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The we almost signed them Thread

Who should we have signed?


  • Total voters
    46

Rex Stone

Long live the fighters
Trusted ⭐

Country: Wales

Must have been pretty close along. Interesting as it basically confirms he was an Emery target and yet we went for a player who is completely different.

Seen as that transfer ended up getting Raul sacked probably the start of the bad vibes.
 

Iceman10

Established Member

Must have been pretty close along. Interesting as it basically confirms he was an Emery target and yet we went for a player who is completely different.

Seen as that transfer ended up getting Raul sacked probably the start of the bad vibes.

Well when you decentralise the responsibilities of the manager, post-Wenger this is what you get with Emery kind of chosen to be compliant with that setup, as opposed to a Mourinho. Raul got the chop, In truth, Vinai should have also because the decentralisation model didn't work and they've had to rein it back post-Emery.

Back then when we signed Pepe, the spiel in the football market was all about asset value, looking at Spuds with Bale, and Liverpool with Coutinho. Zaha did not have asset appreciation value, only depreciation, while Pepe was only 24. Same thinking went into Saliba, thinking we could sign him and see his value inflate to 70-100m. That thinking back then was too one-dimensional, and has matured a bit in football overall since then (have to think immediate term as well as long term hopes).
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
We couldn’t afford Zaha otherwise he’d be here. Getting cussed like the rest, cause he’s not 19 signed on the cheap.

Zaha isn’t the same player on the right, he’s best used left or centrally (nowadays). I actually don’t know how he would have worked out because of this.
 

Heskey

🌑 🌘🌗🌖🌕🌔🌓🌒
Trusted ⭐
Given how things seems to be ending with Pepe I think that it's tough really not to sit with the age-old 'what if' feeling seeing as Zaha might have been able to have a different impact than Pepe.

I still don't believe we have seen Pepe with the right conditions to succeed here, though. Our manager seemingly wanted a different player, and - even though it feels like it's 3-4 years ago - he was signed last summer in what was proved to be an extremely turbulent period at the club.

Would Wilf have had such an impact that we would not have gone through that turbulent period?
 

Atlas

Lost a sausage bet on Xhaka 😭
I don’t think missing out on Zaha would have been such a big deal if we didn’t then go on to spend 72m on a similar type of player who has been very poor so far and who needs the stars to align and the temperature to be exact before he can be coaxed into putting in a decent performance. Looking at how things have gone I don’t think there is much argument against the notion that Zaha would have been a much better signing.
 

AberGooner

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: Scotland

Player:Gabriel
At the time I would have preferred Zaha as I knew him and had seen him enough to know he's a class player and Premier League proven but hearing at the time that clubs like Bayern were supposedly looking at Pepe did make me think we'd acquired one of the best talents in football.

You win some you lose some, it's not like we've made a habit of £70m+ fees but disappointing the first time we did it proved to be a massive flop.
 

AbouCuéllar

Author of A-M essays 📚
Zaha the better player but the idea with the age profile on Pepe was right. Just terrible scouting.
yet we went for a player who is completely different.

How so? Both are inverted forwards who are good at dribbling (Pepe's dribbling stats in Ligue 1 were quite good), and score. I think we were hoping Pepe would have a Zaha like impact. It was just bad scouting and forcing a transfer based on a profile we liked when the scouting should've been bringing up big red flags.
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Zaha the better player but the idea with the age profile on Pepe was right. Just terrible scouting.


How so? Both are inverted forwards who are good at dribbling (Pepe's dribbling stats in Ligue 1 were quite good), and score. I think we were hoping Pepe would have a Zaha like impact. It was just bad scouting and forcing a transfer based on a profile we liked when the scouting should've been bringing up big red flags.
They’re actually pretty different.

Zaha is a very unique player, can’t think of anyone like him off the top of my head. Pepe is more your typical get in behind inverted wide forward, just with a bit more flair.

Club needs to be more careful when signing players, Emery didn’t want Pepe and so made no real effort to utilise his strengths. In Emery’s defence the team was never set up to accommodate Pepe. You look at Liverpool and it gives you an idea of the type of players, particularly CF and fullbacks that you need.

Whoever thought Pepe was a suitable replacement for Zaha should be fired (oh wait). ASM would have been a much better alternative.
 

Jack_the_boy

Definitely Not Manberg
Shouldn’t have signed either. A case can’t be made for Zaha considering that it’s reported Palace wanted all that money up front, and Utd receive 25% of the transfer fee.

We should have looked at other cheaper, quality options, which I’m sure were available. Ziyech’s one example. Could also have bought back Gnabry.
 

AbouCuéllar

Author of A-M essays 📚
They’re actually pretty different.

Zaha is a very unique player, can’t think of anyone like him off the top of my head. Pepe is more your typical get in behind inverted wide forward, just with a bit more flair.

Club needs to be more careful when signing players, Emery didn’t want Pepe and so made no real effort to utilise his strengths. In Emery’s defence the team was never set up to accommodate Pepe. You look at Liverpool and it gives you an idea of the type of players, particularly CF and fullbacks that you need.

Whoever thought Pepe was a suitable replacement for Zaha should be fired (oh wait). ASM would have been a much better alternative.

Yeah, I don't disagree, but I do think they were looking at that basic profile of player (dribbling inverted winger with goals). Either way, we all agree it was terrible scouting and terrible work from our clown management.
 

krackpot

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
Everyone around Arsenal is turning into a lying snake. This is a disgusting lack of transparency!

Wonder what the loan is for. I'm sure we'll get lied to again.

But at least this decision got Emery out of the club.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
People talk about Zaha in terms of his stats but you must realise he plays in an incredibly negative team where for years he was tasked with doing most of the offensive work. His ball carrying skills is what separates him from Pepe for me and probably why Emery wanted him so badly. His ability to drive in spaces but also when tightly marked can evade opposition defenders with ease.

I think the ship has sailed though so it's one we'll just have to get over. He's at an age now where it wouldn't make financial sense for him to be a top target for us anymore.
 

MikelHadADream

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
People talk about Zaha in terms of his stats but you must realise he plays in an incredibly negative team where for years he was tasked with doing most of the offensive work. His ball carrying skills is what separates him from Pepe for me and probably why Emery wanted him so badly. His ability to drive in spaces but also when tightly marked can evade opposition defenders with ease.

I think the ship has sailed though so it's one we'll just have to get over. He's at an age now where it wouldn't make financial sense for him to be a top target for us anymore.

This is spot on. Under Woy, Palace have played with everyone behind the ball and have basically replied on Zaha to get the ball, create and score. Its a massive burden, yet he's consistently won them games. I've always thought in a more expansive team his numbers would dramatically increase, he's a top player.

I'd still take him tbh if we could get him for a modest fee, maybe send them Nelson/Eddie to sweaten the deal.
 

Oxeki

Match Day Thread Merchant
Trusted ⭐

Country: Nigeria

Player:Saliba
Don't think Zaha would've been a good signing. He would have ended up facing the same problems that is Pepe facing now. When you watch CP, you see that Hodgson hives him tactical freedom. He drifts all over the pitch. Mikel isn't going to allow that. He's more of striker these days anyway.

And again, Zaha fecked himself. That new deal he accepted from crystal palace will effectively prevent him from getting a big move anytime soon. He'll not be leaving palace until he's in his 30s.
He ate his cake and is trying to have it at the same time. If he didn't sign that deal, he'll probably be an Arsenal player by now.

Same thing will happen to Grealish.
 
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