Sir Hardly Anyone
And so it seems that with no one noticing much, the window is actually open. So who are we buying.
1: Firmino
Talksport are so excited they seem to think that he has actually signed. Or at least in their headline they ask “Has Firmino signed?’
In fact it is a typical Sprout game in which Tony Cascarino asks himself “Has Firmino signed” because he saw Aubameyang running around. O’Casc is endlessly critical of Auba, but says now “something strange happened last night,” sarcastically noting that whoever was playing centre forward “won the ball with a tackle from behind” and so that could not have been Auba.
2: Merih Demiral
Fotomac claim Juventus defender Merih Demiral is wanted by Arsenal who are willing to pay €50m.
That is brought to us by Sport Witness.
3: Cengiz Under
The Boot Room has Arsenal and the Tiny toots both interesting in Under the winger for £34m.
4: Adrien Rabiot
“Arsenal receive Adrien Rabiot transfer boost as Juventus set asking price” announces the Daily Star. It is £25m for the “out of favour midfielder”
5: Not one but three
Kevin Campbell does an exclusive in the Express saying we are getting three players all at once. And this one we know is going to be good because it is an exclusive! Yes only in the Express. And those three are…
someone in central defence, someone in central midfield and someone out wide
There are no names of course, because I guess that would be over egging the exclusivity but that is it. Defence, midfield and out wide.
I’d never of thought of that. Although help is at hand, because in the next headline
Now three is obviously the big number because on Christmas Eve, Talk sport, the Express, and Football London all ran the headline
6: The three players Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to sign in the January transfer window
And we know this must be a big story because the Metro has a very similar headline with Mikel Arteta issues Arsenal board with three transfer requests for January
But (possibly according to France Football (via Get French Football News ) or possibly just a straight bit of copywriting by an English daily work of fiction, the actual story is that Arteta has told Arsenal chiefs that he wants to sign a number six and two central defenders during the winter window.
And that is it.
7: Dayot Upamecano…
is a central defender with Leipzig where he has been since 2017, and with whom he has now played 68 games. He is 21 and has progressed as far as the France under 21s on the international stage.
8: Omari Forson …
is a football wonder kid, and I know this because he has turned up on Football Wonderkids as an attacking midfielder who is coming our way.
9: Dominik Szoboszlai
“Linked with the Gunners since the summer, Szoboszlai is an outstanding teen prospect. The versatile Red Bull Salzburg midfielder perhaps performs best in the number 10 role, however, he can also be deployed in central midfield and out on the flank.” It’s FoLo again.
10: Thomas Partey
Supposedly wanted by Unai Emery,it has recently been reported that the Atletico Madrid midfielder wanted to join the Gunners during the summer and his father also made claims of a potential move to England in the future. He is a 26-year-old defensive midfielder
11: Kevin Volland
Arsenal don’t particularly need another striker/winger as of right now. Nevertheless, they could be forced into a purchase up front due to a possible departure of either Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette. Both stars are supposedly frustrated with the club and are open to leaving north London either in January or the summer. Volland isn’t necessarily the marquee replacement to either of the current dynamic duo, but a player swap with Real Madrid’s Luka Jovic is also a possibility. That’s from WorldSoccerTalk
12: Thomas Meunier
The Gunners have been forced to play Ainsley Maitland-Niles or Calum Chambers at right back. Arsenal need to add depth at this position and Meunier would be a solid option. The PSG player is in the final year of his contract and could be bought at a significantly lower price than his actual value. The Gunners could also go for a young prospect to help learn under Bellerin’s tutelage. So says World Soccer Talk although I thought Maitland-Niles was jolly good against Man U.
I see in the “news”, that the “same old” story is back, with a fresh coat of paint. We have tons of “dire needs”, and the budget is tiny.
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OT: Atkinson 2002/3 to now
2002/3 saw him mostly doing Football Conference games (8 of 9), which is 5th tier. The next season was mostly Tier-2, 3 and 4. With 2004/5, he started doing EPL games.
Over this big time span, when he does FA Cup games, he tends to only hand out 2 yellows in a game. Tier-2,3,4 he tends to be at 2 yellows/game. For FIFA and UEFA games, he tends to be 4 or even 5 cards per game.