Arsenal Banter Archive January 04 2013

04 Jan 2013 23:04:28
Jesus what are the spuds doin on our site the egg is still on your faces from last year and here you are boiling some more for us to smear on your faces again.

David 6

04 Jan 2013 22:01:23
Guys

I sent in a post about David Villa - PLEASE IGNORE IT

The story is basically I am an admin on an Arsenal page along with a bunch of others I have not met. One thing we aim to do is post regular, up-to-date and 100% correct news as quickly as possible. One Admin posted a rumour that the guardian were stating that we had officially signed him for £13.4m - I had no reason not to believe it.

Anyway, I was so excited I came on here, posted the rumour, then went to investigate and read the story. That's when I realised it was total BS - I've since issued an apology on the page to our thousands of followers and have written to the 'owner' of the page, told him what's happened and that admin has been removed.

Am really sorry all. I have asked the Eds to remove that rumour so that no more people see it but i am not sure if they have or not.

Eds if you're reading, please remove that David Villa rumour I sent in, it's all total crap and I don't want to be associated with BS rumours, or let anyone else down!

Really sorry everyone, hope this gets posted.

Metal Gooner {Ed035's Note - I removed it mate, calm down your not in trouble

Metal - Sod's Law dictates that now that you have retracted it, it'll come true!

gun44

This is unbelievable...I cant believe you posted that without being 100%sure.I have told people that Villa is coming cos i read your post!!What do u suggest i do know?You have made me look like a right mug Metal Gooner(if that is your real name, im not sure anymore).....Thanks for nothing.

Kal the gooner

05 Jan 2013 10:25:34
I'd throw the book at him!

Dickie

Definite jail sentence. After all this site is called arsenalfacts.co.uk
Metal, I wouldn't worry too much, if Malaga gets welcomed back into the fray then I think you will just about be forgiven!

Kermit79

04 Jan 2013 21:52:30
got a really bad feeling wenger has decided we have enough to claim a champions league spot, and will wait til summer to see what we really need, looking at the last few january windows he always says we are looking for exceptional talents but usually buy so called potential, hope im wrong with this but i check the rumours everyday and thats all we see rumours nothing concrete .if im right i for one hope he starts to use some of our current youth players instead of relying on the usual crap who never seem to change a game, i for one would rather see eisfeld, gnabry, and meade as opposed to ramsey, gervinho and santos at least then we can give them some genuine playing time

ty.1

I could not agree with you more!! you've put into words what i've been thinking for ages

04 Jan 2013 20:54:35
How is it Spurs have such top transfer targets? Or should I say expensive ones?

I don't get how that club can afford to sign the players they sign. They have such a good squad and will Spurs still be around in 20 years time yes they will, why is it we only buy cheap players or players at seriously cut price value and we have to listen to Wenger and Gazidis talk as though if we spend more than 5p Arsenal FC will cease to exist in the next decade?

It's utter b*******! How can Spurs be looking at Damiao, Moutinho and the like yet they're too expensive for us? IDC if they sold Modric, they still spent that money, they bought Dembele, Dempsey, Vertonghen and Sigurdsson, who cost more than what they got for Modric. We sold more than we spend!

I mean this is so crass!

The wool is well and truly over our eyes people.

Levy cares about tottenham, kroenke doesnt care about arsenal.

Relax mate, look at it this way, spurs have put a lot of money and faith in AVB getting top 4, but IMO we will finish there and they will miss out again, and AVB will be out of a job.

they have made a few good signings like modric and bale, but have made a lot of mistakes too - like having 4 highly paid keepers at the moment.

When they finish 5th, they'll have to sell Bale, their only world class player. Parker, Defoe, Gallas will probably be off for cheap money just to get them off the books. Better players like walker and a.ekotto will get picked off by the bigger clubs, and they are left with very little proven quality players and turds like Ade.

Their net spend is massive compared to us, and their success is very little in comparison.

Our time is coming again, we all know the transfers have not worked out recently and are making the changes but it is a slower process than you think it is. we just have to finish above them this season.

redgoon

And what happened : Dempsey and Sigurdson are THE flops of the season... Dembele was injured most of the season... And Vertonghen, he is in tottenham now, just beacuse onley the offered him first team cb role... TV5, LK6 and PM4 are far better than him... So tell me with what this "class and expensive" players would improve our squad...

04 Jan 2013 21:37:33
People need to get off the sneijder bandwagon, he wont come anywhere near this club because there is no way in hell we'd pay his wage. To all those who think that because Inter are happy to give him away for free we can incorporate that saved money into his wage, you are wrong. Once you pay any single player more than the highest paid player in the squad which sits at what at the moment, roughly 90k p/w? You open up a can of worms of getting players wanting parity with that wage and thats when you put the club in danger. Wake up people it's not going to happen.

Bradders

Can't we give him a huge signing on fee to make up for the lost wages and than pay him in line with the top earners at the club. Simple

Spanner

04 Jan 2013 20:13:09
So how many players will spuds buy that arsenal want
and how many will arsenal sell

cant wait till the transfer window to close so we can get the disspointment of watching other clubs buy players and wenger buy none

04 Jan 2013 19:33:44
Seriously, the same people who moan about us not signing proven players and only signing future prospects are now moaning that Holtby has gone to the Spuds!

Get a grip and make your minds up, he was not good enough for us, we already have players like Eisfeld in our reserves which are better.

337

It's so odd - I totally agree with you -

So why am I annoyed he's gone to the spuds? Is it because I am fed up with us not making signings? Is it because he was good enough? Or is it because I am simply fed up with reading that someone is a target only to see them go somewhere else?

