Legally the club get sued and payout a huge amount if they suspend Partey before he's charged and he's then cleared. This is what happened to City re Mendy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/ar ... g7dd1595lo

Madueke - I think he's top drawer, can play either side, physically strong and very quick - would be perfect as a trio with Martinelli, Saka - good depth

What is with us and Chelsea players!!!??.
If he is being brought in to challenge on the left I have no problem with that but if is to back up Saka then no from me.
We really need to be careful here as there's a reason Nwaneri has not signed a new contract yet. If Madueke AND Eze are being brought in then why on earth would Nwaneri sign a new contract because to me that's effectively blocking 2 pathways into the team.
All the big clubs in Europe will be sniffing around him and from Jan 26 he will be able to agree a free transfer with a foreign club.
I really hope we have serious talks and a long term plan for his development and playing time as we will lose him and that would be a travesty.
I'd hate for us to lose this boy to a rival.

I heard that Arsenal and Berta might have contracted a football agency to put various transfer options on the table by approaching many different players. A totally different way of working to Edu who focussed solely on individual players. This might explain why we are linked to so many players Madueke the latest.

On him I think if it was a good deal it would depend on the fee. 35-42 million might be worth considering. Would provide genuine competition for Saka and would allow rotation. Any more wouldn’t really make sense.

You never know we might be about to sell a couple of players that could fund the move and this would then make more sense.

It seems the club see Madueke as an option for both wings. He’s right footed and mainly for plays on the right, but we play inverted wingers. He’s could be interesting coming from the left inside to his stronger foot.
It would feel like a luxury signing but if the club think we can afford that luxury then a player of his age and quality (and home grown status) coming off the bench to open up a game or a packed defence is not a bad choice to have.

Sesko/Gyökeres + Eze + Rodrygo would be a dream, but hard to see how we could afford all 3 without a big sale. Madueke coming would surely put an end to one of the later two.

I think that was just unpaid wages that City didn’t pay him. Interesting City took the opportunity to not pay him. But he’d been charged which is a different case.

If my employer said look you’ve got this investigation going on, go on indefinite gardening leave - actually I’d be delighted at being paid but not having to work - but if I liked my job I’d immediately go and get some legal advice and challenge that. I don’t know what employment law actually dictates, does anyone else??

The Mendy case suggests you have to pay them at the least but beyond that *shrug*

But let’s be clear, Partey wasn’t suspended and played as a starter wherever possible because he was considered the best option and was transformative to how we played. If he was Aubameyang or Guendouzi I.e. not performing or causing trouble within the club he would be shipped out, as indeed they were.

Can’t say I’m that overawed by the Madueke links. All being equal
I doubt he’d be in our top 5 choices, but I’m guessing his best ability is availability. Leao, Rodrygo etc are likely seen as overpriced or unavailable.

I too want to see Nwaneri pathway and I think Madueke is average by comparison, especially at age comparison. Nwaneri was our joint top scorer last season at 17, let that sink in.

I think all the Nwaneri noise right now is driven by his agent, his agent is a problem. It was the same when he signed his last deal.

No, most things work on the balance of evidence and what is 'reasonable', even most aspects of law.

Contract law, for example, does not have a presumption of innocence. There are limits to what two parties can contractually agree to. But a clause in a contract allowing for someone to be suspended during an investigation is absolutely legal.

If the employee sued, the courts would try to establish if it was reasonable at the time for the employer to conclude that the employee's reputation was damaging its brand.

We need someone who Arteta is willing to start against decent opposition so that Saka doesn't get run into the ground again. I'm not sure Arteta is concinved that Nwaneri is a ready-made Saka back just yet (or even if right wing will be his final position). So I think Nwaneri needs another season 'in the wings' so to speak. He'll get plenty of opportunities even if we do get another winger.

It reminds me a bit of the Saliba noise when he was on loan. It's tricky trying to keep young talent happy. Let's hope it ends as well as it did with Saliba!

Madueke is actually a very good player......skilful, a good dribbler and quite fast.

My only criticism would be over end product and decision-making, he's a bit of a headless chicken at times.

Definitely capable of game-changing moments though, which might be very useful against the low blocks we encounter almost every week.

Hi Decaf,

I think the law gives the accused the right to anonymity in these situations and Arsenal suspending him would effectively be outing him publicly. It must be a very grey area legally.

