If it’s on the BBC, the move must be close to completion.
Hope he enjoys the race for second place next season. And the year after. And the year after…
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Yup, all 4 trophies are major achievements for their respective clubs. Even though Newcastle are one of them, it’s refreshing to see City not stealing anyone else’s glory for a change. Well, apart from Man United’s Community Shield..
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It’s a massive move for them, which means a genuine reinforcement of their midfield. Also an impressive statement of intent from their part.
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And watching us win the league next season, and the year after and the year after.
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They are buying someone they don’t explicitly need.
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Is it? The way he keeps getting talked about last summer, I thought he was some hot 23-24 year old prospect. He’s 26 now.
I might be wrong, but I’m getting vibes of ten Hag basically bringing half the Ajax team over, with what Arsenal are doing with Sociedad.
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Seriously lads? May I remind you that he was our top target last summer, and it only fell through because he decided to stay put for a further year? This is a really strong move, and will reinforce their strength in depth in midfield, it’s a certainty.
They have enough numbers there without needing to add another person.
It’s a good transfer for them. But not a needle mover.
When I look at their list of first-team midfielders, my feeling is that this move is exactly what they need:
Jorginho is 33 and can’t be very far away from ending his career at top level. Then you have Partey for the DM places, and that’s it. So, Zubi is clearly Jorginho’s long-term replacement.
As I said, an excellent move for them.
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You can look it up, I said similar last summer too…
I am probably going to be wrong, but at least I’m consistent!
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Lewis Skelly is a DM , Rice is a DM , Partey is a DM.
The way I see it , with their fullbacks inverting more often than not. They really don’t need more bodies in the midfield.
Between your opinion last summer, and Edwards’ and Hughes’, I know which one I chose. 
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He’s sure to get a nice warm welcome at Anfield.
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Not sure he’s relevant here…
But yeah I can’t remember who it was, perhaps @Limiescouse, who pointed out before that the other top clubs aren’t exactly breaking down the doors to sign him… Sure, that’s not a solid indicator, but surely it does make one wonder?
I think he’s a top midfielder. Just don’t see how he moves the needle substantially at Arsenal.
It’s just Arteta thinking , I need a Rodri , so let me get the closest guy possible considering Rodri isn’t available.
Jorginho is already confirmed as leaving so they have a gap to fill, but in all honesty a body was really all he was this season.
There is a version of Arsenal that has played well with Jorginho pulling the string behind Rice and this looks to be a commitment to solidifying that approach, but that is where a lot of the questions come from. Is Rice as essentially an 8 the best way forward for them.
There has been a lot of interest in him for years. But him continuing to stay at Sociedad was generally understood to be him keeping himself available for Barca who kept making promises to him but acknowledging they didn’t have the financial room to do it right now. The opening we sensed last summer was seemingly his first realization that waiting forever for Barca was wasting his career.
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And where exactly was Arsenal’s defensive play lacking this season ?.
I seem to recollect that they were pretty solid this year in defense.
Possibly good that Cheaty didn’t buy him and they are still reliant on a (hopefully) brittle Rodri.
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Good point. I was worried that they would try to get him this summer, as he’d have been a good reinforcement for them.
I wouldn’t necessarily be against a player like Zubimendi in the team.
But I would rather we train Bajcetic to be such a guy now. Considering that Grav has made his spot his own.
And one thing to note , requiring a pure #6 probably isn’t needed the way football is moving. Both Grav and Mac aren’t pure 6s. We won the league with 3 box to box midfielders essentially.