I think that's what is so irritating. I don't believe Holtby was good enough although I do believe he's better than Ramsey. Sahin has been arguably the flop of the summer and in hindsight I'm very glad we didn't sign him. But at the time I was furious simply because we were in for a player and another club 'beat us' to it.

I just think we've tracking Holtby for over a year now if we want him sign him if we don't then stfu Wenger and stop saying yes we're interested!

I don't know why we were even tracking him to be fair, we don't need any more central or attacking mids we need a def mid two wingers a striker two wing backs and a back up keeper - that is of course IF we aren't going to play our young guns, which, judging by the lack of games that Gnabry, Eisfeld, Meade etc have had, I would say is the case.

Metal Gooner

I totally agree with you aswell we dont need future prospects we need proven and experienced players now
Aah

Don't know about Eisfeld being better but I agree in that Holtby is not what we need and is not going to improve us, so really not bothered by it at all.
AG

05 Jan 2013 00:11:32
@ 337: dunno how you can claim eisfeld is just as good as holtby, when holtby has been a first team regular in champ league and domestic competitions. Holtby is proven at a high level, eisfeld is unproven beyond reserve team.

Just because Arsene puts all his eggs into one basket (youth), does not mean you have to overhype the kids we have in our ranks.

So far this window, Wenger has spoken about BA, for him to then goto chelsea. Then he spoke about holtby, for him to then goto tottenham.

It seems we are more likely to get henry on loan, despite the fact its been said it wont happen, than we are to sign someone like Lopez from spain. Afterall, when someones name is bandied around for weeks before a window, that player is never signed by us.
Goetze, cahill, samba, hazard, mata, m'vila would all be arsenal players by now.

Daniel

Daniel just because Ramsey played more games last season than any other Arsenal player doesn't mean he is the best arsenal player - Holtby plays for a German team and he's the German U21 Captain and imo he is too slow, he's average, although he has nice vision and is neat and tidy.

Then you look at Eisfeld who is rapid, he plays like Fabregas, has Gerrard's range of passing and Rosicky's dribbling skills and there's no contest. He's like Fabregas on goal he always knows how to sniff one out better than pretty well all of our first team if you ask me haha. Obv I am not saying he is as good as any of those players I have mentioned but he is not far away and most fans think it's criminal that he rots in the reserves with all that talent whilst Gervinho and Ramsey play first team and he and Rosicky can't get games.

The lad is amazing, he's like a phantom midfielder one minute he's dictating play from our own box launching an attack the next he's scoring where a CF should be. Holtby exhibits about half the potential at best I still do not understand Holtby's hype.

Maybe different players. Holtby seems destined to be in the mould of Pirlo - really slow but very nice on the ball, always picks the right pass. Whereas Eisfeld is a Rosicky Fabregas blend and anyone who ahs watched him for 5 mins or more can see it!

04 Jan 2013 18:35:50
How had Malaga Gooner not predicted Chamakh to West Ham?

Mr "I am told" missed that one before everyone else

04 Jan 2013 19:21:20
1. Tell me who Holtby would start over for us...

2. Is he the type of signing that wins trophies or adds depth?

We have enough youth and depth....we need world class players in their prime

People need to chill, Holtby is overrated

US Gooner {Ed035's Note - spot on US Gooner, relax people..

Well said man

337

Agreed - I said last year I had seen him and couldn't understand why we'd want him unless we were selling Ramsey but that's turned to poo.

Might be a decent player but won't improve us.

Ok he signed for Spuds after AW announced he was interested but 1) we all knew he was interested and 2) we have priorities.

Metal Gooner

04 Jan 2013 19:03:58
I keep on seeing everyone fixated on Adrian Lopez and am I the only one that thinks it will be a terrible signing he's record is poor and does not have any thing that will bring something special to our team and this just shows were our club is we should be looking at athletico's other striker. It's a shame someone else we should sign but we can't because of financial reason Is snieder he is class even though we have alot of CM's it would be a great addition if he is willing to take a pay cut Wenger should sign him up
True G

04 Jan 2013 18:36:03
Chaps, expect us to sign no one in this window and anything that happens will be a bonus, otherwise we are just craving disappointment

Mdog

04 Jan 2013 18:18:26
I know its only 4 days into the transfer window but i'm already concerned by the lack of activity at arsenal. West Ham, liverpool, newcastle and chelsea have already been busy. Anyone know if we have any deals on the horizon?

Dont be concerned m8, Arsenal make no moves in any transfer window, ever.

Besides, we only sign exceptional quality, and there isnt any left.

I love the way Wenger passes his holier than though judgement over the transfer window like he always doe suggesting it'll be quiet to start with when Reading signed someone on the first day, and have made moves already for others, and like you say 4 other clubs have made moves.

All we've done is loan two players who should have been sold in the summer.

Arsenal have made a bid for Lopez, are curently in talk with Walcott over new deal, shifted Chamahk on loan and are trying to get afew others out. What were you expecting exactly? Llorente, Mvila and Baines all to sign on Jan 1st. Besides these clubs are buying from england which can be done quickly.

Detroit Gooner

Add Reading and Spurs to that list.

'The window will be quiet at first' he said.

#Arseneknowsdoeshe?

04 Jan 2013 18:01:53
Malaga gooner has got it right again
THEO WILL NOT SIGH FOR US
Going to prem team Wenger is not happy and will leave when contract ends next year

JERSEY KEV

Who will he SIGH for then lol

Malaga Gooner, Jersey Dave. Next it will be Darlington Dave.

