By Sir Hardly Anyone
Hello again my dear pals and chums, and welcome to another round up from the wild, crazy and one might say semi-skimmed world of transfer stories. Yes, we have signed one player, two more about sure to come (I know that cos I read it on the bloggettas) and everything is huky dory.
Wasn’t that a 1971 album by David Bowie of blessed memory? – Tony
If you will allow me to carry on…
1: We signed a guy that no one predicted we would sign.
Yep, you’ve probably guessed, that is Konstantinos Mavropanos from PAS Giannina. Seven figures? well, yes. £2,000,000. That’s seven. Glad we got that sorted.
2: Aubameyang for sure
Apparently “Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is joining this month.
“Fresh reports in the media on Thursday afternoon have claimed that Gunners manager Arsene Wenger will make a move for the Gabon international should Alexis Sanchez – whose contract at the club expires this summer – get his wish and seal a transfer to Manchester City during the January transfer window.”
3: It’s just a case of stingy old Arsenal paying up
Apparently “Arsenal can sign Barcelona forward Jose Arnaiz for €20m (£17.7m) and the Catalan club will be powerless to stop the deal from going through if the player agrees to the move.”
So yes, the only thing to stop Arsenal is… Arsenal. (Although of course we may not want him in which case that could stop the deal also).
“The 22-year-old striker, who plays for the Barcelona B team, is contracted to the Catalan club until the summer of 2021, but has a release clause of €20m which can be triggered by interested clubs.”
It’s all in IB Times, although you might like to know he’s 22, and has played three times for Barcelona’s first time and scored three goals.
4: We’re signing a colossus
Sorry to say we are back where we started. Konstantinos Mavropanos is apparently 6 feet 5 inches tall, and this is now a colossus according to the whack-heads writing this stuff.
Now my Cambridge dictionary has colossus defined as a person or thing of great size, influence, or ability or a very large statue. So it looks like the poor fella is being set up by the bloggettas as any players who is considered not mobile enough in the back three.
We got that one from “This is futbol” bloggetta.
5: Leicester ready to sell £40m star to Arsenal – on one condition
Arsenal Mania state that Arsenal have reportedly been given the “green light” to finally sign (note the split infinitive – didn’t these guys go to school?) Riyad Mahrez with Leicester now willing to sell the forward in the January window. The Metro say the Premier League title winner will be sold if Leicester receive a substantial offer.
So I presume the condition is the offer of loads of money. At least I think that is what they mean.
6: Arsenal handed permission to secure signing of brilliant 26-year-old for £40million
7: Wenger confirms transfer plans over £120,000-a-week star, discusses Arsenal second January…
Of course we might then change our minds and have an undeconfirmation.
Arsene Wenger offers Arsenal transfer update
That’s the Star, and again you’ve guessed it. We are not signing the player whose name begins Aub…
So it is not an update, it’s a down date. It’s all off.
9. He’s on the way out
Lots of sites are telling us that Theo is on the way out to Southampton although the Mirror says, “I want him to stay,” as a quote from Mr W.
10. Official ! – Arsenal To Agree [£65m] Two Mega Deals This January Window – ” Announce Could Be On Card “
This is Gooner Republic as you can probably tell by the interesting re-invention of the English language. And of course by the fact that the story is that, “Arsenal willing to to pay £15m for Stoke Midfielder Joe Allen but have been told the player is not for sale at any price, according to The Daily Mail.”
And it is bad news all the way because “Arsene Wenger is desperate to strengthen his midfield options and has already failed with a bid for AFC Bournemouth ace Harry Arter. Wenger has now turned his attentions to former Liverpool midfielder Allen, but been told he will have to look elsewhere for a January signing he’s willing to bring to the Emirates.”
So where is the big transfer???? Well, it’s on order. At least I think so as the site continues, “”In order news, Arsenal are determined to sign Juventus left-back Alex Sandro in a £50m deal this month, via reports from the Daily Mirror.
Glad we got that sorted.
And a Bonus story – but you won’t like it.
World class creative midfielder delivers update on completing Arsenal deal
This one from Giantsfootballnews (or should that be Colossusfootballnews) tells us that they have the latest from Jack Wilshere’s transfer and… there is nothing new to say.
Honestly that is the story under that headline. (I don’t make this up you know).
But well, all right we can’t end with something so naff so how about,
Arsenal To Agree Mega Deal For Striker Wanted By Liverpool And Madrid
And that one is all about
- The notion that refereeing in the Premier League is balanced and fair is itself a conspiracy theory
- Gunning for the PGMOL: time for Mr Wenger to say clearly that refereeing here is not fit for purpose
- April 1919: the end of wartime football (at least for 20 years)
- Two Big Games coming up for Arsenal Women
If at one wings we have
Riyad Mahrez and Aubameyang ;or
Mahrez and Wilfred Zaha
Mahrez and Lucas Vasquez
Mahrez and Jose Arnaiz
Mahrez and Julian Draxler
Mahrez and Goncalo Guedes
Mahrez and Wellington Silva
Leon Bailey and any of the above other than Mahrez.
and that Ogzhan Ozyakup is playing behind Lacazette, what an invincible arsenal team!
