Cheers, omoh.

Even weirder when I can clearly recall Ian Ure on Quiz Ball.

I have to say that the impending failure to land Guimaraes is really depressing.

We seem to spend forever checking players out only for them to not want to come or to be seduced elsewhere. The fact that it is Newcastle waving their dosh about adds hugely to the sense of desolation.

And the end of the transfer window is accelerating towards us.

I think the list of players we’re linked to must be huge, the list of players the club is genuinely interested in and actively following wouldn’t be as big but would also be very big. And from that list we’re looking to make one signing in a particular position so naturally there are going to be huge numbers of players we move on from or decide aren’t as good for us as the one we do go for/get.
£33m for Guimaraes doesn’t seem like that much money and I would hope and expect that if he was our No.1 midfield target we’d be in there matching the bid and then if the player still wanted Newcastle it would be simply due to the extortionate wages we wouldn’t be willing to match - and then we’d say do we really want a player with that sort of priority?

We seem to be unable to attract because we aren’t at the pointy end anymore, or unable to attract because some clubs seem to have inexhaustible pockets.

And most players would have that sort of priority. It’s their job.

Can't really see anyone of note coming in now unless we do a Partey and trigger someone's release clause. That would mean paying the whole amount upfront, though.

More chance of a squadfilling loan.

If we don’t strengthen the forward line it’ll seem like a big opportunity missed, which will be a miss made even bigger by not recruiting in midfield. The thing is, the miss in midfield was made worse by getting rid of Mainland-Niles for this season. He’s not brilliant but isn’t far off Lokonga as a back up.

I think we really had a good chance of a top four place this season and to let it slip, if we do, seems rather incompetent.

Personally I think Ainsley is a better player in midfield than Lokonga from what we’ve seen so far so it’s a little frustrating he seems to be on his way out.

Problem with him seems to be personal (I know but won’t comment) and commercial (his agent is a wrong un)

On the transfer stuff I find it a little hard to dig the club out too much. We need to get a lot of dross off the wage books and we seem to be doing this but the main problem is up front where Aubameyang and lacazette have seen their form unexpectedly drop right off. I mean these guys should be performing better than they are even considering their ages. They are still relatively Young enough to perform at this level and I can’t really blame the club for not foreseeing such a drop in form. We should have had enough to get through the season but it seems not.

Chambers sold to Villa!!

Good signing for Villa.
I like Chambers.
Better than Cédric

Matt Turner is a done deal but for the summer £7m

If Chambers to Villa is true that seems strange. I don’t think he’s good enough for us and I’d expect his position in the squad to be taken by Saliba and a back up right back in the summer…..but that is in the summer and he’s back up in those positions for the next 17 games.

We’re stripping the squad bare in a year when a volatile virus can spread like wildfire through a squad

Chambers is a free transfer with up to £2m add ins. He was free in the summer anyway. Are we that desperate to shift 6 months of his wages and the possibility but no guarantee of £2m? You’d have to think that with each position in the prem worth at least £1m per place that it might have been more sensible to keep him and lose for free in the summer

Amazing that not a single journalist picked up on the chambers transfer before it happened. Very rare

It is true Rich. It’s confirmed on Aston Villa’s official website. With Maitland-Niles already gone it leaves Cédric as the only right back when Tomiyasu is out.

https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2022/januar ... s-signing/

Does Mari on loan and Chambers gone leave us with just 3 cbs and Tomiyasu who can play there at a push? Tierney as well I guess.

So outs this month:
Mari on loan
AMN on loan
Kolasinac contract cancelled
Chambers permanent to Villa
Balogun on loan
And the club desperate to move on Aubameyang

From the 5 outs I reckon we probably paid up Kolasinac’s deal but saved the wages of the other 4 which I’d estimate at maybe £200-250k per week which is £5-6m saving until the summer.

When you consider the prize money on offer for champions league, europa or even just every place in the league on the face of it that seems a strange set of deals for players who could have been emergency back ups for a thin squad. Mari and Kolasinac and Balogun I understand but AMN and Chambers offered versatile back up.

Arsenal fans will go absolutely spare if we don’t add some players in the next 4 days

Which is a risk considering Tomiyasu had a 2 week injury, rushed in to play because there were no other options and got another 2 week injury.

….and Xhaka!

