Alexis is off, Özil stays. Looks like it then

Would be nice to get Aubameyang as well to round off the team but who lose their places?

See Leon Bailey scored another top goal for Leverkusen this weekend. He looks like he might tick a few boxes.

Just saw that Bayern have quietly, to me anyway, signed Goretzka to be completed in the summer. Don’t know if people had twigged that. They really are Man Utd circa 1990-96 aren’t they. A giant Barvarian Hoover roaming Germany talent sucking everyone else dry.

Well that was enjoyable. We made Crystal Palace look like a complete mess, and they're not in bad form - I think we're the only team to have beaten them in their last 12 league games, and that includes a near-win against City.

We should definitely continue with this formation for the forseeable future, and that includes playing Elneny (since we don't seem to be looking for reinforcement in central midfield). Xhaka and Wilshere looked liberated out there.

Too true Bernard ... I can never understand how someone can convert a beautiful living animal into a stuffed wall trophy .

Only seen the highlights but some suggesting this new freedom of play is down to Sanchez moving on ....?

I'd think it was maybe a bounce back from the Bournemouth defeat ...we scored the 4 goals in 22 minutes ... what did we do for the other 68 ...useless **%^*&

Palace did look wide open , did someone say they had their whole first choice back four missing.

I was going to post it yesterday. I was hoping a while back that Arsenal might get him, but someone (think it might have been Hazuki, but if it wasn't apologies to him) pointed out to me that if Bayern wanted him, that's where he would probably go. But if Arsenal weren't going to get him, I'm delighted Bayern have. I think Goretzka is at the right place to develop his game. At Arsenal it's likely he'd have been Wengerised.

Sanchez & Mika is a straight swap, no cash involved.

Not exactly the deal of the century.

Mkhitaryan having a medical in next 48 hours according to Sky Sports News.

Bloody good deal if you ask me. If we'd got rid of Sanchez when I said we should we would have been in a far better position now but then some of you didn't want that did you..........................

Indeed. It probably reflects the standing of both clubs.

More likely it reflects the contract status of both players. At this point we're lucky to get anything for Sanchez. Getting a talented player with serious question marks surrounding him seems about right.

To be fair, most of the forum wanted him sold in the summer and you have spouted some awful nonsense about him from time to time.

No we didn't and funny enough those Bournemouth and Nott Forest performances were down to the players you want at the club. The proof will be in what happens from here. I understand hat we will now be challengers from here to the end of the season.

Hard to argue with that Bernard, more’s the pity. Young player with a few seasons under his belt in the top flight, everything suggests he will develop at Bayern into a star for club and country. It was the quiet inevitability of them acquiring him that struck me.

Is that right? I was expecting cash to be coming our way as well as Mkhitaryan. It'll be interesting to see how Mkhitaryan works out. Fabulously gifted, but can flatter to deceive. Reminds me a bit of Alan Hudson. Okay, to be pedantic maybe he doesn't quite have Hudson's technique but he does have Hudson's inconsistency and his tendency to disappear from games.

I didn't realise Mkhitaryan is basically the same age as Sanchez. Sanchez had his 29th last month on the 19th December. Mkhitaryan has his 29th birthday tomorrow on the 21st January.

Indeed. One goes on to play in CL, the other in EL..

So if Mikhi really was tearful when leaving MU, I can understand why. He could still be playing in EL next season. At the same time, Alexis paying still in CL.

Do we get in the Europa League if we finish sixth, because I see that as our most likely position at the end of the season?

5th is the only league position to guarantee Europa league, but this season 6th will almost certainly get the league cup place unless Bristol City can pull off 2 miraculous results. If arsenal win the league cup then 7th will get Europa as well I think

It was this or lose him for zero in the summer. We backed ourselves in to this and in the end salvaged the equivalent of £30m for a player with 6 months left on his deal.

I’m more concerned by the £60m profit we’ve made in transfers so far this season not being spent. Maybe we’ll spend all that on Aubameyang but that still only bring a us to a zero spend. We have loads more money to invest, this underinvestment for years and years is what has pushed arsenal backwards every year

What is this "Mirror , mirror on the wall who is the wisest of them all" routine ...... myself , Bernard and plenty of others were screaming SELL when figures of 60 million were bandied around .

hey Big Guy .... flicked the Pontiac 350 off ..bought it for $600 ... gave it a clean and a paint sold it for $1000 . Could have got more but thought what the hell ...... get rid of

Good business. Better to sell when an offer comes along or else you might have to take much less. Funnily enough a bit like Alexis deal

I remember we used to tie up Fabregas with more than a year left on his contract, sometimes 2 years out. Henry as well until he didn't. It should be the first sign a player is looking elsewhere if negotiations are dragging, stalled on their end. Özil, Sanchez and the big names should be on long contracts. At least 18-24 months out, start negotiations and if they are not committing, then plans drafted to sell them rather than go to the last season and they have all the advantages.

So following that thru those who expire in less than 18 months ,we get rid of Wilshire Özil,Ramsay Giroud, Čech, Monreal, Ospina immediately. I am not debating who we should keep just pointing out those that fall under the 18 month mark now.

I recall when I first discovered The Arsenal. Knew nothing about football (and some would claim its still the case ), I didn't know we were a large club. Loved the name, was working with some Londoners at the time in Japan and new and was hanging out with them. They were big Chelsea supporters and I was bored sh*tless like a respectable Yank should be about the sport...lol..and thinking, why are you supporting a club named after a girl?

