They can't sell him on if he's injured, and he doesn't have the best track record in that regard. So even if it's a sweet deal for them because they don't have to pay a transfer fee it's still a big financial commitment for a club that isn't bankrolled by a billionaire.

If we had decided to sell him in the summer of 2018 (which we should have) then there would've been big clubs fighting for his signature. That much is obvious from the interest in him this winter.

Mate it’s just a no brainer admit it. It’s essentially a free player.

In the same way we probably wouldn’t have signed Kolasinac if he wasn’t free Juve wouldn’t have signed Ramsey if they had to pay a 40 million transfer fee.

Not read the whole article but does it give the source? If it's correct, how the hell can Monreal only earn 54% of Kolasinac's salary? Of the two, Monreal is the better defender by a pretty wide margin.

Kolasinac went on a free transfer sol Campbell style. Hence much bigger wages

It’s not free, it’s just cheaper. You’re still at risk of being stuck with him as one of your highest paid players in case of a big injury etc. Reports are suggesting he’ll become Juventus second-highest earner. That doesn’t happen unless they rate him highly. We can not on one hand say it’s problematic to have the likes of Jenkinson picking up wages without contributing much and on the other hand say it’s risk free to sign someone to a five-year contract with a very high salary.

But leaving that aside, we seem stuck in the middle with Özil. Surely the way forward is either getting rid of him or making him a key figure in the team like his ability suggests he could be. We don’t seem to have commited to either position and I can’t see anything positive come from that.

So basically unless he suffers a career ending injury they could sell him in 2 seasons for 20 million quid and not only break even make a small profit out of the whole thing. It’s a zero risk transfer really.

How many players can a team sign where not only does it cost them nothing but at the end of the contract they make a profit. Few and far between.

Chuck a fat guy in the mix and it’s Christmas for Juve

And while they're trying to offload him, he takes up a big spot on their wage bill, effectively hindering their ability to strengthen the team.

It's obivously a great deal when you can get a good player at 28 on a free transfer, but it's quite frankly silly to suggest there's no risk involved, or that those who claimed he was destined for the likes of Everton weren't wrong in their assessment of how clubs rate Ramsey.

There is a fractional risk involved but more likely profitable but to suggest it’s a huge move for Juve is wrong. Not saying he’d sign for an Everton but there would be less interest but not from these big guns.

Real Madrid, Barcelona or Juve aren’t signing this guy if he’s not free. Simple as that, he can’t get in the arsenal team but Madrid drop Modric and play Ramsey instead? come off it.

Loved that Kiwi, so thanks. Different tricks but try this guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ_pDcjICtw

http://dailycannon.com/2019/01/arsenal- ... -no-money/

Written very eloquently by our resident Lomekian I believe.

To sum up in my very simple manner - Wenger/Gazidis wasted a lot of money on average players who we then had to shift on the cheap because they were on high wages, that along with allowing 'star' players to run down their contracts and leave for nothing mean't we wasted £200M odd which we could not afford to do under our self-sustaining model.

Now we need investment to get ourselves back amongst the big players, can't see it happening though, we have an owner who just doesn't do that and is happy, or at least indifferent towards mediocrity. Boring boring Arsenal.

Quite the perfect (sh*t) storm

I read an article basically saying there is no such thing as a free transfer. The transfer fee is instead replaced by payments to player and agent that are much greater than a normal transfer, plus much higher wages. That’s obviously not to say Juve would have got a better deal by just giving us £40m for Ramsey but it certainly isn’t as free as it seems

Mavropanos starting for the U23 tonight.

Not sure if he’s the ball playing CB we need right now but good to get some depth back.

When I look at our results in the league I think the defeats to city, Chelsea and away to Liverpool could have been predicted no matter who the manager, tactics or players. We’re a long way behind those teams. Although it would have been nice not to have our pants pulled down again at Anfield.
The results that have frustrated me the most are defeat to Southampton and West Ham and throwing away the win away to palace with a stupid penalty in the last few minutes. Saints and West Ham have awful defences that we should be beating. Saints putting 3 past us was particularly embarrassing. That’s 8 points thrown away that would put us a point above spurs.

U23 beat Man City 5-1 tonight. Our team looked strong not sure about city but they generally boss it at most youth levels so a very good result.

Saka with a couple of goals and willock with another goal. Willock pushing hard for some more first team minutes at the moment

I get that I mean to provide an example we’re paying Kolasinac 120k a week because we didn’t have to pay a fee right but if we sold Kolasinac we could get anywhere around 25 million probably and that would pay his entire salary over his 4 year contract. There would be no cost at all.

However in the case of Ramsey you have a player easily worth 40 million on a 7 million per year deal. Even allowing for some agents fees and additional costs if you sell him 12 months later your still in for an absolute windfall. No wonder Juve jumped on it and they are always on point when it comes to free transfers. Look at Pogba, bagged him on a free sold him for 90 million.

