I had a few too many posting that. However, this was sticking out when I typing it.
Non-LFC Transfer Rumours 2020
- Thread starter RedStar
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Status
No chance we are spending £54m on a 29 year old CB just to push the best young defender in England down the pecking order.
I’d spend a hundred mill to make sure “the best defender in the world” never plays again.
Except that's not what he said.
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/fif...n-i-am-one-of-the-best-defenders-in-the-world
Don't spoil the shoeing he deserves.
Fuck that. Throw him in as a freebie to Napoli for Koulibaly.
Nat Philips or something like that. And yes he is.
There's no way it will push Trent down the pecking order.
You've got it mixed up.
Tierney will be out of our price range. Saka has one year left on his contract and has so far said he wants to leave.
Saka will get a bumper contract probably £100k/week plus guaranteed games, this will make Tierney 3rd choice.
Fraser could be decent squad option, motivated he is decent
Last edited:
If Saka can get £100k per week out of Arsenal then good for him. He's not worth £100k week when Robbo and Trent are both currently earning less than £60k a week
But as yet he hasn't signed a contract, which means he would cost less.
Depends on whether he rates Arteta or not really.
Saka and Martinelli please ...
Tierney? Who had groin, hip and shoulder injuries last season (at Celtic) and missed half their games. He's only started 7 league matches for Arsenal (out of 30) because of a HIP injury. Even the Arsenal fans are beginning to realise they've signed a crock. Even if he wasn't always injured there's little evidence to suggest he's any good..............although even Robbo would look dodgy if he had Chambers, Mustafi or Luiz as his CB partners.
No we haven't.
Milan are preparing a £35m bid for him...
Paid on the never never.
The Koulibaly link makes no sense. Firstly, he prefers playing on the left of the CB pairing (as does VVD), secondly he's 29 and we already have a lot of players nearing 30, thirdly we've got Gomez and Matip.......and finally, if, as widely reported, we're not spending big this summer then all available funds should be spent on a player who can cover the front 3 positions or play as an attacking midfielder..........a Coutinho-type......................hopefully Havertz.
Yeah the Koulibaly link is clearly bullshit.
Unfortunately, we won't be after Havertz either.
Unfortunately, we won't be after Havertz either.
His agent angling for a better deal more than likely. Or trying to give the skanks the hurry up.
With Chelsea spending big; United (according to my United mates) certain the get Sancho and City will obviously strengthen.........we can't afford to have a 2nd successive season of transfer inactivity. I'm living in the vain hope that we will have one major splurge and hope it's Havertz. If we were to get him and with (hopefully) Harvey Elliott coming to the fore during the season it would give us the required boost in youth/energy to retain our title.
Unfortunately it's looking that way. It's not really in FSG's model to splurge big at the best of times, nevermind after the financial repercussions following this virus. I would actually be quite surprised if we signed anyone of note, to be honest. We certainly won't be making any big money signings.
On the plus side, I can't see Sancho leaving yet. And if he does go, I can't really see him going to United. That would be a step backwards. Though, if he's only interested in money, he might be tempted.
City and Chelsea will spend, though, you're right.
I don't necessarily blame the club for not strengthening this summer, but they definitely have to think about it soon. The squad is quite thin, and all of our best players are approaching 30. It's going to take another rebuilding job soon.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshua...-arsenal-must-not-let-him-leave/#78e73ba631b1
[article]How often do you see a professional soccer player switching positions from game to game? A few might be able to play as either a central or wide attacker; some may be able to play on the left and right of a central defensive partnership; a few may even be adept as a full-back on both flanks. But how many do you see playing in roles that require a completely distinct skillsets, different ways of understanding the game, unique sets of movements and interactions with team-mates?
If the answer is ‘not many’, that in turn begs the question: why?
The answer, most likely, is because doing so is bloody difficult. Playing in the Premier League is a realistic proposition for very few, even among the best soccer players. And to be successful at the very top, it is increasingly the case that you must completely and utterly dominate a very specific subset of skills that make you exceptionally good at performing one or at most two of the roles in any given manager’s tactical system.
That, apparently, is unless you name is Bukayo Saka. In which case, the usual rules do not apply.
In Arsenal’s last three Premier League games, Saka has played on the left of a back four, the right of a front three and, on Saturday against Brighton, on the left of a midfield three. The unique sequence is testament to the trust that he commands from his manager, Mikel Arteta. And that he has adapted so seamlessly to the changing demands attests to his intelligence, confidence and quality.
At left back, where he played for most of the season owing to injuries to Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac, he did so well that some were speculating about him being called up to the England senior team in the role. On the right wing against Manchester City he was a little less involved, which is to be expected against such high-quality opposition. Still, he did the job that was asked of him, making incisive diagonal runs behind the City defense. On Saturday, as Arsenal took on Brighton, he was perhaps the Gunners’ most influential player, even if Arteta’s men fell to another disappointing result after two soft second-half goals for the Seagulls.
Nominally, he was replacing the injured Granit Xhaka in the central area, but his movements on the pitch were not quite the same as those Arteta requests from the more senior Swiss international. Saka played a hybrid role, defending as a left-sided central midfielder would be expected to, but varying his movements in attack. At times he would position himself inside, even playing with his back to goal to receive the ball on the half turn, at others he pulled wide as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made a darting diagonal run to join Alexandre Lacazette up front.
That wider, slightly deeper position is one from which Kevin De Bruyne has often wrought havoc for Manchester City this season, doing so again against Arsenal last Wednesday. And it was from there that Saka most threatened the Brighton backline. It is difficult to defend, as the full-back is occupied with the wide forward and the central midfielder does not want to be drawn so far out.
After just eight minutes, Saka received the ball in that area, played a one-two with Lacazette and hammered a shot onto the crossbar with his weaker right foot. After half an hour, he moved out again, providing a deflected cross that Alexandre Lacazette managed to head goalwards. And before the first half was done, Saka found time to deliver a delicious ball from the left flank, which again fell to Lacazette, who did not react quickly enough to make anything of it.
In the second period, Saka was called into defensive action more often, but when given the opportunity to counter, he burst forward and, with 23 minutes to go, supplied the pass that allowed Nicolas Pepe to open the scoring with a beautiful curling effort.
The most incredible thing is that Saka does not turn 19 until September. To have the confidence to perform so well in different roles, with their varied demands, shows a level of maturity well beyond his years.
The worrying thing for Arsenal, though – and this is the case so often that their fans will be sick of reading these words – is that Saka’s contract only has a year left to run.
That Arsenal’s head of football Raul Sanllehi, who in 2018 said that it would be Arsenal “policy” not to let players’ contracts run into their final year, and technical director Edu Gaspar did not see fit to extend the contract of such a talented player before he made his breakthrough this season is a reflection of the disarray behind the scenes.
This week, much has been said about David Luiz’s precarious situation – he is coming into the last week of his contract, without any resolution about his future. But fans also await news on Pablo Marí, Cedric Soares, Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil, all of whom have contracts or loan deals that run out either this summer or next.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein wrote this week that before the break for coronavirus, Saka and Arsenal were on the verge of agreeing a new deal and that the player’s desire is to remain. But, in more words that will worry the Arsenal faithful, he continued, “Until pen hits paper you never know.”
Given the quality of his performances in a team that is clearly not up to scratch and his apparent centrality to Arteta’s plans to remold the team, Saka is now in a far stronger negotiating position than he would have been 12 months ago. As Arsenal legend Ian Wright told DAZN this week, “He’s right, him and his representatives, to hold out as best they can because he’s the future of the club. They cannot afford to let a player like this leave.”[/article]
- Status
