Mustafi must be up there. Injured now we are overloaded in his position and could be loan in January when the window re opens.

Our bloated squad will help the Europa league fixtures

I can see Mustafi getting another year on his contract, to avoid that happening. Think it was a Rich who mentioned that possibility. If it wasn’t him, somebody did.

He’s also a decent squad back up as a central defender, which may increase the chances of him getting a further year.

I can’t see the two being anyone but Özil and Sokratis. Arteta is clearly willing to give Kolasinac game time, as he was to an even bigger extent with Mustafi before his injury (in response to Top Gun’s reply).

Not sure Mustafi would agree to an extra year, he can speak to new clubs in January and it would mean he would be in a worse negotiating position for his new salary

I don’t expect Mustafi to get the full money he’s currently on, but if given a decent contract I can see him signing up for another year. Also, Holding will be sellable next summer or in January without even giving him another year.

Not sure how we pulled that off, but in the end the arrival of Partey makes it a good transfer window in my book - although still a midfielder shy of being a great one. Having Partey, Xhaka and Ceballos as our three main central midfielders is intriguing. None of them are exact replicas of each other, they all bring different qualities to the table and will allow us to play in different ways.

I can see them working in different pairs, but also as a three man unit. Our midfield who has been lacking for so long now has strength, technique, passing, power, dribbling skills, excellent positional play and a bit of creativity. Add in Gabriel who looks like a really talented defender, and Willian who is versatile, experienced and still very good, and we've done well in terms of strengthening.

Özil has to be one of the odd men out, and I would guess Sokratis is the other. A bit harsh on the greek who has been nothing but professional since he arrived, but it is what it is. We just have to look at it in terms of who's going to contribute to the squad and who's not, and he just doesn't fit the way we play. A shame we couldn't manage to secure moves away for a couple of more players, but it's not that long until January.

It’s only just occurred to me, and it is early days. Everton appear to be on the up with Ancelotti and some good transfer business. Is this connected in any way to Usmanov? Is he funding this?

His Spurs for the title response was literally in his answer to “So Arsenal have signed Alex Partey, that’s a good signing for them...” Such a bellend

Not a big fan of Alex Scott but, honestly, I don’t know how much of that is because I’m just not used to women footballers and pundits. Micah Richards is brilliant and the most engaging pundit behind Ian Wright. He makes a really nice change from the host of others, no matter their level of analysis, who have joined the Danny Murphy train of miserableness. Jermaine Jeans I’m looking at you.

If it’s not him it’s the other guy, Moshiri? Think they’ve had big big spends for a while going back to Allerdyce and I think before.

But you’re right I really don’t think of Everton as a ‘money’ club, but especially if ffp has finally completely pulled out its false teeth they’ve got two billionaires behind them. Plus they’ve got a start of a foundation of success which is what Chelsea and City needed to get that bit of credibility to start attracting mostly whoever they wanted.

Hard to take them really seriously because they’re Everton, but like City they’ve got the added incentive of their nearest revivals being super successful. Don’t know what to expect of them this season, they’re candidates for flying for a while and then feeling the pressure at some point later in the season. Biggest bonus for them right now is Calvert-Lewin banging in the goals, I thought the Prem was a step beyond him for a while.

I make this a good transfer window, there was perhaps too much to do to call it great, but I can’t think of two players with more upside, signed in more needed places for a long time now. Gabriel looks brilliant, so much potential and a nailed on starter. Partey comes with very good pedigree, one of the best players for Athleti for a couple of years at least. Saka and Aubameyang signed. Very happy with Ceballos back. Mari and Cédric still a bit odd and William I can’t get that excited about, 1 great game in 4 is his reputation.

The only obvious downside is moving out so few, (nearly selling Kola for 9m!) and the uncertainty around Saliba, perhaps we won’t see him integrated in the way we would have hoped.

We’re another quality player signed away from really challenging, and failing that, if Pépé and Saka both climb a level that will be as good.

If they can build their proposed new ground without it affecting them like it did us then we’ll know that there is serious money there.

I suspect that Usmanov would have been a better outcome for us despite his ‘background’.

Seeing lots of social media chatter about Partey being the next Vieira:

1. Let’s not put that pressure on him
2. If he was that good, at the age of 27, wouldn’t someone else have triggered his release clause by now?

I hope and trust that he improves our midfield. I also hope it was Arteta’s wish to sign him and the signing wasn’t just done by the board as a fan mollifier.

We’ll see, fingers crossed.

They would be my choices too Bernard.

Interesting thought.

I think there are some stylistic similairites between the two, that's probably what people are referring to. I'm 100% certain he isn't as good as Vieira, most midfielders aren't. Will be really exciting to see him play for us though.

Here's a pretty informative twitter thread about what kind of player he is:

https://twitter.com/davidjaca/status/13 ... 9086930944

I’d never have put our current board as being fan mollifiers. The appearance is one of not giving a damn what the ‘customers’ think, sadly.

