Can anybody actually see us signing a big name striker in this window? I can’t. Another 50 million plus transfer with big wages probably ?

I suppose you can offset some of the money by loaning out aubameyang, kolasinac and ainsley and sellin Torreira but that doesn’t account for much.

Sounds clickbait speculation

Well, we can't bank on Lacazette staying fit for the rest of the season. So what are the options?
1. Bringing Aubameyang back if required, which would be retrogressive in my view.
2. Some sort of stop-gap loan.
3. Giving Martinelli a run.
4. Breaking the bank on one of those big name young strikers.

We will need a new striker in the summer anyway, and it won't be cheap. Might as well spend that money now if a target is available.

I hope you are right!

Not sure what your gripe is with Graham Potter, he's done extremely well on a very limited budget and his team play attractive football.

He’s done alright I just find Arsenal fans yearning over him as some kind of saviour most peculiar

I think we’ll probably end up keeping Aubameyang who will be impossible to shift and using Nketiah.

If they offer a 3-year contract at 500K per week, he will be interested
Plus, he can skip a training day, here or there

very true

https://themastermindsite.com/2022/01/0 ... r-arsenal/

Good report on Jonathan David the Lille striker. This describes him as a younger version of Lacazette.

Lots of talk about AMN going to Roma, I can't believe we wouldn't have a midfielder lined up to come in if we let him go as we'd be down to only 2 senior CM for the rest of Jan. A deal I'd love to see happen is Wijnaldum on a 6 month loan from PSG - for whatever reason he's not settled and is rumoured to want out. He's exactly what we need as it gives us space to wait for our main targets until the summer (if we can't get them now) - and we can focus money in to the striker position possibly.

Sounds like Liverpool are hoping to call Thursday off then.

They need 14 players including 1 GK to fulfil the game. In the last round the following players made their matchday squad: Bradley, Koumetio, Morton, Williams, Gordon, Beck, Quansah, Woltman, Filho - that is 9 players. Not including Salah/Mané/Keita there were a further 13 players who played the game vs Chelsea. So that is 22 players, 23 if we count Robertson back from suspension as he made neither squad for the 2 games noted. So that would mean Liverpool would need a further 9 covid cases on top of what they already have to not fulfil the fixture - and it could be argued if they were able to put out 9 U23 players in the last round they should be able to dip in to that group of players again.

Match postponements are becoming a farce now

They will miss salah Mané and keita though now

I think the issue is they are short of keepers due to covid and injury

Well neither Salah or Mané has started or been on the bench for any of their 3 League Cup games so far so they happily excluded them then so their ACN absence shouldn't really have much bearing on this. If they have fielded multiple U23 players in previous rounds why shouldn't they have to do that again unless they can prove that in their entire first team squad and U23 squad they have enough covid cases that they can't field 14 players including 1 GK...........or forfeit the game/tie?

Assuming most are aware of this by now.

https://theathletic.com/news/liverpool- ... f72C3WMNY/

V Good!

Prince Andrew eh. What an absolute dinlow of the highest order

Saying he is innocent to the public whilst saying he can’t face civil proceedings because a prior agreement includes other defendants. Guilty and dodgy as you like.

Don’t think this guy will be going to the US or any countries with extradition anytime soon.

Liverpool have now made a formal request to postpone the game. Bound to be called off.

Like I said the other day. No way will they want to play a semi final with so many missing

The big thing for a great club like Arsenal is to back Liverpool's request. These are strange days and we want both teams to be strong on the pitch. Incoming...

Last year Liverpool played Villa in the FA Cup and due to a covid outbreak Villa had to/decided to play the game with a full team of U23 players….and lost 4-1.

I agree the right thing to do. The emotional fulfilment stemming from our first team hammering their real youngsters wouldn’t be a great look

Remember the circumstances of anfield in 89 where we offered the fixture to be re arranged over and over. The Arsenal way

If it's true they've had another covid outbreak and had to cancel practices I can understand this. Would probably had been a full strength Arsenal against a heavily rotated Liverpool side in any case, last year when we knocked them out they started Salah, Jota, Van Dijk and a bunch of backups. It's going to be a nightmare cramming all the canceled fixtures into an already packed schedule for many clubs.

