Emiliano Marcondes from Bournemouth to Nordsjaelland on a free.
Anthony Knockaert from Fulham to Huddersfield on loan.
Casper Tengstedt from Rosenborg to Benfica for €9.5m.
I like Joao Felix. He’s at the wrong club.
I think it’s a good signing by Chelsea. And they haven’t made many.
1 Like
So, Liverpool to bid 90 million for him in July?
Is he any good? Time will tell I guess.
Would be nice to get these kids in before they make these intermediate moves and their prices sky rocket. I do assume, were we to sign him this window, it wouldn’t go down all that well anyway as he’s a left winger/attacker - we have plenty of them in the squad.
2 Likes
There is only so many you can sign before you become chelsea. We’ve already got Elliott, Carv and now Bajcetic (from the academy, but brought in as a 17 year old). The reason teams like Benfica are attractive is because the kids know they will play and aid their development
3 Likes
Liam Delap from City to Preston on loan.
Adrien Thomasson from Strasbourg to Lens for €3.9m.
Szymon Zurkowski from Fiorentina to Spezia on loan.
1 Like
I’m really not sold on him at all, I remember watching him when we had some tennous links around Covid time or just after and I wasn’t impressed.
Wind sent him over twice in the box, followed him a bit since and nothing much changed my mind from when I first saw him.
Might be the club though.
One thing isn’t clear to me…
If Arsenal are going really high for Mudryk (Romano reporting that they’ve made a 3rd bid, €70m + add ons). Someone with less than 50 games for Shakhtar.
They already have the likes of Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli and Jesus (although out injured).
Even though I see Mudryk’s position (so far, as he’s young) is on the left (Martinelli), does that mean that they’re partly also preparing for a possible Saka (entering his final year) exit?
Both Saka and Martinelli will sign new deals.
Mudryk’s only being brought in as another option on the wing, Saka and Martinelli are the only 2 they really have.
Another option for €90m?
Cool. 
2 Likes
Well yeah, this is the market now and these clubs can afford to do it so why shouldn’t they?
He’s what 20/21? They can get 5/6 good years out of him for that suddenly it doesn’t seem that expensive does it.
I don’t think clubs often break their transfer records for options. Hopefully he’s another flop like their current record transfer (Pepe) who cost a cool 80m Euro.
From what I’ve seen, he’s quicker and more direct than Saka and Martinelli.
1 Like
Arsenal fans are regularly complaining about lack of depth in the wide positions. I’d be surprised if they were happy to sign Mudryk and let Saka go.
1 Like
Happy? Certainly not. But maybe Saka is delaying signing a new deal and is willing to see what’s out there as he’s in his final year and a half.
I mean, multiple scenarios are possible. Mudryk first has to show he can play for Arsenal, then potentially start for them, then who knows what happens with other players.
Could he that he replaces someone either now or long term, could be that he ends up being an expensive squad player or a bit of a flop.
Pepe is a good example and Arsenal were worse at the time than this Arsenal.
I’m just curious about this Arsenal move, such a high price for someone who has 50 odd games in Ukraine. There’s not even a “Benfica” move in the middle.
Perhaps he’s already damn good, but that then possibly means that someone drops out, if not now, then in the near future.
Jamal Lowe from Bournemouth to QPR on loan.
Guillermo Varela from Dynamo Moscow to Flamengo on a free.
Laszlo Kleinheisler from Osijek to Panathinaikos for €500k.
Garang Kuol from Newcastle to Hearts on loan.
Gonzalo Villar from Roma to Getafe on loan.
Andreas Hache-Olsen from Gent to Mainz for €2.5m.
Jerome Roussillon from Wolfsburg to Union Berlin on a permanent deal.
One way or another, they need more quality players. Even with the Jesus injury, they have been fortunate this year with how few changes game to game they have been able to make. That is not sustainable. Certainly not for next year, and if someone was actually putting pressure on them, maybe not even enough to keep going all the way to line this season. But in most positions the only options they have are a big drop off in quality. So if they want to be able to expand the number of players they can regularly use, they have to buy.
I’d argue this probably isnt the area they look most in need of bolstering, especially with Smith Rowe nearly back to fitness and Nketiah having done admirably, but the reality is anyone they bring in is going to be in a position where they already have a player settled and playing regularly and so will be filling no obvious need. This is maybe a bit like us buying Gapko where we really look to have a bigger need elsewhere, but you take step back and still see how the player can be useful.
1 Like
I’m aware of that.
Right now, they have a very clean roster. Two players per position almost back to front.
They actually have 1 spare player in their first team squad (and it’s a forward), but that’s including the likes of Nelson and Marquinhos.
Odegaard/Vieira, Martinelli/Smith Rowe, Saka/Nelson/Marquinhos, Jesus/Nketiah. Those are their front 4 positions. Players who can of course play multiple positions as well.
But going for an option that is called spending €90m on Mykhaylo Mudryk is a bit different to spending €35m on Fabio Vieira to provide “depth in one or two positions”.
If Arsenal believe they have found a gem who’s ceiling is to be an important player who will find his way into the XI one way or another, then fine. I’m just curious to see how it develops.
From a “Viera”-ish type of talent(?) for around €40m, we’ve come a long way to potentially Arsenal’s new transfer record.
1 Like
I think that is an incredibly generous reading of Arsenal’s effective depth so maybe that is the core of our different perspectives on this.
For me the concern for them is not how do they make room for a player of that cost. But how does any Prem side justify that cost for that player? From what limited I’ve seen agrees with the scouting report that he is very much a counter attacking sort of player, or at least one who thrives with space to attack. Arsenal sometimes have that, but it’s still going to be a steep learning curve - new league, much higher standard, all while learning to adapt to playing against more congested defenses. That is what I’d be weary of paying 80 million for far more than whether there room in the side for a player in his position.
1 Like