Edu's Transfer Targets: Summer Holidays 2021

[Hleb's Sirush]

He's still the most obvious target for AM - it doesn't really add up that we won't have a backup for ESR because if that was the case, why would we have brought him in on loan in January?

You would think that would be the case. On second thought I won't be surprised if we brought in Ødegaard in January cos they were a lot of questions marks about ESR's injury record. He was playing a lot of games in a short space of time. No one knew how his body would cope. I wouldn't really rule out us foolishly thinking there is less urgent need to cover ESR this window than there was in January.

 

[Barry]

You would think that would be the case. On second thought I won't be surprised if we brought in Ødegaard in January cos they were a lot of questions marks about ESR's injury record. He was playing a lot of games in a short space of time. No one knew how his body would cope. I wouldn't really rule out us foolishly thinking there is less urgent need to cover ESR this window than there in January.

Think we'll go for an AM late in the window. Arsenal were so bad without one last year that Arteta will know the season rests on Emile's fitness. I just can't see them taking the gamble on that... ()

 

[Oxeki]

I was expecting you to be buzzing with those ’’proven PL’’ list.

Ramsdale, Tammy Abraham and White are the kind of signing you make when you're fighting to finish in the top half of the table.

What does 'PL proven' mean anyway? There's are lots bum/average players in the PL who you guys categorize as PL proven. I feel like any half decent British player these days is labelled as PL proven.

What's the point of spending 40m on Tammy when he's not even better than Auba or Laca? White is probably our third best CB and yet when we blew our load on him. Ramsdale is meme-level signing. If we sign him then we have to apologise to Runarsson.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Really frustrating with selling players again even with our Hale End guys who should attract more interest because they young homegrown it come to point I'm accepting that nobody rate our players and afraid to pay money and they rather wait late to get them for cheap.

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

Think we'll go for an AM late in the window. Arsenal were so bad without one last year that Arteta will know the season rests on Emile's fitness. I just can't see them taking the gamble on that... ()

Let's hope you're right.

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

Really frustrating with selling players again even with our Hale End guys who should attract more interest because they young homegrown it come to point I'm accepting that nobody rate our players and afraid to pay money and they rather wait late to get them for cheap.

It is common knowledge, we are seen as easy prey. Why would anyone pay any money for our players when all you have to do is wait and you will get them for peanuts or free.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

It is common knowledge, we are seen as easy prey. Why would anyone pay any money for our players when all you have to do is wait and you will get them for peanuts or free.

I don't mind they end up going late in window but that will affect the quality we'll bring in we still need good quality CM and RB or we made really little improvements from last season

 

[Fewtch]

I’d like to see a 433. Think it requires more of a specialist dm though and for me the obvious one is still Bissouma.


I think both ESR and Saka could be played as “free 8’s” (even together) in the right setup, but agree it’d take time before they’re fully there. Perhaps playing ESR together with Partey and (for example) Bissouma would be a good way to introduce him as the others would maybe provide some cover for his deficiencies.

All in all and with the above said, I’d still be happy if we went for a midfield of Saka-Partey-ESR where Partey plays lone dm, knowing that it’d be a work in progress. It’d take time, patience and lower expectations on league finish etc, but if there’s continuous progress I’d be happy with that.

What's a specialist DM and why is Bissouma one and not Partey?

 

[Barry]

I don't mind they end up going late in window but that will affect the quality we'll bring in we still need good quality CM and RB or we made really little improvements from last season

Don't think we'll go for a RB now... Bellerin and Chambers are still here, we seem to have prioritised some weird signings first like CB, backup goalie, junior midfielder etc.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Don't think we'll go for a RB now... Bellerin and Chambers are still here, we seem to have prioritised some weird signings first like CB, backup goalie, junior midfielder etc.

The RB signing won't happen when we have 3 RB in club so one of them should go White and Lokonga signings were important because we needed cover in midfield and upgrade on Luiz and Holding in CB in that regard we done it quick and we did good job but it'll still bad window if we didn't get good CB CM and AM we'll see 5 weeks to go.

 

[RunTheTrap]

I’d like to see a 433. Think it requires more of a specialist dm though and for me the obvious one is still Bissouma.