The Saliba thing is really weird. We spent a really significant chunk of our transfer budget on a player who if Arsenal had their way would be spending his second year away from the club? That's really odd and a bit worrying. How can the general consensus that he was going to dramatically improve our defence have been so far off the mark? Was it the injury from last season and/or the unspecified personal issues he's having to deal with?

So, now that the window is closed and we know what we're working with, what do people expect from the season?

For me, it's clear we need to grab a top 4 spot in the league. I see Chelsea and Tottenham as our main rivals there. Chelsea still has to be favorites for third place with the signings they've made. I think we have the better team than Tottenham overall, but their attacking duo of Kane and Son is absolute top class, and if Bale has a resurgence they'll be lethal.

I don't even consider Manchester United. They have great attacking talent, but their team is a statue made of matchsticks to borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan; weak central midfield, terrible central defense. If we're below them in the table when the season ends it'll be a failure.

Apart from the league we should be one of the favorites for the Europa League, and I'd like us to mount another challenge for the FA Cup as well.

Thanks Haz. Interesting stuff; a late developer it seems.

True

If Liverpool and City are practically guaranteed to be two of the top four, I see the other couple of places being between Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United. I’m not writing United off like you. I see them as having a decent chance of a fourth place finish. Outsiders with a slimmer chance are Everton, Leicester and Wolves but I fancy the chances of Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United more.

I’m always hesitant to predict cup outcomes as literally anything can happen in one-off games, be it league matches or cup ties. I think we’ve got a decent chance of winning any of the League Cup (though we obviously need to beat City again), Europa League or FA Cup. But there again we can lose any or all of them. That’s the nature of cups.

Surely just financial, ? He’s only going to play5-10 games probably and by the end of the month we will have Mustafi, Sokratis and chambers sat on the bench. We can’t offload them because they are getting 100k a week but a Fulham or smaller French team could accommodate his 2 million a year. Saves us 2 million and he gets more experience and game time. Covid has affected the entire transfer market

Watched a highlights reel of Partey. Good strength, can wriggle out of tights spots and has drive forward. Only thing I missed was that I thought he was considered some sort of midfield enforcer. Didn't see it in the footage I saw so does anyone have a more informed view on his defensive game?

Does anyone else think some of his on the ball antics in front of the defence are a bit risky and could lead to trouble?

Seeking opinions here cos know nothing more than 5 mins of youtube.

Certainly has a couple of thing our Swiss cheese lacks, mobility and awareness, can only improve us surely.

The statement from St etiene about saliba. Clearly a massive dig again.

Seems ridiculous I have to say

I had to pleasure of visiting Accra and Cape Coast 4 years ago. Will confirm there are very friendly people there. Good holiday.

Led Zep, guilty or innocent? What say ye? (as if I didn't already know the answer).

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/thomas-partey-arsenal-transfer-arteta-22800678
Thomas Partey is final piece of Arsenal's jigsaw as Mikel Arteta eyes formation change

Joel Ideho from Ajax? Ajax usually has the pick of the litter in Holland so assume he's not average.

Gunnersaurus is back! Well played Mesut Özil.

Atletico saying we acted in bad form. True? Leaving it late to trigger the buy out.

Not sure about this.

At least Usmanov is a football aficionado, whereas Stan K isn't.

Well played my arse ! He’s having a dig!

He refused a 12.5% pay decrease during lockdown the rest of the players agreed. Even players like holding on 50k a week agreed it and he gets paid 5 times as much

As soon as Özil leaves the better, situation is beyond ridiculous

Couldn’t agree more. Özil possibly did this to disrupt the fan base who are beginning to feel a little more optimistic. Divide them into the naive kids and gullible adults who think Gunnersaurus is god’s gift to mascots.

Otherwise there are those who concern themselves with the mascot being linked in some way to the history of a club. Apart from keeping Wenger in post until he was a footballing dinosaur, what the hell do dinosaurs have to do with Arsenal?

It’s just 2 fingers up at the club ( who must be desperate to say something about the lazy little *%^@)

How entitled are these dickheads ? Mesut will live his entire life unable to spend the sheer volume of money Arsenal football club deposited in his bank account down the years because it’s so much

He should be left out of the premier league and Europa squads, and told to stay away from the ground.

Buy him a gym membership and tell him he’s not allowed in the training ground either. The gym membership is probably more than gunnersaurus got paid a year by the way

Gunnersauras has given more joy since 2018 to Arsenal than the Kroenkes ever will. Özil aside, 2 fingers up to you Stan and Josh, as you both will do everything to preserve your self-importance of a hold onto a club with a history that will continue to be around after you're both long gone (whenever that will be). Saved a bloke to keep his 30K a year job he's done well. Kroenke's aren't worth taking a pay cut for. Please remember, Stan isn't in this to win trophies.