04 Jan 2013 17:38:43
FFS WENGER MAKE A STATEMENT OF INTENT.
i dont want to hear about we can only sign messi bullsh*t, that baloney is just to ease the pressure of not wanting to sign anyone.
if he is waiting for theo to sign then i think he has firmly hammered the last nail in his arsenal career... as good as theo is and every gunner wanting him to stay, he doesnt dictate to this club. if he wants 80 90 grand give it him see where he goes from there...if he doesnt sign fu*k him off...yes its really making me cringe right now, we are being held to ransom by one player, it has happened before as we know and it always ends in tears.
this club needs marquee signings full stop, yes invest also for the future (shaw, zaha etc.) but dont bullsh*t the fans, most of us have had enough of in 'arsene we trust' (i was his biggest advocate, but now it is becoming embarrassing)
other clubs have started early they dont mess about but we are fu*king around over little pis*ing issues and it makes me angry. i've had enough he needs to put confidence back in the fans instead of playing his pointless mind games, if you aint going to buy anyone tell us now and i'll rip up my season ticket.
RANT OVER
angry GS

Invest for the future? Well, it certainly won't be Shaw and looks increasingly unlikely to be Zaha. If you guys started to be a little more realistic instead of expecting all and everybody to be signed, you wouldn't end up so disappointed.

Its not a case of being disappointed expecting everyone to sign kid, it is about a football club that should be on the same level as the utd's and chelskis of this world competing for top players and honours, that is the reality of it all my friend, go back a few years to the invincibles we were the creme de la creme. if your happy with the kitchen slop of this world joining the arsenal then my friend i suggest you support another team, i want the top players coming to arsenal not every tom dick and gervinho.

GS

04 Jan 2013 17:26:38
So Lewis Holtby agrees a pre-contract for the summer with Spurs.

Getting a little bit too familiar this.

BHG

Good let the spuds get all the average players! You think he would make us any better? Like Dembele or Dempsey would of? We need world class players to make us better not average players like holtby

Sounds like a Mata situation this.......look how he turned out.

04 Jan 2013 17:22:30
Ed, you claim to be 'in the know', however I haven't seen one transfer you've predicted right, just saying we're interested in them. You never knew any of th 5 players we signed on deadline day. So where do you get you sources from. Who are we expecting to see this window. (You probably won't even answer this as you're too scared of being humiliated or just don't know anything). {Ed001's Note - what are you talking about? No editor makes idiotic claims like that. Grow up.}

I agree with the Ed, don't talk rubbish mate

I find it bordering on absurd that the eds here get shot down (when they offer the most insight of all, imo) while there's a fair share of positive feedback for people like Malaga Gooner (apologies for singling you out mate)

And you brave person forgot to sign your name

Wtf

Lol calm down, like you eds say its just a question, you dont have to get all stroppy about it lol

Sorry, read the posts. Search the signings we've made, the confirmed interests we've had. Cross check them against the broadsheets (I am the sad ******* that does do this by the way).

Then...... Shut up.

Hackney Gooner

04 Jan 2013 16:59:08
Chamakh to join West Ham on loan for 6 months. My thoughts are with West Ham fans at this sad time.

To be honest I'm happy it's only a loan. A run in the first team at west ham and get his confidence back up and he could come back as the same player that joined us. Don't forget he was scoring for us till traitor came back from injury(again) and he got dropped.

David 6

04 Jan 2013 16:55:46
Hoping the Eds could answer a few questions:

Is there any remaining interest in Sebastian Rode?

Are Arsenal looking at a GK, if so, who is most likely?

If/when do you see G�tze leaving Dortmund and what chance do think Arsenal have of signing him?

Cheers.

StEvE {Ed027's Note - i have never heard of the first one, and i can't see us signing a GK until the summer when i think a few contacts are up, Goetze will leave in the next few years our chances will be the sam as the chances we had with Hazard

04 Jan 2013 16:38:35
Seriously everybody stop going on how 'here we go again, Wenger isn't singing anyone' it's the fourth day in the market there is still plenty of time left, give it a rest.

JW.10

Agreed was thinking that this morning. But holtby going spuds on a FREE seriously wtf that is shocking. Why didn't we fight tooth and nail to get him I know about competing with wages and stuff but we can pay more than that small club.

David 6

To above post, you never know, we may of fought tooth and nail for him. At the end of the day, he may of wanted to join spurs more than he wanted to join arsenal. You just don't know. We can't really make assumptions.

Imo although hes a quality player, hes alot like wilshire, he would probably be on the bench alot. He at this moment in time is not the type of player we need.

Singing? Has he got a good voice?

Didn't realise computer changed it

JW.10

04 Jan 2013 16:36:25
Well done wenger letting holtby join the spuds so tied up with walcott it's annoying he ain't the be all an end all he is an inconsistent average player in my opinion and just because he got a hatrick against knackered players don't make him world class it's simple either sign or leave but what's taking so long

04 Jan 2013 16:30:49
Wesley Sneijder is open to a move. Not to QPR but to a top team. Inter want rid of him now's our chance. Only problem would be wage - and we all know what Wenger is like when it comes to wage :(

miniyorkgunner

Snieder is way off form, and has reportedly been a terrible influence in the dressing room - no wonder they are desperate to get rid of him. {Ed027's Note - he hasnt played a game for a while, inter won't play him until he takes a wage cut, which ain't happening, thats why he's causing rumbles, i mean why are they dropping him, he's happy he's still getting paid.

