cards close to his chest

by Jay29 Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:09 pm

Holding close to joining Newcastle on loan. No optional/mandatory fee.

Reckon he could do well there.

by RealGunner Sat Aug 29, 2020 2:20 pm

Good move for all

by Jay29 Mon Aug 31, 2020 5:16 pm

Some rumours:

- Villa made a 10m bid for Martinez. Rejected. Martinez wants a new contract and Arsenal want him to stay.
- Maitland-Niles could sign a new deal as well. His recent performances + England call-up mean his value has gone up, so Arsenal want to hold onto him for a little longer.
- Ozil has lucrative offers from the middle-east but he plans on staying.
- PSG still watching Bellerin.
- Valencia could go for Guendouzi.
- Sokratis apparently close to joining Napoli for 4.5m.
- Fiorentina have agreed terms with Torreira but not a fee with Arsenal; Torino also interested.
- Schalke want Kolasinac back and Kolasinac wants to go back.
- Sampdoria want Elneny on loan.
- Auba has definitely signed a new deal.
- Gabriel is done. Just needs to be announced.
- Starting price for Aouar is 50m. City not interested at the moment apparently and he sees the PL as a more attractive destination than Serie A.

by RealGunner Mon Aug 31, 2020 5:25 pm

Saw this strange tweet where Kolasinac demanded to be Schalke's captain if he moves. Not sure how true.

Obviously Aouar would move to PL. We just need to convince him that we can make the CL.

Torreira, Kolasinac, Guendouzi, Elneny and Sokratis all leaving would be great. Would feel like my personal debt is half cleared.

by Jay29 Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:13 pm

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has joined Serie A side AS Roma on a permanent basis.

Micki leaves us following his season-long loan in Italy. We have agreed to terminate his contract with us by mutual consent to allow him to join Roma in a permanent move.

https://www.arsenal.com/news/mkhitaryan-joins-roma

by Jay29 Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:09 pm

Ceballos is coming back. Loan, no purchase option.

by El Gunner Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:32 pm

okay good, now let's sell some more deadwood and go hunt down Partey (with sensible wages) and Aouar.

by RealGunner Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:33 pm

Jay29 wrote:Ceballos is coming back. Loan, no purchase option.

Fantastic

by Sri Tue Sep 01, 2020 4:35 am

Lots of hope, reading your last two posts Jay! (except the MÖ bit)

by Eman Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:00 pm

Lots of positive news, though I do have a couple of concerns:

1) We're offloading players for next to nothing. I mean, it is what it is and we're likely only doing it because we need to get the wages off our books ASAP while other clubs cannot afford high transfer fees anyway, but it's still quite frustrating to see all of that potential value be tossed away. Mkhitaryan for example - I read that we valued him at 15M a month ago, but now we let him go for free? Sokratis, I saw we valued at 10M, but we're letting him go for 4.5M. We're likely only loaning Elneny and Kolasinac...I mean, these guys probably aren't worth huge fees but they're worth more than that and we could have used the cash. I'm just complaining, like I know we probably have no choice, but this is an indirect financial blow and makes me question if we will even be able to afford Partey and/or another CM when the dust settles.

2) Getting Ceballos back only on a loan with no option to buy is risky. If he has a great season, Real Madrid can easily demand a large fee next summer or elect to keep him and we get caught with our pants down. I suppose this is likely influenced by point #1, where we aren't getting much money in from players departing, but again this could cause complications down the road.

Well, at least we're seeing movement :coffee:

by Jay29 Tue Sep 01, 2020 6:26 pm

1) We're offloading players for next to nothing. I mean, it is what it is and we're likely only doing it because we need to get the wages off our books ASAP while other clubs cannot afford high transfer fees anyway, but it's still quite frustrating to see all of that potential value be tossed away. Mkhitaryan for example - I read that we valued him at 15M a month ago, but now we let him go for free? Sokratis, I saw we valued at 10M, but we're letting him go for 4.5M. We're likely only loaning Elneny and Kolasinac...I mean, these guys probably aren't worth huge fees but they're worth more than that and we could have used the cash. I'm just complaining, like I know we probably have no choice, but this is an indirect financial blow and makes me question if we will even be able to afford Partey and/or another CM when the dust settles.

You can only sell if there's a willing buyer, and I imagine the market for low value players on massive salaries is practically non-existent right now.

This is a market where Real Madrid aren't buying, where Juventus have to loan players with purchase options, where Barcelona have to let the likes of Rakitic, Vidal and Suarez go for nothing because they need to reduce their wage bill, etc. Even the PL has been quiet, with the exception of Chelsea, who had the benefit of Abramovic covering nearly £300m in losses using his own wealth. Not something every club can enjoy.