Konstantinos Mavropanos
What do these people eat?
He is as big as Kolasinac and he is only 20.
So arsenal is looking to have BIG bulky players in the future eh?
Arsene Wenger did state that he would be buying in January window, this was on Arsenal.com, but any thrill at hearing this soon dissipates as we have heard him say this before have’nt we?
Still, it would be the ideal time to shore up Arsenal and remove some more deadwood, i do not have to mention any names here.
Last, i do not know why i still bother being interested in football anymore.
The skillful football has long gone out of the window, replaced by diving, playing for the foul, deception and willful injury to other players.
Mind you, the Romans used to throw people of different mindset to the lions i am told, maybe this is just a continuation of said practices.
What a day.
Mavropanos looks like a solid addition.
He is 193 cm tall or 6 feet 4 inches in the blue passport measures (technically, I was told by some application that 6 feet 4 inches equals 193,04 cm which, I reckon, is enough to sack Arsene as he couldn’t sign a player which height would allow a perfect conversion.
Mavropanos could be one of the future stars as he looks strong at corners, especially attacking ones. (I deduced it from a two-minute video which made perfectly qualified to be a scout.) As all Wengerians, he tends to touch the ball like a gentle lover, not like a Tony Pulis tall defenders who touch the ball like a mad husband who just came back to work and was unhappy with the meal his wife prepared.
Could somebody please start a ‘We Support Wenger’ petition.
OT
If you want to vote for Ozil goal against Newcastle in the goal of the month competition go here…..
https://carlingtap.carling.com/goal-of-the-month/2018-12
Kolasinac is bulky enough to withstand pressure from being dispossessed when he’s on the ball. But I’ve observed he lacks enough body flexibility that will allow him dribble past the opponent player in man to man situation in the area or in the final 3rd. Once he’s confronted with this challenge, he losses the ball often to his marker. And with the record of injuries he has picked up since he started playing for Arsenal in this campaign, has he become injury prone Gunner for Arsenal? I hope he isn’t after all. It’ll be good if he can improve on his bodyweight flexibility that’ll allow him dribble past opponent players in the area so that his wingback attack for Arsenal will be more effective and productive.
The important thing to me as concerning Arsenal during this winter window is first and foremost for Le Boss to keep our 2 top attacking mid fielders and goals scoring providers of Mesut Oezil and Jack Wilshere and resist any overtures to part with any of them this window but offer them the contract extensions they’ll sign and remain at Arsenal for at least 3-4 more seasons. To lose any of them will be difficult to summarily replaced in the transfer market. Even if found, the cost price to sign him or them will be astronomical for Arsenal to bear. Just look at the over blotted cost of £92m Arsenal purportedly had accepted by AS Monoco for their midfielder Thomas Lemar which despite this huge transfer fee offered by Arsenal to get his services, the player refused coming to us on an excuse that’s best known to him.
And then next, Arsenal should keep Sanchez by all means and not lose him any season soon. His quality will be hard to replace if allowed to leave due to the ever escalating transfer fee in the market. I am sure Le Boss knows all these. Arsenal midfield that consists top midfield specialists of:: Oezil, Wilshere and Ramsey is strong but for the injury suffered by some of them. The added value mid fielders of Xhaka, Coquelin and ElNeny that brings our midfield strength to 6 in numbers is tick. But to make it have more thickness, a replacement for the injured Santi Cazorla is most ideal and desirable. Can Reiss Nelson steps in into his shoes to make Arsenal midfield have grit? But certainly won’t be in the mould of Patrick Vieira’s Arsenal led midfield of the blessed memory. But still, it should be okay to win the EPL Title next campaign, or will it not?
Since I’ve jettisoned my earlier thought for Arsenal to sign a top mid fielder this January, I think it’ll be very good if Arsenal will sign a top quality striker this winter because Lacazette who is our lead striker has not lived up to expectation for Arsenal in this very important department. He has terribly comes short for Arsenal in terms of regular goals scoring for us in our Premier League games since he was signed for a record £46.?m which can increase. In comparison to Mohammed Salah of Liverpool who was signed from Roma at £36.?m but has regularly been scoring goals and proving assists for Liverpool. Unlike Lacazette who looks to have gone dormant for Arsenal since only God knows when last he has scored for the Gunners in the PL. Would Aubameyang despite his advancing age been a better buy by Arsenal than for them to have bought Lacazette for over £46m which should be sufficient to buy Auba’ despite Dortmund stubbornness in not wanting to sell their players to Arsenal? Since the Arsenal homegrown starlet Nketiah is not yet ready to start leading the line for Arsenal senior team, I think it will be wise if Arsenal close their eyes to sign a top quality striker of over 20 PL goals per season guaranteed this window and allow who? in the current 1st team 25 man squad to move on this window(difficult) to create space for the new top quality striker entrant. By the way, what of Kelechi Nwakali who Arsenal signed and not start using him ever since to see but have been throwing him out on loan?