04 Jan 2013 16:28:45
What I have found most annoying in the start of this transfer window and the summer one as well is the number of players we get linked to then it says though they would prefer a move to spurs. It happened with Vertonghen with him saying it was because he wanted to play as a centre back, but he has played more as a left back and now Holtby who would prefer to sign a pre-contract with them as well. When did this happen, it makes me sick to my stomach as well to think that they are becoming a more attractive option than us.

I also didn't understand some of Wenger's comments recently saying signing young talent is harder these days due to the pressure from the fans. Yes I admit it it is harder because more and more clubs are looking to sign the next big player just look at Lucas and Hazard fees but if you compare when he did it at his most successful compared to now, he signed players like Henry and Vieira young french talent yet we still had more experienced players around them a proper blend of youth and experience and he was willing to pay what he needed 10 million for Henry. But more importantly we still competed at the highest level that is why fans are unhappy, because we sign players and don't compete and in the last few years we haven't even been competing for the top young talent.

And more recently more and more of the players we sign as young talent fail to make the grade Denilson for example and should a player come good we sell them straight away. Surely we can't be blamed for him choosing to sign the likes of Santos, Gervinho and Park instead of some young talent. And how is it anyone but the clubs fault that or most talented players Nasri, Fabregas etc are being sold and can't be convinced to stay. If he wants young talent why has he pulled out of the race to sign Zaha because Walcott is likely to extend his contract? Why not do both. And rather than signing Lopez if he wants young talent why not try and get someone like Schurrle or Greizmann just two examples, yes they will cost a fair amount not as much as Hazard and Lucas but it isn't like we don't have the money. These types of players will have bright futures and this is the key they will make an impact when they are signed as they already play regularly for their clubs but will only get better with time. In my opinion Wenger is using the fans as scapegoats he doesn't feel that he should have to or want to pay big fees for the next young talent, he wants that player he signed for cheap at 17 and spent two years in the reserves or on loan to become the next big thing, so he can say see I was right money doesn't mean everything. He also feels some divine right to young talent especially from France because for years it was almost his own private shopping centre and now others are stealing from him.

Our transfer dealing recently have been all over the place garbage like Gervinho and Santos but gems like Arteta and Cazorla as well, but what I personally as a fan want to see is top experience players like Cazorla being complemented with the signings of real young talent that can come in and have an impact make a difference from the beginning not years down the line.
Will

04 Jan 2013 16:13:07
Spurs seal Holtby for summer.

So much for that one, and to the enemy as well......GEEEZ

noobGooner

04 Jan 2013 16:06:54
Bare with me Ladies, Gentlemen and everything Inbetweeners, because this may be a rant, I haven't decided yet.

First things first, did anyone else feel really insulted by Wengers comments?
"It makes it difficult for me to find talent or unknowns, because arsenal fans are only happy if they read Arsenal signs Messi".

That annoyed me straight away.

Look, I'm not against picking up that unknown player that nobody knows about, how many of you (honestly) had heard of Feliani or Michu before they hit the scene?
They can be a great success, but they need to be brought in amongst established players.
It's ok to look back and say we signed Viera, Henry, Pires, Lljungberg, amongst others, who were unknowns and became stars.
But we also signed Cygan, Senderos, Djourou and others who never achieved more than mediocrity.
I truly think Wenger has served his time in football, or the EPL at least, but I'm willing to give him till the end of the season to prove me wrong.

Secondly, all this Adrian talk, and I'm really hoping we don't sign him.
He's a decent player, no doubt, and if it wasn't for Falcao, he'd be Athetico's first choice striker.
But he's not what we need.
If we put Theo and Podolski into strikers roles, where they both want to play, along with Giroud, that gives us 3 strikers who can all score, and are all different types.
Theo's proven he can get goals, Giroud can score (incidently, he looked amazing in the last 20 against Newcastle, when he was brought on alongside theo, maybe it's because toon were tired, or maybe it was the tried and tested little and large?)
And Podolski, who can also score good goals, people criticise his work rate, but he's being played out wide and having to defend when he's a striker!

That's why Arsenal don't need a striker, we need a winger, not an epileptic with a ball like Gervinho, we need a direct, attacking winger, who'll take people on, drive into the box and pack a bit of muscle.
I'm fed up of us signing little, technical players for every postion, who get bullied off the ball.
I'm not saying Hulk, or Ronaldo, just a player like Ben Arfa, Griezmann, Diego Capel (I admit I missed out my criteria of a strong player with those three, but you get my point?!) not a world beater, not a £100k a week superstar, but a direct winger, who'll get the ball into the box with a cross or a dribble, and if all else fails, have a crack.
That's something Santi added to the team, of he has the chance, or has no real option, he'll take a shot, and the guy can hit them!

Thirdly, defence, or lack of it.
Since Sagna came back, he hasn't been the same player he was, he's been error prone, inconsistent, and a general issue, while the inform Jenkinson paid the price.
It's not something Wenger could of seen I guess, but dropping a player in the form of his (so far short) career is crazy, an absoloute mare by Le prof.
Gibbs has been fairly reliable, he's not quite the standard he started the season, but he's not done much to be slated.

As for the Centre backs, here's my issue.
I love TV5.
He's a fantastic player, a great character, and usually reliable.
But this season he's been poor, really poor, and it's all down to the captaincy, he's admit he's struggling to adapt, Wenger has said he's struggling with it and its clear for us all to see, he's not the player he was last season.
I think when he just had to Marshall the defence, he could communicate with Szczesny and the other defenders, and stay fairly solid, while allowing him to attack when needed.
Now he's reluctant to go forward, the back four are disorganised and it's costing us goals.
Mertesaker has easily been our best defender this season, and he should be an instant starter, he's cool, calm and he seems to relax the other defenders.
So it's all about who partners him (some of you probably disagree with PM4 being our best, and your entitled to you opinion. But your wrong ;) )
This is the problem.
Koscielny is a top CB too, and has played well in all his appearances so far, brings the ball out if the back four, makes interceptions, and has been solid.

