Players asked to take pay cuts as Arsenal projected to spend £100m on transfers

Posted on by Tony Attwood

By Sir Hardly Anyone

Yes while Belarus keeps playing football, and many (although not it seems not all) of England’s journalists dream that it will all be ok soon and the mighty transfer window will swing open before it crashes shut, and the money will roll in like it has never been stopped from rolling in, everyone else recognises football is unlikely ever to be the same again.

The clubs are losing money like never before, and there is absolutely no end in sight to any of the crisis, but the tragedy of the broken journalist continues unabated.

In the rest of Europe (except Belarus) the debate is how football can survive, and if so, in what form.  In Belarus it is of the new season.  In England it is of transfers.

So since that is the news, we will continue our regular recording of the players tipped to join Arsenal.   Normally over 100 such players are tipped, and normally about three of them arrive.  We’ll see how this spring and summer compares.

Goodness knows what the rest of Europe is making of us, taking to our caravans and mobile homes, playing football, letting the days go by, plotting transfers…  Especially as rather strangely there are simultaneously stories about PL players being asked to take pay cuts.  Isn’t that a bit contradictory?

Here are the latest – the complete list of all the ones we have noted so far, is given below…

1:  Chris Smalling to Arsenal

He’s the centre back with Roma on loan from Man U, and Just Arsenal News tell us he’s on the way to Arsenal.

2:  Arsenal join Chelsea and Man United in race to sign ex-Liverpool ace

talkSPORT (as they like to be written, for reasons that will not become clear at this moment), has this one. Is it a race?  It seems unlikely when everything is falling apart.  The player is “Barcelona outcast Philippe Coutinho”, and they say that “reports claim” this is true before continuing with the story that “The former Liverpool ace has spent the season on loan at Bayern Munich having struggled to adapt to life in LaLiga at Camp Nou.  So the usual thing of no one taking responsibility for the story.

So we have to travel elsewhere to find that “Arsenal are making a Coutinho transfer approach” and that comes from the Express which would be nothing without fairy stories, and here we have another one.

In case you haven’t got it, he’s an attacking midfielder currently with Bayern, on loan from Barcelona.

3: Barcelona set Antoine Griezmann transfer price

With Man Utd and Arsenal bids possible, pronounces the Express.  He’s another forward.   HITC, the Star and Mirror, also have it and the price is agreed to be £90m.

4:  Burnley’s Chris Wood deemed the ‘perfect replacement’ for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Arsenal…

Lancs Live, Who Scored, Up the clarets and Team Talk all have this story so forget any talk about this season never-ending and next season being one of poverty.  We are going to buy like there was no yesterday.  I know that because it says so in the media.

5:   Arsenal ‘lead transfer race’ for Newcastle’s Matty Longstaff

Yep that really is what it says.  But why is it always a race?  Why doesn’t someone get in there before the others have noticed?  The Mirror and Team Talk have this one and reckon it is an eight-team race.  Quite possibly because the player will leave on a free.  He is a 20 year old central midfielder.

6: Arsenal ‘eye’ Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard ahead of next season

Glasgow Live, the Evening Standard, Caught offside, the Scotsman, Who scored, and Celtic Star all have this with the news that the price is around £50m.

Odsonne Edouard is French and he plays as a forward for Celtic. He signed with Paris Saint-Germain in July 2011 before being loaned to Toulouse for the 2016–17 season.  27 goals and 19 assists this season which is amazing although this was in the Scottish League.

7.  AC Milan battling Arsenal and Liverpool for €24m-rated France U21 international

Sempre Milan and Sky tell us that Arsenal want to sign Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan N’Dicka, but Liverpool are reported to be ahead of Arsenal in the race (Team Talk) (Caught offside).  (What does being “ahead” actually mean in this context?)

He is a left-footed centre-half and has been  capped by France U21s.

So that is seven of the best stories from an era when football actually doesn’t exist any more.  Here is the table of players coming to Arsenal thus far.

————

No Player From Details Source
1 Miguel Almiron Newcastle Their top scorer Media Referee
2 Leon Bailey Bayer Leverkusen Chelsea also want him. £85m fee. Just Arsenal
3 Dani Ceballos Real Mad Currently on loan Express
NEW Philippe Coutinho Barcelona Attacking midfielder on loan at Bayern Talksport, Express
5 Marc Cucurella Barcelona Left back or wide midfield FoLo £20.9m
6 Jonathan David
 Gent Second striker Folo
7 Issa Diop WHU Centre back for £60m Mirror, Metro, Read Arsenal, HITC, West Sussex Today, Sun
NEW Odsonne Edouard Celtic £50m; goalscoring forward Glasgow Live, the Evening Standard, Caught offside, the Scotsman, Who scored, and Celtic Star
NEW Antoine Griezmann Barcelona Price is £90m for the forward.  PSG Manchester United, Chelsea, also interested Express, the Star and Mirror, Last Word on Football
10 Diogo Jota Wolverhampton He’s a 23 year old forward Sport Review, 4th official, Mail, FoLo, Whoscored
11 Bruno Fuchs Internacional Centre back Zero Hora, TBR
12 Gabriel
 Lille Defender Everton also want him (Mirror) £40m
13 Calum Kavanagh Middlesbrough 16 year old ; forward Lancs Post, The 72, Northern Echo
14 Orkun Kokcu Feyenoord 19 year old midfielder Express, FoLo
NEW Matty Longstaff Newcastle Central midfielder who will leave on a free The Mirror and Team Talk
16 Dejan Lovren Liverpool Defender. Tottenham interested Express, HITC, FoLo
NEW Evan N’Dicka Eintracht Frankfurt €24m-rated France U21 international, Liverpool also interested.  He is left-footed, and 20-year-old Sempre Milan, Daily Canon and Sky
18 Ruben Neves Wolverhampton Midfield Sports Mole
19 Thomas Partey Atletico Madrid Midfielder Metro, Goal.  Squawka quote €50m.  HITC also
NEW Chris Smalling Roma on loan from Man U Centre back Just Arsenal News
NEW Chris Wood Burnley Replacement for Aubameyang Lancs Live, Who Scored, Up the clarets and Team Talk

21 transfers for Arsenal and not only is the window unopened, football is closed.

Funny ol’ game.

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3 Replies to “Players asked to take pay cuts as Arsenal projected to spend £100m on transfers”

  1. Transfer daily , players from anywhere in the world are plotting to join Arsenal and players from Arsenal looking for a move away.
    All going on even while this isn’t the transfer window.
    The only thing we are being spared is the ‘player seen at airport’ routine or ‘ player told someone (Raiola) in confidence who mentioned it to 104 different clubs that may or may not be interested. And all the while there’s some virus thing going on . But not to worry chaps football and those sports media worthies are all exempt and carry on as normal .
    Beggars belief doesn’t it ?
    Why are we not surprised at the antics of media morons?
    Frank Zappa quote: ” there’s more stupidity in the universe than hydrogen” . Discuss.

  2. It would appear that Brighton has some money available, since they are offering season’s ticket holders a 3 month holiday on payments for next season (WorldFootball.net). Maybe the bloggers should write about the 293 players that are all going to end up there?

  3. This only goes to show that the media live in another galaxy, full of rose coloured glasses, Trumpeters and mugs half-full. The crisis hasn’t even reached its potential peak and here we are talking Trumpshite about opening the season, transferring players, cutting wages …. all oxymorons from media morons.

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