Chambers is another one in a pretty long list of players who's been mishandled at Arsenal in recent years. Should've just sold him a couple of years ago, we could've easily gotten 10-15m for him, and it was a long time ago he looked like someone who could be more than a bit part player at this level. Maitland-Niles is another one heading in the same direction - a year left on his deal this summer which will affect whatever fee we can get for him. At one point we had a bid of close to 20m on the table.

All of these missed transfer fees add up, and when we're sitting here all agreeing we need at least two starting players these things play a part in our ability to get them.

Indeed.

Yeah, I think the plan for the rest of the season is White, Gabriel, Holding and Tomiyasu at cb, Tomiyasu, Cédric and Tavares at rb and Tierney and Tavares at lb. Might work, but it's a little risky.

I wonder if we might go for the Forest RB

There are 19 arsenal players who have made an appearance under Arteta who he has since sold, contract expired or are currently out on loan

Reports suggest we did pay up Kolasnic’s contract. Mari was on £85k per week, AMN was on £52k per week, Chambers was on £50k per week, and Balogun was on £32k per week. That’s £219k a week.

£219k a week is a very high wage for a single player, a pretty high wage across two players, and a relatively average wage for three first team players. But the important point is that the squad, as it currently stands, is materially weaker than it was at the beginning of January. With us chasing fourth place, unless we are going to sign a couple of players before the window expires, I’ll be one of the fans going spare.

Cor. Wow.

At the end of the day we only have another 13 games to contest. 3 centre backs plus Tommy might be enough. Saliba comes in next year

Shame Callum left. Good player I thought and always gave his best. Shame really

Isn't it 17 games? Not that thats a massive amount more.

Might have got the number wrong

At least the women’s team won 2-1 at home to Brighton after being 0-1 down at half time.

Only just over half way through our season.

The goings on at the club seem very strange but in truth it’s just a continuation of shipping out the dead wood. It’s an ongoing process. I think we’re bringing one or two in personally. Nothing more than a hunch rather than any knowledge.

If he’ll replace an outgoing Leno, I’ll be surprised if it’s not another weakening of the squad.

Probably but can a club like Arsenal pay a reserve keeper 100 grand a week.

Would make sense to run a tighter ship till we are back in Europe

Matt Turner signed. Posted that Weds. Joked about it, yet simplest, quickest and least expensive so far. Summer start for a GK with a decent record.

I'm pretty sure Leno isn't happy to just sit in the reserves as he could easily get a #1 spot with another club. So wouldn't discount him pushing for a transfer and out best option is to maximise the sale value.

On a side note we seem to have had plenty of reasonable keepers go through the club and onto greener pastures. Fabianski, Szczensy, Martinez all still #1's at their respective clubs after being 2nd string at Arsenal.

Cutting it close again in the transfer market. We desperately need an established Striker and another box to box Midfielder.

Agree with the midfielder G7 and also any chance of Top 4 would seem to ride on another striker. Then again, is it more the midfield issues disrupting things more than having another striker? We seemed to be doing ok when Aubameyang first got dropped and were scoring goals too. Injuries to Tomayasu didn't help as well as Tierney who doesn't seem to be the same since his return from injury.

Did you see the arsenal women’s team also got one of those FA charges for the players failing to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner (or whatever the official wording is)? In the 1-1 draw for other City a City cross field pass hit the referee and diverted the ball nicely in to the path of the onrushing winger and City scored in the next 2-3 touches. Arsenal women were furious because the rules say the game should be stopped if the ball hits the ref. 3 arsenal players complained seemingly respectfully and none of them were booked for dissent.
It does seem, like the men’s incident, that the FA try to make it all about indisciplined players rather than incompetent referee. But that’s a pretty low precedent bar to set for any future potential charges.

Looks like Traore will move to Barca after turning down Spurs’s £15m bid. And Luis Diaz could go to Liverpool for £52m after Spurs bid £35m for him.
Not to pick on spurs but both players making understandable choices there.
Spurs struggling to move on their deadwood

Guimares to Newcastle is almost done, it is 42m euros plus a further 8m euros if Newcastle avoid relegation. So a £42m deal. When you have unlimited money and are in Newcastle's position getting a player like this in isn’t a huge deal for them. Almost feels like when City got Robinho. As long as they stay up it doesn't matter if he is a success or not because it does more in terms of legitimises their ambitions and will attract others.

Newcastle will go crazy in the summer if they stay up. It is another 'sigh' moment for football though, how long before Newcastle are permanently in the Champions League places or winning titles? The wealth is like nothing we've seen before, it could be under 5 years