Isn't he supposed to have said he's set his heart on joining Real Madrid? If so, I wouldn't worry about it the possibility of signing other players for less money too much. I suspect it's the only option Arsenal will have.

I don't have any sympathy for the club because we've allowed contracts to run down and are now either being faced with losing top players for a fraction of their true worth or having to pay them far more than they are actually worth to keep them knowing that we'd have to fork out evn bigger transfer fees to attempt to replace them.

I've said before, it's a right mess.

If our transfer activities are indeed frozen because of the uncertainty surrounding Alexis and Özil then it seems like the tail is wagging the dog.

Some might think you're being rather over-generous with your score for governance.

Well, Rog's leaked photo regarding the new kit was true.

http://www.arsenal.com/home

Haven't Aleixs and Özil been replace in the pic?

Apparently not (apologies to OMOH for adding 'Apparently').

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... e-kit.html

It is to stop OMOH saying I have no heart.

Morning Soc
Whole situation is ridiculous. Why say you want to keep a player and want to make him the future of the club before the cup final then don't even offer him a new contract to the point where he has a year left in reference to Oxlade Chamberlain. If I was him I'd be proper p***** off. Its like say one thing or do another.
Getting sick and tired of this Özil and Sanchez saga. Don't let them hold us to ransom. If they wont stay then sell them. That 80 to 90 million can further go to strengthening the squad. They are not bigger than the club. Cant afford to let whole saga drag on at the whim of these 2.
We just seem to come across as so amateur sometimes.

OMOH here, borrowing Bernard's computer. It's far too early in the summer to be sure what's going to happen in the transfer market so after due consideration of the article Rich, I am defining it as so uncertain in its potential accuracy it needs the word 'apparently' in the headline.

Bernard back, taking over from hoy at the keyboard. Did anyone seriously think this isn't how things will probably turn out once Wenger got his new contract? The writing wasn't just on the wall in terms of a bit of graffiti put there with spray paint on the entrance of Drayton Park train station. It was engraved with chisels along the entire distance of the great wall of China.

Guys, just want to plug my new book "The Little book of Hoy".

Essentially it's a guide to mild-manneredness tm and how even when you think catastrophe is staring you in the face it's time to just let things crinkle out, whittle yourself a kipper, and maybe hum The Surrey with the fringe on top while musing over that wonderful double-winning Tottenham side and just take things sunny-side up because in the end it don't add up to a whole hill of beans in this crazy world of ours.

What will be will be, all in good time, the time to cut a stick is when you've considered it for a while, somebody will come along to make the old onion bag bulge again, keep them doggies moving etc.

The manage may move. He may not move. And that's fine because tectonic shifts do not happen overnight.

Its a bit like Brexit. All this caterwauling from fancy-dan experts about shafting the economy and unleashing xenophobia yet I think they'll be sneering on the other side of their metro-faces when we unveil the big bilateral bad boy of a new trade deal with St Vincent and the Grenadines.

So read my book for an introduction to fun relaxing games like "Tweak the Bern" and "D'ye ken Ted Drake?' as well as songs to sing with the family round the old Joanna like "My Sanchez lies over the Penines" and "Bobby Pires went to sea"

Now turn off that hosepipe don't you know there's a heatwave on!!!

I'm just relieved that the opinion of Daniel Storey - yes, the Daniel Storey - on all matters Arsenal has finally been revealed! Spread the word! Usually, 'Il Papa' Daniel shares his sacred syllables via an encyclical, but it seems Football365 will have to do.

And don't think me ungrateful.

Not trying to add any fuel to the flames of the Bayern controversy as I am fairly indifferent to them but I thought you might like this, Bernard.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40348557

We haven't broken 50 mil in a transfer. Not that I want us to but we live in that type of world. Liverpool haven't broken 40 mil and I don't think Tottenham has broken 30 mil but we are supposed to be ahead of those two. We should be competing with City, Chelsea (and a resurgent Man Utd). To do that we have to show we intend to get the best players, players that changes a club and to do that, its the 75 plus market.

It's a huge risk but can we "afford" (for lack of a better word) not to?

You're new here, aren't you ?

lomekian here, borrowing Bernard's computer. The new mug wasn't made of bone china. Another reason to have a pathological hatred of Bayern Munich.

Rumours of us buying likes of Kjaer and Onyekuru are more likely to happen.

I have no difficulty at all in understanding that they can play out their contracts. However, footballers' contracts operate in a considerably different way to the normal business world. If I am contracted to do a piece of work, no rival company is going to pay my current employers multiples of my earnings just for me to go work for them. You cannot pretend that transfer fees do not exist and likewise you cannot ignore the fact that players' agents will use the nature of the transfer market to leverage better deals for their players, be that with current club or another. The power rests with the players and of course very very few of them ever finish out a contract unless they are well past their best.

Interesting to hear the alleged quotes from Mbappe's family/advisor - basically saying Mbappe has a choice whether to go to a super club or to an intermediate club (presumably to get more playing time and then move to the super club). Reading between the lines - if we manage to be that intermediate club I wouldn't mind at all! 4 years of Mbappe and then sell him to Real Madrid for a profit.

I think he'll still go straight to Madrid and they may loan him back to Monaco for another season

Possibly a ploy to get Madrid to move and maybe pay a bit extra. If he goes there, he won't be on the bench.