I think both ESR and Saka could be played as “free 8’s” (even together) in the right setup, but agree it’d take time before they’re fully there. Perhaps playing ESR together with Partey and (for example) Bissouma would be a good way to introduce him as the others would maybe provide some cover for his deficiencies.

All in all and with the above said, I’d still be happy if we went for a midfield of Saka-Partey-ESR where Partey plays lone dm, knowing that it’d be a work in progress. It’d take time, patience and lower expectations on league finish etc, but if there’s continuous progress I’d be happy with that.

Nothing wrong with a double pivot. I feel like people want a 433 but don’t realise how hard it is to get the balance right. I blame Pep and Klopp. A standard 4231 suits the personnel right now. If you want a 433 that would mean a change at RB to offer balance while Tierney bombs forward, and a new ST. Someone who is an all-rounder, but at this moment of time we have too much to do.

 

[picsou]

He's still the most obvious target for AM - it doesn't really add up that we won't have a backup for ESR because if that was the case, why would we have brought him in on loan in January?

i think we can buy someone like mattheus perreira from west brom easily going to the end of period, but i assume we have better targets as priority, but we will get à creative mid

 

[Sebastes]

What's a specialist DM and why is Bissouma one and not Partey?

That's a good question. Made me think and I think phrasing it as a specialist dm was probably a somewhat sloppy way of putting it.

I guess it comes down to wanting more "steel" in midfield and I'd like to see another athletic profile next to Partey that adds pace, power and tackling/interceptions to midfield to let us more effectively close down counter attacks as well as push more players high up the field in possession. This would also give some cover for a more technical/creative/finesse player to play as an 8 (ESR for example, but also an Aouar, Bernardo Silva, Ødegaard type of player).

I see Partey as a decently versatile mid who can play a more progressive role and therefore I probably used specialist dm to differentiate from his versatility. I realise in saying that, that Bissouma was a much more progressive player at Lille. So in hindsight it was a poorly put statement that really means "I want Partey and another atheltic player thats good defensively". For example it could perhaps work with Partey as 6 and Renato Sanches or similar as an 8.

 

[Gn1212]

I’d like to see a 433. Think it requires more of a specialist dm though and for me the obvious one is still Bissouma.


I think both ESR and Saka could be played as “free 8’s” (even together) in the right setup, but agree it’d take time before they’re fully there. Perhaps playing ESR together with Partey and (for example) Bissouma would be a good way to introduce him as the others would maybe provide some cover for his deficiencies.

All in all and with the above said, I’d still be happy if we went for a midfield of Saka-Partey-ESR where Partey plays lone dm, knowing that it’d be a work in progress. It’d take time, patience and lower expectations on league finish etc, but if there’s continuous progress I’d be happy with that.

Bissouma will be cooked being the single pivot at Arsenal.

Edit: Ok, you've explained your thought process in the post above. Fair.

 

[Sebastes]

Nothing wrong with a double pivot. I feel like people want a 433 but don’t realise how hard it is to get the balance right. I blame Pep and Klopp. A standard 4231 suits the personnel right now. If you want a 433 that would mean a change at RB to offer balance while Tierney bombs forward, and a new ST. Someone who is an all-rounder, but at this moment of time we have too much to do.

Fair point. I'm not entirely sure about the need of a new striker, but it'd definitely take a new rb and probably two cm's. One of a more defensive/physical profile and one more attacking (8/10 hybrid, free 8 or whatnot).

At this point it might be too much too ask, but going in to the window we always needed/expected a new rb, a cm and an am anyways which pretty much equates to those roles if we want to move towards a 433, which I also think suits our wing players better. Martinelli, Pepe, Saka I feel would all do better in that kind of setup where they can play as inside forwards.

Edit: As well as more easily accommodating Auba or Balogun as inside forwards rather than wingers

In regards to playing 4231 I'd be fine with that as well, but I think that the Locatelli's (even though I really like him and want to fit him in a line up), Fabían's and Neves' of the world are too similar to Xhaka in terms of physical attributes. Maybe I'm just scarred... I still want the vision and passing ability for a pivot mid though, which rules out Bissouma, Ndidi, Zakaria etc. I dunno, it's hard. I've been secretly positive/optimistic that we'd make good use of this transfer window but I'm losing all faith in their ability to do anything right

 

[bingobob]

Don't think we'll go for a RB now... Bellerin and Chambers are still here, we seem to have prioritised some weird signings first like CB, backup goalie, junior midfielder etc.