But you can't drop you captain, can you?
The captaincy needs to be addressed, Vermalen player better when he wasn't captain, and I don't think he's be too cut up about being Vice captain again, but I don't think Wenger has that ruthless streak to take it off him.

I think we need to buy a decent utility defender.
I usually hate "utility" players, but a defender who can play across the back four is always handy.

Fourth point, deadwood.

Chamakh, Denilson, Park, Squilacci and Fabianski are all not good enough.

I still think Arshavin has something to give the club, I won't mind if he leaves, but wouldn't be disappointed if he stayed.

3 of those 5 are on loan, and to be honest, I'd be happy to see Denilson and Park just gone, paid off, made free.
Just get rid of them, and free up the wages.
The others, Squid and Fabianski the same, let them go, pay them off, and be done with it.

Chamakh, I say we can get a bit of cash for.
Even just a couple of million.

But we all know that little section.

And fifth and final point.

We have, HAVE, to build the team around Jack.
I know he's young, and it's a burden for that age, but he's the most reliable, determined player we've got.
He's a fantastic player, Arsenal's future, and a legend in the making.
Possibly our best player so far this year?
Certainly top 3

Oh, and before I forget.
Theo!

SIGN DA TING!

Thanks for reading guys, and sorry for taking up your time!

Take it easy,


D {Ed027's Note - good post, agree with most if not all of it

Agree about Arshavin. Disagree about Sagna...but a good post.

04 Jan 2013 17:10:48
Nice post D,

I for one get massively frustrated by our transfer dealings and I think it was Billybob that said about Arsene's transparency re this window but how can it be transparent when you say 3 different versions on a single theme.

Again I know we'll never sign Messi or Ronaldo but very few can, but out there are some fantastic quality players, good and young enough to add a lot to our team but we need some of them and we need them now.

The season as it stands is virtually a right off already, with the pathetic race for fourth ongoing but if we show we are determined to improve our team and get fourth that alone will attract better players in the summer.

I really dont think many could stick another season after this of simply treading water or worse.

Stoner

Basically agree with most if not all of this post D and as you know I like a post that I have to take the time to read, so thanks.

I think Wenger should have a media ban til the end of the window, he said only yesterday or this morning that he was interested in Holtby, fans worldwide got a bit excited, and then Spuds sign him. He says that the window will be quiet at first (and then tries to sue his economics know-how to justify this) when in actual fact Ba, Debuchy, Sturridge, Cole, Holtby, maybe one or two others have already moved. Reading signed a defender on the very first day ffs.

When Wenger is truly interested in a player, he never voices it until he is 50% certain the player is within reach. Begin to observe from now.

04 Jan 2013 14:46:43
I've heard Arsenal are willing to pay the £14.7M for Adrian Lopez.

Chamakh is set for West Ham

Djourou is in talks with Hannover

And Arsenal are targeting Lewis Holtby for a cut-price of £6M

What do you think Ed?

Lucas {Ed027's Note - Holtby will be joining our shadow, and that is Adrian's buy out, we could have had the deal done...im guessing, it's him or Villa, like i say i'm guessing

04 Jan 2013 13:58:29
Ed, any chance of Wesley Sneijder coming to Arsenal. He can play everywhere in midfield. Would also like to see David Villa and Zaha or Nani.

miniyorkgunner {Ed027's Note - No

04 Jan 2013 15:49:56
does anybody else think that this transfer window, like all the others, will be filled with rumours and gossip around Arsenal, but will actually end with a massive anti-climax?

It's only an anti linac if you believe the rumours

Paul - Rochester
(Happy new year)

04 Jan 2013 17:16:57
Paul - Rochester

Was only thinking the other day where you and clg had gone, not that I'm some rumour site stalker or anything but you guys used to do some solid posts.

Stoner

Stoner.

Thought I'd have a break from here hence not posting. Been looking in but resisted commenting.

Paul - Rochester

Someone posted as, Gary - Maidstone, the other day, I thought it was a relation of yours straight away haha

welcome back, your "debates" with Metal were quite funny

gun44

04 Jan 2013 15:43:56
Going to break away from the pack here and say signing Villa would be a mistake, if we go for anyone from Barca i would prefer Sanchez though if he could cut the physical aspects of the PL i dont know. Villa is 31 and a class act but for me it would take him at least till xmas to get up to speed in PL given his recent injury so thats at least 100, 000 a week were paying on a risk. On a player with no sell on value. If it worked out he would be incredible but i dont see it being a risk worth taking. I do find it funny you had Spain win without a stand out striker and yet in the Premier league our top teams are buying strong Strikers Man U got RVP, Chelsea sign BA and after Falcoa, City's only firing striker is Dzeko. The premier league is unique in the sense it doesnt represent the trends of world football or time and space. You need to be quick and strong. Players like Mata are changing there game to suit PL so there doing well. Carzola who has been immense needs to adapt more otherwise games will start over running him. Our new signings need to be players that can jump straight in and not get overawed and for that we need to look and German and Dutch players.

Holmesy

04 Jan 2013 15:35:55
Would anybody else be as thrilled as I would if M'vila and Adrian Lopez both came?

They seem the most likely at this point...