Even in a healthy, pre-pandemic market, the players we're trying to offload would never command good fees because of their salaries. Typically, you end up reducing the transfer fee to entice buyers into taking a chance. We were never going to make a lot of money on Mkhitaryan, Sokratis, etc. The real money is in younger players on smaller salaries. Martinez, Maitland-Niles and Torreira, for example.

by RealGunner Tue Sep 01, 2020 6:39 pm

.@garbosj : 'We understand that Odsonne Edouard is of great interest to the Gunners and that they are indeed willing to pay around €25m for the Celtic striker. Also, interesingly he is yet to feature for Celtic, he didn't feature in the last two games'
— Z (@ZRAFC) September 1, 2020

by El Gunner Tue Sep 01, 2020 7:06 pm

^^apparently he's just injured i read lol

by Jay29 Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:04 pm

PSG want Bellerin. Arsenal want 35m. Bellerin "at a crossroads" as he's reluctant to spend prime years in a rebuild. Him leaving would make AMN first choice RB.

Confirmed by Ornstein and Romano.

Also, Partey is still a target and discussions have taken place over Aouar.

by RealGunner Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:28 pm

If selling Bellerin means we get Aouar then it's a sacrifice worth taking. I mean i am still behind Bellerin and anything less than 35m is a big no. But AMN is more than capable.

by Mr Nick09 Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:32 pm

What’s the deal with Partey? I have been reading all summer that Arsenal want him. The guy has a released clause and you literally do not need to have conversations with Atletico to sign him. So where is the problem? Who is lying?

by El Gunner Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:33 pm

out:
Bellerin - 35m
Guendouzi - 30m
Lacazette - 30m
Torreira - 25m
Sokratis - 4.5m
Kolasinac - 4.5m
total: 129m

in:
Partey - 50m
Aouar - 50m
Eduoard - 25m
total: 125m

keep:
AMN
Martinez
Leno

by El Gunner Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:35 pm

Mr Nick09 wrote:What’s the deal with Partey? I have been reading all summer that Arsenal want him. The guy has a released clause and you literally do not need to have conversations with Atletico to sign him. So where is the problem? Who is lying?

i think the discussion is that we're looking to pay his release clause in instalments, and we also just want to settle our outgoings first before finalising incoming deals

by Jay29 Wed Sep 02, 2020 9:09 am

Mr Nick09 wrote:What’s the deal with Partey? I have been reading all summer that Arsenal want him. The guy has a released clause and you literally do not need to have conversations with Atletico to sign him. So where is the problem? Who is lying?

Nobody is lying. Arsenal simply haven't got the cash to pay the release clause at the moment, so they've been trying to negotiate with Atletico instead, to little success.

by Eman Wed Sep 02, 2020 8:46 pm

El Gunner wrote:out:
Guendouzi - 30m

Honestly, I don't foresee us getting 30M or even close to that for Guendouzi. He's a known problem player and it's not like he was even a world beater for us when he's played over the past couple of seasons. Sure, he's a young guy with loads of talent, but his attitude suggests that he may never fulfill his potential. In the current transfer market climate, I would be hesitant to spend 15M on him, let alone 30M. It doesn't really seem like any club is genuinely interested in signing him either. I could realistically see him staying if nothing changes soon.

On Bellerin: I think offloading him and Kolasinac is extremely risky. We are on course to be short of options in CM and only have Tierney at LB, so Niles will be needed in those positions. If we play Niles as our first-choice RB, fine, but then we'll need another player in the positions he's currently due to cover (assuming we are in fact keeping him). Wouldn't it just be easier to keep Bellerin? Or are we so desperate for cash that we're willing to create additional issues with our squad balance?

by Jay29 Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:04 am

Wouldn't it just be easier to keep Bellerin? Or are we so desperate for cash that we're willing to create additional issues with our squad balance?

Saka can play LB/LWB. Hell I'd argue it's his best position. Depth in the forward positions has improved with Willian coming in and Smith Rowe returning from loan so we can drop Saka into defence when needed.

AMN has played midfield so rarely I can barely consider him cover there. In any case, the assumption is if Bellerin is sold, a midfielder will come in, giving us four options (Xhaka, Willock, Ceballos, new CM), plus Smith Rowe if we're playing a three-man midfield. If Guendouzi comes back into the squad that's six mids, to say nothing of the futures of Elneny and Torreira, who could well end up staying as well.

I see it as a net positive. Going from Bellerin to AMN isn't a massive step-down in quality, while at the same time we'd have vital funds to drastically improve our midfield.

by Jay29 Thu Sep 03, 2020 5:35 pm

More news on outgoings:

- According to Paris Fans, PSG's initial offer for Bellerin was around €20m. Arsenal are asking for €39m.
- Romano has direct quotes from Napoli's president confirming negotiations for Sokratis. Napoli want Arsenal to terminate his contract like they did with Mkhitaryan.
- According Labaro Viola (no idea who they are, but I assume a Fiorentina fansite), Torreira will join Fiorentina on loan for a fee of €8m, followed by an obligatory €16m purchase.
- And according to Ruhr24, a decent news source for Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen also want Kolasinac and might even pay a transfer fee.
- Finally, Fol Balogun looks set to join a German club on a permanent deal. His departure was expected.

As it stands, we look set to make a loss on Torreira after just two years, but could make an unexpected profit on Kolasinac.

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