Lots of big questions going into the new season:
To what degree will Kroenke back Arteta in the transfer market? Will we sign every available Joorabchian client or just half of the available Joorabchian clients? Even if Arsenal do most things right and continue to improve, can they compete for top four with City and Liverpool not going anywhere and United and Chelsea both in the ascendancy?
As far as the nitty gritty of the transfer market, indications so far are positive about resigning Auba and we appear to be inching closer to signing Willian on a free, which would be an excellent cheap squad building move in my view. Anything beyond that seems very unclear. I'm optimistic about signing Ceballos permanently or, at a minimum, loaning him another year. But that just keeps us treading water with a midfield that definitely needs more help, especially creatively, so I'd be surprised if there isn't some other signing to come there. Another CB also looks like a possibility, with some recent links today to Lille Brazilian CB Gabriel Magalhaes. That rumor smells like one that might have legs, given the Edu/Brazil ties and Raul Sanllehi's strong connections to the Lille management. All this will need to be at least partially funded by some outgoings. We'll try to sell/give away some of our mediocre CBs like Holding, Mustafi, or Sokratis, especially if we do buy another one. Guendouzi seems destined to leave, although I haven't seen any solid rumors about a destination. Rumors continue to percolate about Lacazette possibly leaving, which would make sense in my book if we could get a decent fee. I think there is at least a chance that Bellerin leaves (we have three RBs, which is one too many, and Arteta seems to really believe in AMN). And we should probably make a decision on our starting keeper and sell the other: We're strapped enough for cash that it doesn't make sense to have a backup keeper that could command a good fee used to strengthen elsewhere.
In less than eight months, Arteta has put his stamp on the team, both culturally and tactically. Now we'll get to really see what he thinks about the squad, where it needs improvement, and who is in his plans. It should be interesting to watch at the very least.
To what degree will Kroenke back Arteta in the transfer market? Will we sign every available Joorabchian client or just half of the available Joorabchian clients? Even if Arsenal do most things right and continue to improve, can they compete for top four with City and Liverpool not going anywhere and United and Chelsea both in the ascendancy?
As far as the nitty gritty of the transfer market, indications so far are positive about resigning Auba and we appear to be inching closer to signing Willian on a free, which would be an excellent cheap squad building move in my view. Anything beyond that seems very unclear. I'm optimistic about signing Ceballos permanently or, at a minimum, loaning him another year. But that just keeps us treading water with a midfield that definitely needs more help, especially creatively, so I'd be surprised if there isn't some other signing to come there. Another CB also looks like a possibility, with some recent links today to Lille Brazilian CB Gabriel Magalhaes. That rumor smells like one that might have legs, given the Edu/Brazil ties and Raul Sanllehi's strong connections to the Lille management. All this will need to be at least partially funded by some outgoings. We'll try to sell/give away some of our mediocre CBs like Holding, Mustafi, or Sokratis, especially if we do buy another one. Guendouzi seems destined to leave, although I haven't seen any solid rumors about a destination. Rumors continue to percolate about Lacazette possibly leaving, which would make sense in my book if we could get a decent fee. I think there is at least a chance that Bellerin leaves (we have three RBs, which is one too many, and Arteta seems to really believe in AMN). And we should probably make a decision on our starting keeper and sell the other: We're strapped enough for cash that it doesn't make sense to have a backup keeper that could command a good fee used to strengthen elsewhere.
In less than eight months, Arteta has put his stamp on the team, both culturally and tactically. Now we'll get to really see what he thinks about the squad, where it needs improvement, and who is in his plans. It should be interesting to watch at the very least.
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