Benjamin Šeško or Victor Gyokeres

[db10_therza]

This. I get that everyone wants the next big thing but this summer I’m not too fussed about that. What I want is a major trophy next season which means we need players who can come in and hit the ground running.

Like Carragher was saying at the stage we’re currently at, we should be buying players for our first XI and make them battle it out with those starting (excluding the spine of course).

I get what you guys are saying but (a) not sure I agree and (b) pretty sure the club also don’t agree and won’t be paying big money for any player the wrong side of 25.

It comes down to this: Are you optimising to win a trophy next year or are you optimising to win as many trophies as possible over the next 10 years?

If you’re answer is the latter you get a

 

[sakalacaxhaka]

That is the thing though, our first 11 are good enough to win the league, they've proven they can beat all the teams in the league

What we've seriously lacked this season is the options off the bench to change a game when we're struggling against the smaller teams, and not only that, raising the floor of the players in training will push those in the starting 11 to not drop off in fear of losing their place, that is what we've missed this season

Having Sesko in the game against West Ham/Fulham to change the flow of it or stop us missing those chances could have been the difference

I'd love us to sign a big name, but given our budget and how many fringe players we're losing this summer we have to be wise and not throw all the budget on one player who could flop (Osimhen looks amazing in some instances but I've also seen so many bad performances, for £100m+ that is a huge amount of our budget gone for a maybe)

If we're upgrading on the likes of Nketiah, Nelson, Cedric then we'll have a better chance of success

 

[2Smokeyy]

Sure, we want that trophy next year. But we should also be thinking long term. If you can add a striker to our young core then we'll be pretty much set for years.

Nothing is guaranteed for years, I get that we have a very solid core of players but you have to strike while the iron is hot.

The vibe I mainly get from our fanbase is that many seem to be planning for the post Pep era which is cool but I’d rather beat him to the league whilst he’s still around, that’s just my opinion. This project needs to start producing results in terms of silverware.

 

[Sebastes]

I get what you guys are saying but (a) not sure I agree and (b) pretty sure the club also don’t agree and won’t be paying big money for any player the wrong side of 25.

It comes down to this: Are you optimising to win a trophy next year or are you optimising to win as many trophies as possible over the next 10 years?

If you’re answer is the latter you get a

In either case you’re actually better off signing a close to wc player in their prime as a) they’re more of a sure thing and b) experience (especially from winning) is really, really important if you want to succeed.

It might not prove to be the best value but from a probability perspective you should sign a player that help you win the in the next couple of season’s and will still maintain high quality after that.

 

[Macho]

Love how everyone on AM is an accountant now and yet none of them know about IFRS13

There is no IFRS standard that specifically deals with football contracts (player registrations), those are considered intangible assets under IAS 38 Intangible Assets and are valued at cost.

Rah did I just see the finance bros go machine for machine? Where's my Ralph Lauren gilet at

 

[2Smokeyy]

I get what you guys are saying but (a) not sure I agree and (b) pretty sure the club also don’t agree and won’t be paying big money for any player the wrong side of 25.

It comes down to this: Are you optimising to win a trophy next year or are you optimising to win as many trophies as possible over the next 10 years?

If you’re answer is the latter you get a

It doesn’t have to be players the wrong side of 25 though. Take Kvaratskhelia, if there’s a chance that he’s available which seems to be the case with the strong PSG links then I’d honestly try and convince him to join regardless of whether we’d have to pay a major fee. Those are the type of signings that I’m on about.

Nobody on here really knows what’ll happen when this group of players we have get over the line and win their first major trophy, the same goes for Arteta. We just have to get over the line ASAP and see what the experience does to them.

 

[Blankety Blank]

It goes without saying any sane footballer would choose Arsenal over Chelsea right now, you do get some strange decisions like Mudryk etc.. who clearly have finances in their minds, and 8 year contracts would understandably be enticing

The facts he's turned down Saudi suggests he's not only interested in the cash, and given the amount of casualties from chelsea in recent years, you'd hope he'd have some sensible people around him to advise what the best choice for his career is more likely to be

You are not allowed to offer 8 year contracts anymore. Its 5 year maximum.

Would you want to go to Saudi as a 21 year old kid? Surely you want to play in the best leagues & ECL for big clubs.

I get the appeal for a final last contract.
That should be the Saudi position.

Tbf a lot of Saudi talk could just be introduced by agents?

 

[Jasard]

You are not allowed to offer 8 year contracts anymore. Its 5 year maximum.

Would you want to go to Saudi as a 21 year old kid? Surely you want to play in the best leagues & ECL for big clubs.

I get the appeal for a final last contract.
That should be the Saudi position.

Tbf a lot of Saudi talk could just be introduced by agents?

No you can still give 8 year contracts you just cant spread a fee beyond 5 years.

 

[Sebastes]

It doesn’t have to be players the wrong side of 25 though. Take Kvaratskhelia, if there’s a chance that he’s available which seems to be the case with the strong PSG links then I’d honestly try and convince him to join regardless of whether we’d have to pay a major fee. Those are the type of signings that I’m on about.

Nobody on here really knows what’ll happen when this group of players we have get over the line and win their first major trophy, the same goes for Arteta. We just have to get over the line ASAP and see what the experience does to them.

Very much this. At the same time it’s not wrong to sign experienced players either.

