So he chose to put the club in further debt and risk all their jobs.

When we look back on his time with us in a few years I’ll probably remember him as a complete tadger. When his name is brought up all I now think of are his arguments.

So ... erm ... what exactly is researh? (With a weird thumbs-up immediately afterwards.)

Below, I've done the math already of how it all works out.

...more 'research'.

I like Arteta. He talks a lot of sense.

I'll always remember him as a sublime player of great skill. This century we have had some excellent creative midfielders - Pires, Fabregas, Rosicky, Wilshere, Cazorla - and Özil was another. Forget the pay cut disinformation - the club was never in danger of going financially south because of Özil, who had in fact brought a huge market and valuable sponsorship with him when he signed his contract.

Amazing how times change.

And you left Liam Brady off the list? For me Brady is the best creative midfielder I’ve seen play for the club. Way before my time but what about Alex James, who you will have seen countless times?

I can see Ødegaard walking into your list soon. Very soon.

Fabrizio Romano has said on his YouTube channel that ‘Arsenal are preparing something for Raphinha’ he has a £25m release clause if Leeds get relegated. Lots of teams are interested in him. As far as a gettable prem ready attacking player he’s probably as good as you can get.

I would assume it was the ‘this century’ part of the post that left those you mentioned off the list. Must be the reason John Jensen is t there as well

Fair point regarding Brady, and indeed James who I never saw. My mistake. Mind you, Ødegaard is this century so should probably already be in the list.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but what huge market and valuable sponsors opened up to Arsenal when Özil signed his contract? Did any companies begin sponsoring the club because of Özil? What huge markets opened up because of Özil?

You got it! 2000 onwards otherwise John would have been the creative benchmark.

No Arsenal fan will complain if Ødegaard hits the creative heights of the others I mentioned. Hopefully he can.

He was a galactico, probably the first one we had signed since Alan Ball, though that phrase was not used way back then. It was a massive statement of intent and reversal of the selling our best men philosophy. His personal social media following was massive compared to other Arsenal players; shirt sales were very big here and overseas and his arrival was followed shortly by the Adidas and Rwanda sponsorship deals. He was also very popular down Petticoat Lane, Spitalfields and Covent Garden...

Thankfully, no Arsenal players on there.

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=1630404787337240

#facts

At the time but it was never lost on me he was a huge signing for us and this coming from a person who wanted us to sign Fagregas instead. His signing got people everywhere talking about Özil. You also left out the fact he played on a Germany side at the time that was arguably the best in the world, and definitely the best in Europe.

Head scratcher how anyone could not view his signing as massive and Arsenal showing intent.

Not sure I agree, but you all can weigh in.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/03/31/jamie-carragher-urges-arsenal-to-follow-liverpool-transfer-strategy-to-challenge-for-the-title-16379801/?fbclid=IwAR0DHfGMmcZk_QY7RM5MWIsGRZr0cWxNCwDQ2uPACjXYYshOrmhVgzHYtvo
Jamie Carragher urges Arsenal to follow Liverpool transfer strategy to challenge for the title

‘Arsenal need to get fourth,’ Carragher said at a Sky Bet fan debate.

‘When you liken it to what [Jurgen] Klopp did at Liverpool… Arsenal are at a stage where they haven’t got a [Cristiano] Ronaldo, they haven’t got a [Harry] Kane.

‘The next two or three signings for Arsenal have to be Alisson, have to be [Virgil] van Dijk, what they were for Liverpool.

‘To take you from sort of fighting for the top four to making that jump where you’re competing with City, Liverpool, right at this moment, Chelsea. That’s Arsenal’s next thing.’

Isn’t the Rwanda sales explained by having the name on our shirts? Did Adidas pay us more because we signed Özil? I doubt it. Arsenal don’t get a penny from non official sales down Petticoat Lane, Spitalfields and Covent Garden.

The head scratcher is whether you can name anyone on the forum who has denied that signing Özil was massive.

Would have got the Rwandan sponsorship anyway which was more about the UK government giving theirs a load of cash.

Honestly 2 good seasons. Rest of the time was pretending not to mention rightly or wrongly he alienated the Chinese market.

As you say. It seems highly unlikely, verging on impossible, that anyone did.

Arteta named 'Manager of the Month'.

Bugr.

Well deserved.

Maybe, but we all know what comes next.

Is it the same jinx after winning PL player of the month?

Big question that will be answered is can Leicester get something out of their visit to Old Trafford? Also, can Newcastle get something from their visit to White Hart Lane? Both challenging clubs playing at home makes it unlikley to drop points against either club but as we have seen this season, such clubs have taken points at both venues.

That makes him an even bigger man in my eyes. His concern for the Uighur people in China should be applauded rather than censured. As this interesting article points out Arsenal's response to political comments from its staff was at best inconsistent and at worst craven in the face of the desire for lucre. As the article describes Özil was erased and then shamefully left undefended by the club when his character assassination began.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/spor ... china.html

Thinking about it you must be right. It is obvious Adidas came to Arsenal because we had all those other World Cup winners and galacticos to sell their kits, such as Iwobi, Elneny, Welbeck, Suarez, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan, Guendouzi etc.

Oh of course. It had nothing to do with the fame of the club, did it?

I think it did.

So do I.

Old Man .... next Xmas instead of the Little Richards LP s ask Santa for a couple of brain cells ... the Urghur people that everyone wanks on about ... China doesn't do the BLM ; they dont let dipshits burn down Seattle Minneapolis etc ... they go in hard run over a couple with tanks
I'd ask you and Mesut ... how come not ONE Muslim country has condemned China for its actions ...?

Chelsea conceding 3 goals in 10 minutes ...

My guess is much the same reason no Christian majority country cares when Christian Ethiopians are slaughtered.

Authoritarianism sure looks great through a haze of rum in a safe living-room in a solidly liberal country.

Not so good if you are on the receiving end in Yemen, Ukraine, or Western China.

We'd be 5 points behind with a game in hand and still to play them. Could Chelsea get dragged back in to the top 4 race? It would be nice if this 9 point deduction became a thing.....

Another goal for Balogun for Boro today. He's looking good at this level. It will be interesting what we do with him next season. If we're in Europe (CL or Europa) we're going to add a fair few numbers to the squad. If we can add a couple of strikers then a season on loan at a prem club would be ideal for Balogun

Chelsea 1 4 Brentford