04 Jan 2013 15:32:49
Give Tomas elsfield a chance the boy is class reminds me of a young lampard

04 Jan 2013 13:41:25
Arsenal have made a formal bid for david villa according to .Can you confirm this Ed?

04 Jan 2013 14:48:43
Some rubbish being posted as usual....

Couple of facts for you...Arshavin is on the way to QPR for the rest of the season at least. We already know Chamakh is going to West Ham on loan with a view to permanent. When this happens we will bring in a new striker..Lopez is first choice but if that doesnt happen Wenger is keeping his eye on Remy(lopez would be far better imo)....Holtby will be signed if not in Jan, than in the summer. Thats it. Walcott is close to signing on.

Kal the gooner

I don't think Walcott needs to 'sign on' he should have enough money to get by for a while, still you never know with our benefit system

Kal the gooner...... Wrong again.

I hold my hands up on the Holtby one here. I was told this morning that it was still a possibilty but Spurs seemed to have gotten the upper hand. These things change quickly but its looking more like Spurs now. Honestly im happier we got Eisfeld when we did, he and Jack are the future of our midfield.

Kal the gooner

Wrong again?I was wrong about Holtby(possibly)but where are you getting the AGAIN from? Point out a time when i was wrong before!

Kal

04 Jan 2013 13:57:09
Villa with his standing leg & 31years of age is ten time's better then your hero Walcott on his best day. I'm just saying lol, Fact.


Usmanov Jnr

Firstly who is Lol? Secondly don't be so stupid - are you back at school on Monday?

Thirdly, get a new sign off

Whats ur point? Its not like we have a choice of which one we want. Villa is not for sale atm

Villa doesn't hold a candle to the way Walcott is playing

JW.10

04 Jan 2013 12:52:54
Wenger said he expects the beginning of January window to be quite, so here we go again panic buying on the last day.

Preston gooner

Yep very quiet start its the 4th jan and ba debuchy remy cole have been signed off done deals. i just hope spurs do not sign any really great players.

04 Jan 2013 12:49:29
Well, day 4 and it doesn't get any easier for us Arsenal fans does it?

Here's a round up of my last 3 weeks of being an Arsenal fan:

We land a mega commercial deal. The club then say this will allow us to be far more competitive in the market, and that the period where fans had to sit and be patient with the club is now over.

Except, it actually isn't. Wenger gives a great snippet to ESPN saying how he has loads of freedom in the market this January, he IS looking to sign a few players and we have the means to do this.

Then, 3 days later he says what he said last year...it's Excuse O'Clock in WengerWorld and it's 'players are not worth what you pay in January', 'we still cannot spend big, if at all', and 'players we want are not available - this makes it hard as we will only sign exceptional quality' etc etc and he says he is unable to spend.

So before the window even opens we are confused. Is there money or not? If not, why won't the club simply borrow against the projected income? There's no reason why we can't spend 30m plus this window.

If players aren't available, make them available. Offer good money and decent wages.

So, it's day 4, Ba has already met with Chelsea, Sturridge, who may be a greedy sod but who clearly has a lot of talent and who has obviously suffered from being passed around and put on the bench, has moved to Liverpool for not very much really - some fo you on here aren't bothered but that is such a waste of talent, we should have been first in line for a young talented English lad going basically half price. I wonder how many of you said Moses isn't good enough? Be honest :)

So far we have loaned Djourou to Hannover 96 with NO buy option - why?

Squid is set to leave.

Chamakh can't decide where to go or when, he talks the talk about finding a new home until it's time to leave but then bottles it when actually faced with decision time.

According to stuff I'm reading today, Arshavin has rejected a loan to Reading. Why on EARTH would he do this? He would walz into their team and play every week for the rest of the year the fool.

Crystal Palace are selling a typical Wenger signing for about a third of what he could be worth in say 4 years. Remember folks this boy ran the show against Man U last year, he is worth the fee, far more so than The Ox was to be honest. He seems to have a bit of class and loyalty too - he doesn't want to leave Palace til the summer because he wants to help them get promotion, what a guy. This is the kind of loyalty we are missing. This deal 1) should be wrapped up asap but it won't be, and 2) should have NOTHING to do with Walcott. We don't have enough decent attacking options, particularly in wide areas, and he'd be a fantastic addition. This is semi-future signing I would welcome with open arms. He's like Gervinho but with Taraabt's talent.

One 'catch' which could actually work massively well in our favour is that Palace a) want to keep him all season - no upsetting the nappy boys we currently have, and 2) they want loanees in return for the rest of the season. HOW DOES THIS NOT PLAY INTO OUR HANDS?

Ramsey - off you go.
Arshavin - off you go
Meade - off you go.
Yennaris - off you go.
Eisfeld - off you go.

All of those players would benefit from a) game time and b) the situation where they are scrapping for some kind of honours - a promotion fight, no matter which league you're in, instills a certain mindset in a player and to get that into those young lads is essential.

I feel this is one window where we have the chance to really get so much sorted but the club has to want to. I know it's always a case of easier said than done but even so, our club has been in this business for a long long time and should have the means to get things wrapped up very quickly, and it shouldn't be Wenger doing it all.

Also, there are cheap DMs available. Get one Arsene. I thought the days were well and truly over but apparently players will still fall over themselves to play for us - it's just odd that we won't sign them. The last one we did sign was Mertesacker.

The Zaha deal should not be dependent on the outcome of the Theo deal. We need him or a player like him regardless.

As I said yesterday, if our sole aim of this window is to simply 'not get weaker' i.e. not let Theo go then that really is pathetic.