AMN on loan to Roma is pretty much done. No obligation or option to buy permanently. Loan fee £500k with a further £500k on appearances

Surely must mean we're in the market for a midfielder? With Partey and Elneny away at AFCON we only have Xhaka and Lokonga for the coming weeks and Elneny is gone permanently in six months anyway.

I have always preferred Roma over Lazio but I'm weary of sending any of our players to play under Mourinho. The man has destroyed more players confidence than anyone I can think of.

I hadn't realised that Arteta's contract is up in the summer of 2023 meaning he only has 18 months left. Perhaps the club are waiting to see how the season finishes but it feels like he's worth sticking with.

Not if we don’t get top 6 finish this year.

The key is 'if its true'. There needs to be more transparency. It feels too convenient that with their best players away at ANC that Liverpool declare they can't find 14 fit players amongst the 30 odd they have used at some point this season.

We're in danger of going from a relatively smooth set of fixtures to having to cram far too many in. We have the Wolves league game to rearrange, and we'll have to rearrange our league game with Liverpool as it clashes with the League Cup final as one of us will be in that, and our league game with Chelsea clashes with the World Club Cup games they are in. UEFA have said rearranged games can be played on the same days as Champions League games (something they normally forbid) but hat doesn't help rearrange Chelsea and Liverpool games.

There really aren't many opportunities to play the Liverpool semi final game before the final takes place. Assuming one of us or Liverpool make the FA Cup 4th round the only free midweek is Wed Jan 19th I think

So, what do you guys think the club will demand as bare minimum this season to keep his job?

I'd be shocked if they aren't thinking new contract based on present form. Will this form hold up and get us a cup or top 4 is the question? I think Top 5 or 6 will be the bare minimum if I had to garner a guess. Back in Europe at least is the minimum I'm guessing. A cup gets us that as well.

Didn’t Klopp say he’d rather the semi final he a one leg tie, even if it means Liverpool playing it away? If so, perhaps Arsenal should put that as an option to them and the Football League?

You couldn’t make it up. Abramovich has now loaned over one and a half billion pounds.

But it doesn’t could as debt so they are financially viable.

Easy to see what will happen with Newcastle United.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chel ... 59028b816d

With the attention on Liverpool trying the wriggle out of a cup semi final I realised that Klopp hasn't won one of the domestic cup competitions since he's been in this country. He's built an amazing team and has won the two biggest trophies once each but is there a case that with the talent they have and the stability and injury free seasons they've had over the years that perhaps Klopp should have won a bit more in his 6 and a half years in charge than 'just' 2 trophies?

Of course if Arteta in the next 4 years won the Prem and Champions League only I'd be over the moon - just a thought though

I’d swap about half our FA cups for just one champions league trophy

Actually I’d swap our invincible season too for one and I bet Arsene would have as well.

They couldn’t hold a press conference because their manager and all their coaches have covid

If the game goes ahead and we beat an absolute shoestring who couldn’t train because their training ground closed and have no coaches it’s not a great look

Play the ball boys !!!

He did, I think the problem is all the TV and sponsors will kick up a fuss as they'll have been promised 2 games.

There really is no reason for the League Cup Semi-Final to be over two legs anyway, just play a single leg at a neutral venue. The football calendar is so full already, absolutely no one would miss it

Arsenal have been charged by the FA for 'failing to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion in the 59th minute' of the City game.

Honestly, it is hard not to feel targeted. In that incident we had 1 player booked for dissent to the ref (an incident which will always just be a case of one persons word against another - but one the ref will always win). How many other sides already this season have visibly complained and surrounded a ref after a controversial decision went against them, and how many of them faced an FA charge?

It feels like because the match and the incidents have gained so much noise in the media the FA are doubling down on their decisions and backing the ref by instigating these charges.

They never give us a fair run. I still don’t understand how we got docked more points than United in 91