I kept seeing Arsenal vs..whomever on other screens, and they caught me attention when we were down 1-0 to a bad penalty and Tony Adams was yelling for us to move up and be more attacking. Barking orders. I loved our pluck. I thought we were some small club in the north somewhere. Underdogs. Chose us right than and there. I was sorely disappointed initially we were one of the big clubs. I didn't choose Man United specifically for that reason. I was >>>this close<<< to choosing Palace having visited the area and some arcane Benny Hill reference.

Point I am belaboring to make is Sanchez and others before or that will come like him who will disrespect the club by going to a direct rival (another reason I don't have as much enmity for Henry or Fabregas when they transferred) is they can 'frack' (any Battlestar Galactica fans on here?) off to where ever. I'd take a committed bunch who loved the club and gave their best who could do no better than 5th than the ingrates we've been getting.

The Arsenal I fell in love with had players who were happy as peaches to be playing or the club and wanted to end their careers there. Yeah, I know in this era of big money, sugar daddy owners and such that its not the case as much as before but darn it, lets get as close as possible.

I'm feeling much closer to Brentford these days. I'll definitely see a match when I come to London (sooner than you think).

Quite right kiwipete. Didn't Hazuki also imply last night that there were quite a few of us who wanted Sanchez sold last summer? And there were.

Billy B.ulls.hit alert

I think pretty much everyone wanted him sold. I advocated keeping him for most of the summer and I don't remember many people agreeing with me.

The problem in selling Alexis to United is that we have probably just handed then a guaranteed top four finish. They needed that extra bit of firepower and moments of magic that he will give them. I would have said fair enough if it had been some sort of fantastic deal involving cash + a player but basically we've swapped a worldclass player for a very good player.

Selling to any top four team would be hard to stomach but at least City were basically out of the top four equation from our point of view.

I hope we sign Aubameyang or someone of that ilk because at this moment we are looking weaker, and we were long shots for a top four spot even before selling Alexis.

Iirc I was saying that Sanchez should have gone way before we were offered 60 million but that's not the point. The point is you were all saing what a great player he was when I was criticising the effect he was having on the team, remember when the shoulder shrugs started and the throwing his rattle out of the pram started? Had he gone then I don't think we would have had such an awful last few months.

Btw I also said it was time to get rid of Welbeck some time back and you vehemently disagreed so should he go or should he stay?

Lacazette’s goal return would look a fair bit better if we had some of those penalties we don’t seem to get. Looked like another nailed on one at the end yesterday.

Selling our best player by a country mile in recent seasons during the summer only made complete sense if we were going to spend the money on top class replacements. Getting £60m for him at the end of August and sticking it in the bank was not good business from a footballing perspective.

Obviously the situation was handled poorly and we should never have found ourselves in the situation of our two best players having only one year left on their contracts.

We are in a rut and in my view the only quick solution is to go on a spending spree both now and in the summer and hope we can buy our way out of it. To try to gradually rebuild a team in the current climate where others are spending massively is just pissing in the wind I think. Of course the danger of a spending spree is that it doesn't work and you are left with a crap team as well as big wages to pay but there has to be some sign of ambition, especially when fans are paying the highest ticket prices in the world.

It wouldn’t take a genius to predict that getting Sanchez so close to his transfer and it not going through was going to lead to some lesser, stroppier performances from Sanchez. Even if we hadn’t got a replacement but had taken the £60m I can’t think of too many points Sanchez has ‘won’ us. (Palace away, Burnley was a pen so someone else could have taken that) Team spirit would have certainly improved.

For me Arsenal’s approach to this whole situation has been a 1/10 score, doing the deal with Man U for Mkhitaryan has taken that to a 2/10 score......leaving him to go for £0 in the summer takes it to a 0/10 score.

Our new contracts man needs to work his balls off making sure we tie down Özil, Wilshere and Ramsey. Welbeck could go in the summer for a decent price

Bingo!

We’ve been linked previously with the Bilbao GK Kepa Arrizabalaga, then Real Madrid looked like they were going to get him. He ha a £20m release clause and Real Madrid are also holding out for Courtois or DeGea in the summer. If we’re serious about Kepa we should go in with a bid now, force Real Madrid to make a decision instead of waiting for them and picking up the scraps

The table doesn't change at the top if he went to City. Was it worth the difference in money to hand Man Utd Sanchez? The strategy domestically this winter is not to be complicit in strengthening the clubs above us and below City in midseason if you really want a decent shot at CL football.

Before this season the effect Sanchez was having on the team was positive, and it's laughable to claim anything different. Welbeck should stay in my view and I hope he does. In general he hasn't got back to his earlier form since picking up an injury at Watford. Before that he'd turned himself into a first team regular. But I hope he can get back to the form that made him a first choice and at this point I think it would be verging on idiotic to want him to be got rid of.

Myles palmer (remember him) suggesting he's heard that Wenger is going to move upstairs this summer. Probably bollocks however it's what many feared. If we have a new manager, new head scout and new director of football what would he actually do ? It wouldn't surprise me if Kroenke made him chairman as Sir Chips always struck me as a temporary appointment rather than a long term decision. My god that would be a disaster with Wenger vetoing managers decisions and all sorts

We've basically handed United a top four finish though, Rich, so if we had any aspirations to finish top four we've certainly not helped ourselves, infact you might argue that we've shot ourselves in the foot.