Take Theo Hernandez, been a lot of rumors about Bayern being very interested the last couple of months and since it hasn’t been shot down (iirc) that’s another player I definitely think just raise our level and a player you should just go for, regardless being 26(?) and likely very expensive, over a Seško.

Or compare Seško, Doué and Simons which in different ways can be somewhat compared. Out of those you’re likely better off paying double for Simons than either off the others

 

[Blankety Blank]

No you can still give 8 year contracts you just cant spread a fee beyond 5 years.

Ok I didn't know that.
Is there a lot of point giving them?
The main reason Chelsea did it was to spread the fee.
So we could do it.
Tbh I think it sends out the wrong msg.
I can see the appeal for a player who may sit on the bench & not perform but would any serious pro want to be tied up for so long? 5 + 1 is surely long enough.

 

[Gn1212]

Very much this. At the same time it’s not wrong to sign experienced players either.

Take Theo Hernandez, been a lot of rumors about Bayern being very interested the last couple of months and since it hasn’t been shot down (iirc) that’s another player I definitely think just raise our level and a player you should just go for, regardless being 26(?) and likely very expensive, over a Seško.

Or compare Seško, Doué and Simons which in different ways can be somewhat compared. Out of those you’re likely better off paying double for Simons than either off the others

What's the obsession people have with Hernandez?

We've gotten rid of every single traditional fullback we had because we don't use them anymore.

He can't invert and he can't play as an overlapping CB a la White because he's not disciplined enough.

He's subpar at defending, worse than Zinchenko that people constantly ***** about.

 

[Red London]

What's the obsession people have with Hernandez?

We've gotten rid of every single traditional fullback we had because we don't use them anymore.

He can't invert and he can't play as an overlapping CB a la White because he's not disciplined enough.

He's subpar at defending, worse than Zinchenko that people constantly ***** about.

I see your point but surely not worse than Zinchenko. Zinchenko has poor positioning, 1on1 defending, strength, and recovery pace.

Théo at worst has poor positioning and maybe not the best 1on1 defending. But his recovery pace and strength certainly covers that and his positioning more than Zinchenko.

Zinchenko is a weak midget with no pace and defensive awareness.

 

[Gn1212]

I see your point but surely not worse than Zinchenko. Zinchenko has poor positioning, 1on1 defending, strength, and recovery pace.

Théo at worst has poor positioning and maybe not the best 1on1 defending. But his recovery pace and strength certainly covers that and his positioning more than Zinchenko.

Zinchenko is a weak midget with no pace and defensive awareness.

Theo has worse defensive awareness and I'm not sure he's particularly stronger.
Overall, they're both defensive liabilities.

If we were using a traditional fullback and we were desperate I could see the logic in taking a gamble on him but he would be expensive bad fit here.

 

[Red London]

Theo has worse defensive awareness and I'm not sure he's particularly stronger.
Overall, they're both defensive liabilities.

If we were using a traditional fullback and we were desperate I could see the logic in taking a gamble on him but he would be expensive bad fit here.

He’s pretty stocky IIRC, looks powerful and athletic. Can defo body players. Zinchenko isn’t bodying anyone.

How can he have worse defensive awareness? I don’t think you can get much worse to what Zinchenko did this season. Gabriel constantly covering for him.

 

[Rasmi]

Theo has worse defensive awareness and I'm not sure he's particularly stronger.
Overall, they're both defensive liabilities.

If we were using a traditional fullback and we were desperate I could see the logic in taking a gamble on him but he would be expensive bad fit here.

Maybe Arteta will mix it up and use a proper fullback? We could really do with a proper left back instead of this silly inverted nonsense

 

[CannonBals]

Theo has worse defensive awareness and I'm not sure he's particularly stronger.
Overall, they're both defensive liabilities.

If we were using a traditional fullback and we were desperate I could see the logic in taking a gamble on him but he would be expensive bad fit here.

Yup...
Also I am of opinion that we should keep Tierney around if we want to experiment with a traditional LB and see how it goes. If it works get a specialist next season.

 

[Gn1212]

He’s pretty stocky IIRC, looks powerful and athletic. Can defo body players. Zinchenko isn’t bodying anyone.

How can he have worse defensive awareness? I don’t think you can get much worse to what Zinchenko did this season. Gabriel constantly covering for him.

Yeah, Theo is really as bad. There was moment in time years ago when he was at least doing a serviceable job but he's been a mess the past two years.

He's essentially a winger now. Milan have pretty much embraced it now. It's why they went from one of the best defences in the league to one of the worst.

 

[Gn1212]

Maybe Arteta will mix it up and use a proper fullback? We could really do with a proper left back instead of this silly inverted nonsense

He already has variations in how he uses his fullbacks. The tactics don't need adjustment, it's the personnel we can improve.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Someone in the library here in Fáskrúðsfjörður that I pay 7500 ISK per month for football gossip gave me some information that we might or might not sign this player. Loan with obligation to buy very unlikely.

 

[lomekian]

There is still a good chance Sesko goes to Chelsea, lets be real people.

From a football perspective it may be better to join Arsenal, but money still does talk and talks loudly. Lets hope Edu and Arteta can get this one over the line.

That's a historical perspective. Chelsea's entire strategy under clearlake is to go for lower wage signings and unless they can make some sales soon, they will have trouble adding more significant wages too.