As we have a full squad of 25 (excluding Santi), plus there seems a chance that Carl and Cohen could return from Birmingham, buying anyone for the first team does rather depend on who we sell first.
Hopefully if someone really wants one of our players (like Alexis) then they won’t leave it until the last day which would restrict the possibility of us getting a replacement…
I suggest Wenger should buy 2 sharp wingers as follows :
Riyad Mahrez and Aubameyang ;or
Mahrez and Wilfred Zaha
Mahrez and Lucas Vasquez
Mahrez and Jose Arnaiz
Mahrez and Julian Draxler
Mahrez and Goncalo Guedes
Mahrez and Wellington Silva
Leon Bailey and any of the above other than Mahrez.
and that Ogzhan Ozyakup is playing behind Lacazette, what an invincible arsenal team!
I think the point of your updates is that there is a lot of hogwash written about transfers and we should take no notice of it . This is absolutely correct and I sympathise with your irony about the ridiculous stories circulating.
It does have to be said that however much we regret it, the transfer strategy of clubs is integral to their success and it is an area where fans have had cause to be concerned. We lost a lot of superb players while we were trying to build the Emirates whereas our local rivals seem to be retaining most of theirs despite building a stadium 150% more expensive .
That’s one concern.
Another is whether we have the ability and appetite to acquire the best talent available. In this regard I welcome the new appointments of Mislintat and Sanllehi who should enable us to compete by being smarter as we were in the early Wenger years. How Mr. Wenger views their roles is not known
The side has shown great ability in most recent matches , in an attacking sense but we clearly need a bette4 defence. Coaching plays a key part but we need better defenders than we currently have . That needs to be addressed before we hope to return to the Champions League.
I hope you will be welcoming some timely defensive additions in forthcoming columns.
Good point Henry.
We really need a strong backline , and Wenger should solve it ASAP.
We also need a very dynamic defensive midfielder , a playmaker and Wingers that can drive counter attacks and threaten opponents’ defence.
Let’s wait and see if Wenger and Arsenal Board are going to ignore supporters’ ideas again.
Le Boss given 3 match touch line ban with £40k fine according to the media by the FA is grand somely pathetic and unfair to Le Boss, Arsena FC, the Gunners and the Goonners as this banning of Le Boss will but only strengthens the hands of Mike Riley and his PGMOB referees to further unleashed more referring venom on the Gunners in their remsining PL games this season. But this latest 3 match touchline ban of Le Boss will I believe will not deter him from saying the truth when he sees the wrong referring happening to Arsenal in the PL but can only makes him more determined to say the truth whenever he sight it and has to be said. 3 match touchline ban? we’ve been there before with a 4 match dog out ban that saw Le Boss managed the Gunners from the stands by leaving Steve Bould in the dog out to be getting instructions from him through the wireless on he wants the team playing
on the field managed from the stands where he’s sitting. So, what is the big deal that the FA think they made Le Boss paid for saying the truth by brandishing a 3 match touchline ban to his face? I think Le Boss may go to Liberia to honour his former player, George Oppong Weah’s invitation to his Presidential inauguration ceremony on 22nd January to cool of the heat if the date does not clash with an Arsenal game. But I don’t think the date clash with any Arsenal games. The nearest is Arsenal 2nd leg Carabao match with Chelsea at the Ems on 24th January. So, Le Boss might attend the inauguration.
Welcome to another promising young signing for Arsene Wenger.
I think it’ll be very good if Arsenal will sign a top quality striker this winter because Lacazette who is our lead striker has not lived up to expectation for Arsenal in this very important department. He has terribly comes short for Arsenal in terms of regular goals scoring for us in our Premier League games since he was signed for a record £46.?m which can increase.
Another one knocking Lacazette. He is a forward that plays on the shoulder of the defenders and we don’t get the ball to him quickly enough. In recent games he has been coming out of the box to get a touch of the ball but don’t forget how Mustaphi scored his recent goal. Had Lacazette played the ball back out of the box as most of our players would from that angle there would have been no rebound. When he is tight with a defender and he gets a turn he forces saves or scores . Courtois save against Chelsea was just one example. It’s simple play to his strengths and he will score take the extra passes and hope to get it to him when he is double marked and his chances are not so good.
Para – Watching your transition into a full-blown aaa has been quite depressing.
Henry, it’s still early to judge if our neighbours will hold onto players or not.
We didn’t really start losing them until after we’d moved into Ashburton Grove stadium.
Lacazette is about half way through his first season.
Most players don’t show well until their second season when they’re more acclimatised to the speed & physical demands of the PL and their team mates better understand how each other plays.
So although it’s true he hasn’t had an Alexis level start to his time with us, he certainly hasn’t been a bad purchase (yet?).