I’m not saying throw him in the first 11 but look at Saka’s goal for the U23 tonight, gets the ball on the wide left corner of the box, faces his man up straight away and drives at him, shimmies and shakes and dummies all the while backing the defender up before shifting it on to his right foot rapidly and banging it across the gk in to the far corner.

Nothing that a lot of good wide forwards aren’t trying in most teams but the sort of play we desperately miss in the first team. Who was the last player we had in the first team who regularly had 1v1’s v a full back and drove at him and took him on with pace and skill?

Sanchez.

Or Pogba to Mourinho?

Wasn't me, Cookie.

Indeed. The Pogba v Mourinho stuff was hilarious while it lasted. Unlike Pogba, Özil has kept quiet, but it is farcical that our most talented player is dropped from the squad while we have kids in ahead of him. Also, worth pointing out that Ramsey has been thoroughly professional in all of this despite rarely being selected to start a game.

Čech has officially announced he will retire at the end of this season.

With Ramsey and Welbeck off I make that the thick end of £300k per week off the wage bill. £15.6million for Stan to hide away

Article here : Petr Čech announces retirement from professional football

https://en.onefootball.com/petr-cech-an ... -football/

Some interesting numbers. You'd have thought in comparison that someone like Iwobi deserves more considering his first 1 involvement.

There are a lot of wages being cut off the books this summer, we need to go down the young up and coming player route (again), the wages should be less and they have a resale value.

What I’d do if I were Arsenal is to go to the City and Chelsea youth teams find the best players and offer them a deal to play first team for us. The kids at this level for these teams are very very good (we’ve got some good ones of our own), but they won’t be given a chance at these clubs. I think it is brilliant that Jadon Sancho has paved the way by not only moving from City but moving abroad…..to a big team….and starring! He’s probably worth 5-6 times the money Dortmund paid for him and all he needed was a chance. More youngsters at these clubs will want to move. Hudson Odoi subject to a £35m bid from Bayern – Chelsea may regret not giving him more opportunities.
You will have to pay big money for some of them but you could double or triple your return in no time

Some strong rumours that Sven Mislintat is going to quit this month. That would be very strange. Such a *%^@*** shambles.

Yeah read that on le grove.

Unfortunate situation for the club

Love the way le grove then says something like “oh Emery is a mediocre manager who will get us nowhere” . I mean how on Earth is supposed to get anywhere when he’s surrounded by boardroom uncertainty, no money, crazyiness in Ramsey and Özil and mediocre players.

We are just mess. *%^@ off Kroenke

Edu being mooted potentially as a Mislintat replacement

Edu isn't a talent spotter though, although he may have great links with Brazilian clubs that could be handy.

Wouldn't surprise me at all, Darren. Some of the players we are being linked with lately do not seem Mislintat types at all and if we haven't got any money to snap up the up-and-coming youngsters he was brought in to talent spot then he's probably questioning exactly what his role is now.

On the flip-side you'd have to question his input (if he had one) with regard to the Mika, Lichsteiner and Sokratis signings.

Surely, though, the calamitous mishandling of the clubs assets (poor buys, poor sales, poor squad building, poorly managed contract renewels etc) are just as much to blame as Kroenke's parsimony. We'd be around £200m better off had we handled things properly.

We are a mess but I'm not sure it's all Kroenke. Calamitous mismanagement of Company assets (buys, sells, new contracts and renewals etc) has left us having squandered the best part of £200m.

Mika and sokaratis were ex Dortmund so you would assume they came with his approval.

Might be over money and that we just don’t have enough available to justify having him.

I remember when the rumour was Allegri turned down the job because he wanted 150 milllion to invest in the team it seemed unreasonable, now it just seems realistic.

It isn't all Kroenke but then again it happened on his watch (obviously he wasn't watching..), his style of hands-off, aloof, zero investment ownership has certainly played a big part in creating the mess we're in.

Hopefully the story about Minislat turns out to be BS, no denial from the club yet though..

More depressing stuff. I have no idea what Arsenal are about any more.

Mislintat is nicknamed diamond-eye for his talent spotting prowess and it seemed in a period of austerity he was the answer to our prayers. However, if he is unearthing diamonds and we are simple refusing or unable to act on his recommendations then he must be asking himself what is the point.

When the club moved to the current stadium the fans were told that it was a ‘transition period’. It was to be a short term lean period in order to make huge strides forward. Even then there were mixed messages as to whether the club could afford to be competitive or not.

Well the transition period has proved to be anything but. The club seem to be on a very long snake in a game of snakes and ladders. It’s weird because we remain well placed without being competitive, and most clubs would love to be in that position. But I feel no great optimism for the short/medium term future. It somehow feels like the fans feel far more than the club officials. The mismanagement just seems to go on and on.

Kane out injured for at least 6 weeks. Spurs say he’ll be back training in march. Arsenal play spurs on March 2nd.

Good news. At least it will keep Kane out of the game against us. If he does return to training in early March, he won't be fit to play us on the 2nd.

Losing Mislintat would be a huge blow. No leadership at the club at all