It is Swiss national team as reported from Swiss outlet Blick. Messed that up by strange wording in an online piece.

And there were no other offers supposedly from any other clubs then, just Roma. Thing is, does Xhaka really want to stay at Arsenal at all even.

Like other Euro players, wasn’t he given an extended holiday because of the Euros? That’s what I saw. The one thing he always strikes me as is a good professional.

Supposed to be back by now. Not like Switzerland got to the final.

Look at the Ben white announcement, outside chance of being involved against chelsea.

Nice to see White finally confirmed officially. I hope the fee doesn't become an anchor for him, he won't come here and have an immediate Van Dijk/Ruben Dias type impact, but he's got all the qualities a modern centre back requires from what I've seen. Hopefully the fans will give him a chance, long term he could be an excellent player.

Let me save you some time.

There will be people againest him on here regardless because of his fee, nationality and the manager who signed him.

Well, if Xhaka stays there will be people against him no matter how he performs, but hopefully it will be a small minority in both cases.

No it’s about 80 percent of the fan base

Don't think it's strange if we decide to keep Xhaka considering the rumoured bids from Roma. If he wants to leave it's best to explore that option, but he's under contract and we're under no obligation to sell him for peanuts. I have no doubt he understands that and will act professionally regardless of what happens. I still hope we sign another central midfielder to compete for a place, Willock would bring in more money than Xhaka anyway.

Read this pure self interest. I hope the clubs in England including ours have nothing to do with these scumbags

https://www.juventus.com/en/news/articl ... d-30-07-21

Who here will be against him because of his nationality? I’ve not noticed any posters who are anti-Arsenal’s English players.

What do you mean revolting English people ?

Bernard, I'm hoping you'll see this post within 10-12 hours; otherwise, it'll be rendered meaningless. Fingers crossed.

Ben Stokes, who declared himself a Spurs fan in August 2019 apparently, has withdrawn from all cricket due to mental health issues. Are these two facts by any chance related?

Are there any English people you don’t consider revolting? The question remains. Who here has ever criticised an Arsenal player because he’s English? Just wondering because I can’t think of anyone.

Hint, it wasn’t me who called them revolting on here in the first place.

I won’t name names and cause more rows. Conversation closed. Bye Bernard

I do consider some English people revolting. Don’t you consider some English people revolting?

The question remains as we can’t have reached 10 hours 17 minutes on this issue yet. You suggested White would receive criticism because of his nationality. Who here has ever slagged a player off because he’s English? I genuinely can’t think of anyone.

Or perhaps he found your impeccable logic and careful marshalling of evidence too overwhelming. I'm sure many opposing generals, when faced with the blitzkreig, would also utter the words “nah don’t bother” before reaching for the white flag.

People like using rhetorical devices like 'top 5 of all time' or 'world class' when they don't literally mean it. Unwise!

A small and mostly revolting minority?

What happens if you accidentally read or reply to a post that is past its sell by date? Botulism?

How dare you compare Henry and Bergkamp!?! ! Tssk!

A failed attempt at humour ! Congratulations

Pro Tip : Nothing

10-12 hours? I think its half-life is considerably shorter than that, Mcquilkie.

It strikes me that whatever sense it may have had when it was newly minted has already dissipated.

No Im serious you can tell cos I dont punctuate

I still struggle with why White was a priority signing for Arteta, but I wish him well at the club. I wonder who will be the leader White or Gabriel. Usually one person is dominant.

I thought attacking midfielder would have been our first priority but still time to bring someone onboard.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/p ... 8041a5e2b4

“Ben was a top target for us and it’s great that we’ve completed his signing,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told the club’s website.

Kudos to Arsenal & it's owners to spend big this summer. I never thought we would spend so much for one player.
Welcome Ben White!

Looking forward to Arteta's new team for the season. Time for him to bring us back to the ECL!

I'm not confirming till ltg says so.
joking :)

But I am thrilled. It's our 3rd touted defender in a couple years, albeit the other two were young and not proven at the highest levels before signing them. 1 out of 2 with them. Can't think of the last 'proven' top level defender we signed? Does Pers? Sylvestre? Count as such? I'll let the forum nitpick that.

It remains to be seen if we have overspent but I suspect we haven't. I'm happy with the back 5 more or less and having Partey in front, well, we shouldn't leak goals as much. Fingers crossed.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/07/30/what-mikel-arteta-told-ben-white-about-future-arsenal-transfers-during-talks-15017193/?ito=newsnow-feed

When even Soc is optimistic about the season this could be a pivotal season. Like me, he is a bit more skeptical than the average gooner. I'm excited about seeing the new players and the return of the better performing ones last season. This season is also a pivotal year for Arteta. Yeah, he'll need some time to put all the working parts together into smooth running machine but he can't take all season to do it.

Hoping we'll see Xhaka out the door. Nothing against him but we should be doing better.

You have my permission now.

The illuminating thing about Xhaka is that it appears to be Roma or nothing. No other club is looking in, even after a good Euros, and saying he looks a bargain and making a better offer (or indeed any offer).

Actual video of ltg announcing Ben White's signing.

Amazingly, the queue to sign Xhaka is longer than Mustafi's.

Wtf are you talking about? They took EUEFA to court got the penalty fees cancelled and stopped a major injustice. Whether you like it or not they did nothing wrong.

Imo opinion it would be good for grass roots footie. Get rid of the likes of RM, Barca and Juve and money no longer bends the rules.

Football would go back to being a sport.

I’m not wanting to get into the debate whether the clubs did or didn’t do anything wrong. However, am I missing something as I’d have thought it benefits Arsenal too, as we were one of the Super League clubs?

Hi ltg,

I think its the post covid market. I'm not a big fan of Xhaka but he was undoubtedly one of the standout performers in the euros and the fact that no club is willing or able to offer more than the paltry sum Roma have is indicative of what a troubled market it is.

It's also why we are having trouble offloading players like Kolasinic, Willian, Bellerin, Lacazette etc. There are just very few clubs willing or able to make the kind of outlay in transfer fees and wages that it would require. Teams are looking at loans with options to buy which is not great for the selling team.

The upside for teams who do have money is that they are in a strong position to pick up bargains or players who would normally be out of their reach.

Hi bromley. I know I owe you a sincere apology for doing this post as you did yours comfortably more than 10 hours 17 minutes ago, making it too old to debate. But I didn’t know Ben Stokes is a Tottenham fan.

I looked him up and saw he was born and raised in New Zealand until the age of 12, when his parents moved to the north of England. It didn’t actually say where in the north, but I’d have assumed the north east was a fairly safe assumption considering he joined Durham County Cricket Club rather than Yorkshire or Lancashire.

I know Tottenham have support all over the country, and presumably New Zealand. They’re a pretty big club after all. But my impression has always been that their support is more localised in London and the home countries than Arsenal’s (and Chelsea’s).

Wonder why Stokes decided to support Tottenham?

We seem to be have the classic conundrum of both struggling to sell and struggling to buy.

FFP was never going to work because 'money' rules. There is just too much money and the big money almost always has influence over the rules that govern their own money.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58032330