Onyekuru should happen anyway - young players around £5m should be seen as bonus business on top of what we require for the first team. Sometimes they won't work out and you might lose money, but sometimes you get a Rob Holding who must have increased his value 10 fold on his transfer fee. I know it isn't really about value it is about how they can perform in the first team, but when we have so many first team players who contributed zero to the first team last year there is more than enough space in the squad for some talented young players because as much as I don't think Wenger cuts it as a title winning manager I do still think he has an eye for a player with potential.

Thanks for the laugh. Nearly spat out ne Broccoli and Mint soup.

1. Who cares about contracts? Arsene has sorted his. Job done.

2. Outrage. hate. Sign this petition. Let's up and march.

Don't people simply get fed up with politics? It's non-stop. Really who gave a monkeys before Social Networking? Now not only ours but France, Holland, USA and Uncle tom Country as well. People really do need to stop being conned on Twitter and believing everything you see. It's May's fault. No it's Corbyn's fault or the Liberals. the mad left, the crazy right, they silly middle. People are so busy arguing with each, not debating that no one can see the wood for the trees. All parties are as bad as each other looking more for power than to actually do any good. How about for once doing the greater good. Sit down and sort the bloody mess out between them.

I was shocked to find out post Grenfall, that Britain has 5m experts in Cladding.

IMO, the news had all been nothing more but media made up hype, or, Arsenal/Arsene is simply posturing and bluffing. They know Mbappe would not come to Arsenal.

How many of them will be admitting as much post-Grenfell?

Breaking. Frank de Boer to be named Palace manager. Presumably Dennis will be with him?

I'd be doing cartwheels if mbappe came to us, chances are incredibly slim so I won't get my hopes up. Also £110m sounds like most of if not all our budget so I can completely get on board with the idea of spreading that £110m around 3 players. For example, Aubamayang's price has been set at £63m. Then another couple of £25m players (who would still both be in our top 6-7 most expensive signings of all time, completes a more rounded squad. The key with it all is retaining Sanchez, Özil and to a lesser extent ox (although I've seen figures of £40m banded about for him)
Keep everyone we want to keep, cut the deadwood and get a new striker and new santi and some competition for Bellerin and the squad is ok. Then we've just got to worry about tactics and coaching!

Germany v Chili on ITV4 Now
Enland U21v Poland U21 SS1 19:45



Alexi scores on 6minutes 1-0 Chili. I hope he looks after his ankle.......................

A lesson in futility My Dear Watson [ Soc ]

No more am I going to check the daily cartload of rehashed sheep sheight rumours about Özil , Sanchez , Mbappe , Higuain , Lacazette Oxo , Pickford etc etc etc ..... I'm just going to wait until the new season starts to see where we are at .

These daily anxiety attacks over lack of transfer activity are pointless ; don't want to steal the Old Man's mild mannered approach

...but it's crossing your bridges before you come to them .
If Sanchez has gone , Mbappe , Lacazette don't arrive and the only new additions are the Tree , two fifteen year old Nigerian kids and Jenkinson back from loan ...THEN we can all have a bloody good moan .

Got an annoying ache in my wrist , trying a home grown cure .......some pulverised comfrey under an elasticated arm band .

Apparently works well for horses so I got to thinking why not kiwis ....?

It is the very last statement that I worry about. Will Wenger become more tactical or allow his advisers to advise?

And why wouldn't they hold off negotiating new contracts when they just watched their manager run his contract to expiry.

Come on OMOH you're implying that a bloke who earns 8 million a year doesn't have time to hire a lawyer to advise/negotiate a contract on his behalf?. If Arsenal had offered then it could and should have been sorted out 6 months ago. Might as well, the rest of the team were on their mid season holiday so he could have taken a break along with them and negotiated then.

That is one thing about our club - we have always been innovators. While others were debating having a mid season break our players have had them every year for a number of years. If the FA caught up and didn't continue to play games during our mid season break we would have done a lot better. Still you can't have everything.

I'll watch most sport but I draw the line at competitive eating contests.

You should stop reading the dirty books at your age, Kiwi

Actually I thought I was implying the opposite! That signing a new contract was always on the cards and so was not really an issue. Short of a relegation disaster or some serious wrong doing by the manager, it was surely always going to happen? Arsenaal FC clearly rate Arsene Wenger highly and want him to stay. My point is that it was only the minority anti-Wenger lot, spurred on by a story-seeking media who ever thought any different. It was a non-story in the end, but I suppose it kept a few pilots in work for a little while.

Being you didn't qualify your comment with 'apparently', what's your evidence that the Arsenal fans wanting Wenger out was a minority? Just reading comments on social media sites didn't strike me that a majority of Arsenal fans wanted him to stay, although I'd accept fans of bigger other clubs generally want him to stay in order to make Arsenal less competitive against their own. I'm not sure why the membership of the AST wouldn't be generally representative of Arsenal fans as a whole? 78% wanted him out, 15% wanted him to stay, and 7% couldn't make their minds up one way or the other.

I would have thought it was far from a minority, perhaps around 70% wanting Wenger out at a conservative estimate. He'd lost the hardcore away support which was a clear sign that things were not good. I suspect that had we lost the FA cup in embarassing fashion it would have been hard for Wenger to stay.

A majority who care want the fraud out.
Problem = the thousands of worthless old farts who are subsidising this has-been.
You should do the real fans a favor and kill yourselves.