Remember, even now he's only just been charged and the charges are yet to be proven in a court of law

If, for example, Salah was under investigation following accusations of sexual assault (no charges yet) would Liverpool suspend him?. Not sure they would.

If everyone was immediately suspended on the back of as yet unproven accusations then anyone could potentially be the victim of liars, fantasists, blackmailers or anyone else with an axe to grind.

Having said that, you would have thought the club would have drawn a line under the whole legal minefield after the end of his contract and let him go. No idea why they tried to get him to sign a new contract unless they believed in his innocence and were under the impression all charges were about to be dropped.

The club is taking the piss if we end up with another Chelsea reject.

On a lighter note, The Bear is the best thing I've seen on TV for years. The guy who plays Ritchie completely kills it. "Purpose, cousin".

Yeah, that's a good point. The long delay between 'credible rumours' (and leaks) and actual charges is very problematic.

It’s great but I thought the recent season dropped off a bit. The first 2 seasons were superb.

Richie is great but I also don’t know if you noticed but Will Poulters character has a large Arsenal style A tattooed to his hand and a large Arsenal cannon on his fore arm. Apparently the actor himself is a Fanatic Arsenal fan.

You don’t know the full picture yet. Trossard is being linked to Turkish clubs this morning. I’d be surprised if we signed madueke and Rodrygo but there’s a requirement to bring in more cover to replace Sterling/Nelson/Vieira etc.

I think last year when saka was out that killed us. The drop off was huge.

Madueke is no reject

One of their best players last season

Chelsea have to sell, as their squad is so huge, plus the players are not idiots, they can see Chelsea's model is utterly lacking in stability and security for them

I can see why someone like Madueke would want out

We're just getting into season 2. Season 1 was so good it would be a surprise if they kept it up!

I'll keep an eye out for the cannon!

Watching a lot of K-dramas at the moment. The acting and production tend to be top tier even if they do tend to be just a bit cheesy at times.

I don't really know much about Madueke (I tend to avoid watching chelsea). But we definitely need another winger that Arteta is willing to pick or at least give serious minutes to on the right, not just someone he is forced to play when Saka is unavailable.

A 'floor raiser' if not a 'ceiling raiser'.

And I think it is clear that Nelson is not what is required (the less said about sterling ...) and should be sold. I don't think Vieira is a winger.

So that is one we need to 'replace' (or more likely, a hole we need to fill)

Trossard is a nuggety player and worth keeping as a squaddie but he's not the kind of player who is going to raise our level.

So, if Trossard is leaving we need a couple more wingers.

That is in addition to Nwaneri.

Thing is Elanga is about to sign for Newcastle for 55 million quid. The numbers are now so mental any transfer will get questioned

Is paying Chelsea 40 million for Madueke (I’d be shocked if it’s more) bad business in this market ?

If you need bodies to beef out a squad it’s another logical transfer. You will still get the same people who can’t admit Havertz was a decent buy slagging him off.

https://www.suburbangooners.com/2025/07 ... u-can-get/

This is nail on the head for me!
What are we actually playing at!!???
You've got one of the best upcoming youngsters in the country who did absolutely fine last season as Saka's back up and you're bringing in another sodding Chelsea player to essentially block his pathway.
Said player you are trying to tie down to a new contract. Its totally absurd.
Really pissed off with Arteta and the club about this. Are Chelsea players now the height of our scouting network???
Farcical.

He’s chatting *%^@ bruv.

Firstly Nwaneri himself says he’s a 10 not a wide player. Yes he could possibly get less minutes as a result but that shouldn’t mean we can’t re enforce our squad in areas that aren’t his even proper position. As for gauging Chelsea fans opinion I’d suggest that needs to be taken with a pinch of salt as they slagged off Havertz and Jorginho when they left.

It’s worth remembering we had young players on the bench for a champions league semi that will never ever play for Arsenal. Squad needs to be beefed up.

If we were signing this guy from PSV rather than Chelsea nobody would care a jot. If he joins it’s going to get boring listening to people double down that they hate him even when he plays well.