So far, I've heard every excuse under the sun for not making signings, even more than last year. Now I'm hearing it's such a ahrd job for Wenger because we fans 'expect Messi' - er, no, we just expect someone who isn't sh** Wenger. Then of course he's brought the scouting network into it - they aren't giving him the info apparently because they know that we want world class players....I would argue that Wenger tracking their suggestions for 2 years only to not make a move is the reason why we don't sign good players. So we've got money but we don't have money, Jan will be big but it won't be, if it isn't, it's anyone's fault except Wenger's - it's the finances, the availability, the wages, the scouting and the way other clubs have caught us up (poor excuse!), it's literally pick an excuse out of the hat time.

I read yesterday, and forgive me if this isn't true as it may not be, but I read that Inter simply want Sneijder off the bill and and would even GIVE him away.

While I do question that suggestion, I can't help feeling that a world class midfielder signing for under £10m even with all or a majority of his wages would be worth it.

For sake of argument: £200kpw = £10.4m per year wages. That's a £31m contract over 3 years for a world class midfielder - i.e. NOTHING. Considering Man U paid £24m for Robin and then signed him up to a contract that will see them pay £75m over 4 years or something, I can't help feeling we're seriously missing a trick here. Now I'm not saying pay those wages to Wes, but if we paid £100kpw or a bit more then really what are we paying for world class talent over the course of his contract? The same fee if not less than what he would usually cost just to get him to step foot in the stadium!

This would be typical Wenger too - majorly cut price player nobody expects us to sign. We don't expect Messi, Wenger, we just expect something like this.

Will it happen?

No.


Haven't even mentioned that Debuchy is Newcastle-bound. What a waste. He's gone for less than we paid for Santos.

Waking up today and still no news is actually painful!

Someone, somewhere, tell me we're making headway on more than just Adrian Lopez!

Metal Gooner

Arsenal have no interest in making the fans happy, they are all about how long can they get away with there 7.5 mill wages for.. they also say the club is run well financially REALLY highest payed manager in the league. no wonder they have to buy donkeys to balance the books.

4 days in and you have given up hope! Get a grip, did we really want Ba? Is the Zaha deal dead?

Why would we want to loan out these fringe youngsters? ANY players which we have loaned have come back worse, or not played enough (Jack the only Exception), at the moment they are playing regular in the reserves/next gen and gelling as a team, plus training regularly with our first team players. We have some of the best young talent in the world coming through. We have tried loaning them out and it has failed recently.

I say we will sign maybe 2 players (money on M'vila and Lopez) who will be great additions at the right price, and if Theo stays and plays up top we may sign Zaha as well.

I personally would be happy with that especially if we can get rid of Chamakh, Arshavin, Djourou, Santos etc....

Keep the faith

Wether people on here agree with you or not, this was a quality post. Very good job Metal.

The Swede

Good post, Metal.

The bit about Debuchy costing Toon less than we paid for Santos turns my stomach.

I do think we will see Adrian, but how good is he, really?

Metal Gooner.... Hitting the nail on the head can be depressing! I want things to change . We all want things to change . Every time Arsene is quoted it seems like he is contradicting the previous statements. Either he is shielding the Board from criticism or he is telling porkies to us the paying punters ! AFC have had months to offload the rubbish. So, they might take a loss on some players. Big deal. The deadwood must go. This club is in desperate need of refreshment. Someone at the club is to blame for the lack of urgency and piss-poor transfer bids. New broom needed ?

Metal there is so much wrong with this rant that I don't even know where to big, but I will pick at one thing:

"first in line for a young talented English lad going basically half price"

Is this to suggest the Sturridge is worth 24mln!

Really....

Signing a player with 6 months left on his contract for 12mln is good business!

Really...

Signing a player that is incredibly similar to Theo Walcott who we are still trying to sign up is a good idea!

Really...

Please. I am AMAZED at anyone who calls themselves a fan and isn't pleased with our first few days of the market.

You scream for us to clear "deadwood". Wenger has been incredibly active, to free up as much cash as possible so that he can get top quality players.

Its been 3 days in the market. (1 was a public holiday and a match day!)

Billybob

And Breathe....................

I don't mind of people disagree - the fact is we take ages to move for anyone and this window is so far identical to all of the other windows that have let us down, but more worryingly what is coming out of Wenger's mouth is identical, and this is my issue.

If you want to praise the heavens when we sign Lopez and Zaha but sell Walcott then go ahead, I have been burned enough times by Wenger every transfer window to know that having no faith and being pleasantly surprised is far more sensible than believing he is somehow 'playing' the media like I used to when he says we aren't making signings. I've heard every excuse and more this week, so no I have no faith right now!

Metal Gooner

Calm down Billybob!

Did I attack you?! No!

I'm documenting what I've seen so far - and that is we have loaned Chamakh to a rival instead of selling him back to a club in France who are desperate to sign him - we have loaned Djourou with no buy option what is the point of this? Does Wenger honestly want to keep these players?

Daniel Sturridge is as talented as Theo maybe not as fast but apart from being a bit greedy he has pound for pound more composure and skill. He was amazing when he was on loan away from Chelsea. Contract issues aside, I am talking the simple value of the player in terms of age, talent etc is probably closer to £20m than £12m.

That was my point.

"I am amazed at anyone who calls themselves a fan bla bla bla" Billybob you have no business deciding what constitutes a fan so pipe down and keep it civil. What have we achieved? Nothing of note. Two loans away for players we need to SELL. Theo not signed. Ba, Sturridge, Debuchy gone to OTHER clubs.