Weve lost 4 CBS in 12 months, lost our back up goalie and lost 2 midfielders. Its only weird when you don't look at it as being obvious. You fill places where there is space.

 

[berric]

???

Big Per the only one in the club hierarchy that's actually making proactive moves.

 

[Makavelii]

I don't understand this attitude. We have signed guys like Pepe in the past who at the time was super exciting yet his performances have rarely matched what we were expecting from him. We should be judging players on how they're going to fit into the team and improve us with their particular skill set, not based solely on their talents which may or may not improve us.

Maddison for example I don't this is a massively talented player and there are plenty of 10's out there who are a similar level overall but his particular strengths are areas where we are lacking. Our crossing and shooting from dead ball situations is dire, Maddison is very strong in this area. Our goal threat from outside the box is lacking, Maddison again is strong in this area. He may not unlock opposition defence or carry the ball as well as other options out there but we have the likes of Saka and ESR who can. There are obviously more areas to his game that he is both weak and strong in but I think the strong interest stems from how he fits with our existing options. Sadly 50-60m doesn't buy you a complete player like it did 5-10 years ago.

The CM situation is anyone best guess at this stage.

I feel like Ramsdale is being judged too harshly based on a few people watching a few of his earlier games and then pretending to watch Sheffield run home. If you watched his later games then 20-30m for a young english GK who has already spent two seasons in the PL and has plenty more growth ahead of him is no where near of a disaster as some have made out. Doesn't help with all the revisionism around Martinez either. Im not necessarily advocating for him but I do see some of the appeal.

Abraham is an opportunity buy. At the very least he is good back up which with Lacazette and Eddie likely leaving will be needed. Ticks a number of boxes and as a fan base we need to stop comparing every striker to the likes of RvP and Henry. We were incredibly blessed with the run of elite strikers we had from wright through to RvP but how many up and coming strikers on the market now can put in the same conversation as those guys. The likes of Mpabbe and Haaland yes and are way out of our league at present, then there is a massive drop off. Abraham actually stacks up favourably to nearly every other up and coming striker, which speaks more for the lack of quality than it does his talent, but until such time as the next wave of elite strikers come through we are going to need players like him. Even if that player ends up being Balogun who realistically is going to need a loan or two before he is ready for that responsibility.

Rightly or wrongly our ability to bridge the gap to the top 4 is going to fall at the feet of the likes of Saka and ESR mostly. We are banking on their development to take us back to the top and their ceilings will ultimately decide how far we go not so much for this season but future seasons. I don't think you can question the players we are bringing in based on their age and the timeline being in sync with these two and their qualities are ones we are lacking and complement our existing players. Hopefully they are good enough overall and do provide the support to bring us closer to the top.

i agree about Abraham being a good opportunity buy. I’m onboard with that transfer.

But I disagree with you fundamentally about buying to fill weaknesses/plug gaps.
That’s the sort of strategy that just shifts our problems back and forth. It’s like playing wack a mole.
E.g. We don’t have enough physicality in midfield so we buy physical players. Then we created ourselves a new problem of not having enough creativity in midfield etc.

We need quality to get back to the top. That can be found with smart strategic buys and the manager getting the best out of players, without completely breaking the bank. Liverpool & Leicester did it recently.

 

[El Duderino]

Big Per the only one in the club hierarchy that's actually making proactive moves.

He's actually the only person I trust on the footballing side as things stand.

Really hope he gets Edu's role in the future. Would like him to eventually be CEO if he delivers in the academy side of things, but I don't know how much he could bring to the table comercially.

 

[blrgooner]

I really hope we have an AM and CM in mind where we are confident of getting a deal done. Most worrying thing is that we haven`t sold anyone now. This is kind of an issue simply because everybody knows the set of players we need to sell. Since there is not so much demand for those players, the clubs we are dealing with know that we are likely to accept a lower price if we get closer to the end of the transfer window. Also, except for Auoar to some extent, all the players we are looking for to buy can remain at their parent clubs and there is no pressure on them to sell. This would mean that their values are not likely to reduce as towards the end of the transfer window. We are clearly at a bad position here and I hope the club understands this and tries to get the most important pieces of business done as quickly as possible now(Even at the risk of overpaying).