Zubimendi signs

https://www.arsenal.com/news/zubimendi- ... ts-arsenal

Now we can move into phase 2 scrutinising the amount we paid and his wages

I think it’s going to be

Zubimendi 55
Kepa 5
Nørgaard 9
Cristhian Mosquera 20
Gyökeres 60 fixed
Eze 60
Madueke 42 ish

Around 250 ish offset by the sale of Zinchenko 12, Hein, 1, Nelson 5, Vieira 15-20

Rodrygo only if martinelli is sold for an amount close to it.

If that happens what would everyone make of it ?

TG
I won't hate him if he plays well.
I.just think it's a signing where we could be putting the money to other areas that need immediate attention. I just don't think it's a signing we need to make where Nwaneri is comfortably the back up.
I think a lot of Arsenal fans including myself are getting very jittery that we could be in serious threat of losing an absolute jewel in Nwaneri.

Look at what I’ve said above. Would you consider that a successful summer ?

And now a Ornbomb on Gyökeres

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/624229 ... -transfer/

New number 36

From a squad point of view,that would be pretty stunning, even if we didn't get both of Eze and Madueke.

Financially? No idea.

I know fans love to nudge up or down a transfer fee to score points against rival fans but why would the bbc say it’s £60m….. then in their sub headline say ‘almost £60m’, when it has been widely reported and accepted that the fee is £56m

Forgot to do a euro conversion.

Divs

If all that happened I feel like we still might see a sale of Martinelli or Trossard.

Your front 3 positions otherwise would be covered by
Gyökeres, Havertz, Jesus, Saka, Madueke, Martinelli, Trossard and Eze would get time there, plus Nwaneri.

Edit: if be very happy with that as a window. The only niggle would be a world class left winger, but all other issues would have been addressed on paper at least

Feels to me that Madueke is likely being pursued because they now know the costs of getting Eze and Gyökeres and the fee he would cost fits the budget. If Semenyo would have cost 65 million and Elanga 55 I doubt the money is there to do more than spending 40 odd million on Madueke.

Eze and madueke 2 players costing a little more than Rodrygo who may be a better player but might need time to settle.

There will be an anti climatic feel to Zubimendi being announced because it’s been done for ages, but this is a really big signing. Rejected Liverpool last year, didn’t even wait to see if Alonso (his hero) might want him at Real Madrid.
We’ve needed a real technician at the base of midfield for a while, we’ve needed to up the technical quality of our team.

In terms of style of play he’s the Jorginho replacement but he’s the Partey replacement for his status to the team. Really looking forward to see how he can unlock a new dimensions for us - I think he’ll help Ødegaard play further up field.

Great signing for a great price. He’d be worth £25-30m more on the open market I think

Suggestion is Sesko would have cost 80 million quid. They wouldn’t negotiate. Thats an awful lot of money for a player that is unpolished. It’s the type of thing Chelsea would do then after 1 season realise they made a mistake and loan him to an Italian club paying half his wages

Gyökeres v Sesko looks like it will be Gyökeres then.

Berta has been playing both, the key differences being. Leipzig have stood firm on a huge 90m euro fee whereas Gyökeres is available for about £30m euro less. Also Gyökeres has been clear in pushing for a move to us, Sesko and his camp have been quite quiet - and there was talk of Sesko wanting a release clause in his contract. Sesko is only 22 so maybe he’s still one we keep an eye on in the future, but if it’s Gyökeres then I’m happy, he scores goals!
How many players in our team have their main skill is simply sticking the ball in the net? Maybe only Trossard. We need a killer.

Available shirt numbers:
3, 5, 10, 14, 16, 18, 20
Raya has taken 1
Nwaneri has taken 22

But we don’t play with 10s. The nearest position is Ødegaard or Saka. Nwaneri looks great coming in from the Saka position and plays it his own way and hasn’t looked the same centrally.

I just don’t know. He’s 23, 6’0” which is taller than I realised. He probably represents value at 40m. He’s a bit of a moneyball signing probably and they aren’t sexy at all.

IF:

• He comes in at good value that allows us to do what else need elsewhere
• He improves his performances and mentality from what I’ve seen from him at Chelsea (which might not be hard it’s Chelsea after all)
• He provides genuine cover/minutes on both wings
• Nwaneri can get the same or more minutes than last season to develop (and not go to *%^@*** Chelsea!)

Then he will be a good, in fact great signing, there won’t be a debate.

All of that is very possible, there are just quite a few IF’s.

drip, drip, drip .................. and now the next newcomer is Zubimendi!

longer or shorter drips from here on?