Yeah, loads to be pleased about!

If you disagree fine but don't attack me for a very shared opinion!

Will you be one of the ones cheering that we simply didn't get too much weaker come the end of the window?

Now play nicely, I don't attack people on here.

Also I don't think Wenger is freeing up cash by loaning players out so he can 'get top quality players' if anything seeing as he has made no money so far he is probably doing it for the squad places.

Metal Gooner

First 3 - 4 days of the transfer window ? The club have had month's to sort out Theo' contract for a start. Oh, and just to add, the Spuds have signed Holtby. Another young international player linked to us ! Who is scouting in Europe for our club ? Doh !

04 Jan 2013 12:19:42
Will we ever actually sell anyone or just loan them out and make no money? We should take any offers for our crap players even if it is £1m a pop. Lets get them out for good.

Do loans actually free up cash to spend on new players? We a;ready have the likes of Park, Denilson, Bendtner who will all return and claim wages again? Why add Chamakh, Squillaci and Djorou to the list. Just sell a be done with it.

Chess

Mate, we have tried to sell them. Even tried giving some away for free. But no one can match their massive wages they are on at Arsenal so players like Chamakh would rather sit on the bench for Arsenal over taking a pay cut to play somewhere else

Oh my. This only illustrates how naive you are.

Consider you have a player with a pretty nice payroll. You find out that player is of no use for you so you would like to sell him.

Well...too bad if that player is satisfied with sitting out his contract even if you find him a suitable clud that want to buy him (and most likely would not offer him as high wages due to him apparently being not quite of a quality to deserve such money).

CONTRACT is the key word here.
Once we gave such sweet contracts to players that turned to rubbish (that is a slight exagerration, of course) we only shot ourselves in the foot.

Deal with it.

ASyD

PS: however, im thinking about an alternative solution - to simply cut the loss and 'pay out' the player's remaining contracted time thus releasing him... the question is how much of a financial penalty would be there....eds, maybe you can relate?

Those 3 you just listed are looking for permenant transfer away not loans.

Obivously we sell where possible, but if we can't get those through we loan.

Note the the loan market has evolved quite a bit. It used to be "free" transfers and full wages covered.

Now its typically an upfront fee + 50% - 100% of wages.

Billybob

Chess,

By hook or by 'rook' we should get rid of them, they could be used as 'pawns' in other deals but it won't happen over 'knight' some of these players are getting a 'queens' ransome for doing sod all.

We should 'Bishop' ing for new players without worrying about this, lets get our 'check mate book' out now and worry about them after.

Sorry was running out of 'chess' phrases at the end.......

04 Jan 2013 11:57:09
apparently andre villas-boas has identified sebastien squillaci as a long-term replacement for spurs star william gallas. sounds like a typical spurs signing and very like to like.

Please God!

Hardly long term is it? squid boy is 32.

Johnny

Twas a joke johnny boy!

04 Jan 2013 10:56:44
This walcott standoff is taking to long for me, im sure this is another van persie. this lad is awaiting offers from other clubs i can smell a rat.

I think the deal has been done, but we won't announce it until AW has done some other business - its like MI5 there

Or, the deal is done and Wenger will announce it at the end of the month...and then say it was too late to sign anyone else as they were all busy signing walcott up lol

04 Jan 2013 10:36:14
Sounds like a Wenger signing... which means he'll end up at newcastle :)

Nancy vice-president Nicolas Holveck has revealed that the French side are currently in negotiations with five English clubs for highly-rated French youngster Massadio Haidara.

Billybob

Yeah kaka is really unproven... winning the ballon dor

04 Jan 2013 08:41:50
Wenger officially admitted, that Arsenal is looking at Lewis Holtby from Schalke!!:) "We have looked at [Holtby], yes, " he told reporters.

Another Aaron Ramsey in my opinion. I would much rather we went after Christen Ericksen or Ilkay Gundagon.

Detroit Gooner

I've looked at Kelly Brook many times, but not married her yet!

Would prefer Eisfeld, Oh wait we already have him and he can't get in our team and he is better than all of the others we are being linked with.

Mdifield is packed, don't expect any signings in midfield unless a true DM is available at the right price (M'vila).

The only other signing will be a winger Adrian Lopez would be my bet there.

I live in Denmark and i've seen Eriksen on many occasions. I agree that Eriksen was class in CL this year, but he has 3 bad games for every good one! Honestly I prefer Eisfeld.

Many dont fully appreciate the talent of Eisfield.

I doubt very much that Holtby (though quality IMO) is better than Eisfield.

04 Jan 2013 00:54:34
Wenger is going to give Frimmy a chance at DM before buying a new player. Now Frimmy is back from his loan spell expect him to be given the chance on Saturday if he rocovers from illness

We're playing Sunday.

04 Jan 2013 05:09:50
"Frimmy" is an average player, injury prone and more worried about being famous. Wont make it at arsenal

Considering he's not giving people like Eisfeld and Gnarby a shout despite the lack of options, hardly doubtful he'll be 'ponged about getting a fresh face in the integral midfield position.

Frimpong is not as good as Coquelin.

Stezza

Frimpong has been surrounded by a lot of hype to do with his 'tough' image, he is famed for putting in tough tackles but a true defensive midfielder wins the ball cleanly and then distributes it well in the modern game.

Frimpong has not proven anything, somewhat due to injury, hence the loan. My fear is he will give away a lot of free kicks and also get sent off a lot as well - hope I'm wrong as he has a lot of personality, but look what happened to Balotelli because of his way's.

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