Posted on Sunday, 19th August 2012 by Tony Merakli
So both Robin van Persie and Alex Song have both departed and because of this we now have £39 million to spend – unless this sum is going straight into the club’s vault!
Arsene Wenger has already said that the club have ‘already recruited to replace him’ – obviously referring to Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud – so another striker coming into the club does not look plausible.
Santi Cazorla has been brought in to fill the creativity void left by Cesc Fabregas last summer and with Tomas Rosicky still at the club, it doesn’t look like Wenger will look to bolster this department either.
The central part of our defence looks pretty solid, but perhaps strengthening the full-back positions would be ideal as we are short of cover in my opinion.
We still don’t have a goalkeeper at the club who can challenge Wojciech Szczesny and with Song gone; signing a replacement is a must
So how should Wenger look to splash out £39 million?
Well this is how I would spend it:
Firstly, I would like to see Jack Butland of Birmingham City come in to challenge Woj for the number one spot.
The 19-year-old is a bright prospect for the future and showed what he is capable of this summer in London. He would definitely keep Shezza on his toes.
Southampton had a £6 million bid rejected by Birmingham for Butland and manager Lee Clark admitted that it would take a ‘crazy’ offer for him to consider selling the young Englishman. I’m guessing a bid in the region of £8-10 million would do the trick.
Defensive midfielder? I would go for Nuri Sahin, Yann M’Vila, Etienne Capoue or Lucas Biglia.
We could easily afford to snap up one of these four players and anyone of them could fill Song’s boots in my opinion.
Sahin would cost us nothing, as the Turk would be coming in on a season-long loan.
M’Vila can be signed if we offer Rennes £16-17 million, while Capoue would cost half of what M’Vila is priced at, and Lucas Biglia is valued at £12 million by Anderlecht.
The full-back area is a tricky one. I don’t necessarily think we need to sign a left one as we already have Kieran Gibbs and Andre Santos. I believe It’s the right side we need to strengthen.
We have been linked with a move for Swansea’s Angel Rangel in the last few days, which would bolster this area but I don’t think the Spaniard would suit Arsenal. If it was up to me, I would make a move for his team-mate Neil Taylor. He can play either side of the defence, is 23 and is solid in his position.
Taylor could easily fit into our team and would suit our style of football. He would make a great understudy to Bacary Sagna and give the French full-back a run for his money. In addition, I reckon we could acquire the Welshman for around £5-6 million.
So that’s approximately £16 million for both Butland and Taylor, leaving £23 million to splash out on one, maybe even two of the abovementioned midfielders.
So that’s how I would spend the cash, but what would you guys do with £39 million if you were in Wenger’s shoes?
Give us your thoughts on the matter below
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Tags: Alex Song, Andre Santos, Angel Rangel, Arsene Wenger, Cesc Fabregas, Etienne Capoue, Jack Butland, Kieran Gibbs, Lee Clark, Lucas Biglia, Lukas Podolski, Neil Taylor, Nuri Sahin, Olivier Giroud, Robin Van Persie, Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Wojciech Szczesny, Yann M'Vila
Posted in View From The Sphere | Comments (28)
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August 19th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I think the ‘warchest’ you mention has already been spent, on Poldi, Giroud and Cazorla.
I expect us to sign Shin on loan and that will probably be the end of it. Another book balancing season awaits…
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August 19th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
We are book balancers looking to make profit. People think we have “invested” 40 million on new players but we have not – 24 million for RVP, 15 million for Song, 5 million for Vela and 1 million for Bartley and we make a profit yet again. Arsenal are the most unambitious, boring club on the planet..
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August 19th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
If it was upto me i would bring in sahin on laon and m’villa and a right back not sure but i would also bring in some squad players benayoun last year played ok and scored a few goals, if injuries occur he could be someone to sit on the bench as an option or to play and i read somewhere 2million could be a fee, also michael owen when he plays he scores ok he’s getting on now but on a pay as you play contract and hes a free he would cost us hardly anything and if needed due to injuries etc can produce a few goals
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August 19th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
it doesn’t matter what players we sign if we don’t play 2 up front against weaker teams who just want to defend we will keep dropping point at home . Look at our results against the lower half team over the last 7 years at home and its poor
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August 19th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
arsenal are so shit and boring, i cant stand it anymore. all we need is a couple of top players and we will win something, but arsene the tit wenger just will not do it..and to all the people who say “well we bought in top class players like pod, giroud and cazorla” well yes thats all well and good but we have just lost two first team players in van persie and song, we need 3 new players in this team, a hardcore midfielder to break some legs, a top class striker to help up front with giroud, and a proper fucking left back, then we can talk about winning until then we will win fuck all
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August 19th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Wenger should buy Fernando Llorente. He is the only player who would really make a difference and put us in contention for the title.
Looking at how Arsenal played against Sunderland, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to hear that Cazorla wants to leave. He was the only class player on the pitch while everyone else was sitting back.
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August 19th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
I agree, only i feel M’vila is a little bit tempermental, Sahin would be agreat addition on loan, especially with an option to buy at the end of his loan, i still think we need another striker as i’d like to see Poldi & Giroud play together which would mean poldi on left and no striker on the bench, perhaps young Niang could be brought in, i also like the look of Celtic’s Victor Wanayama, united were interested, but he can hold the mid or drop into defence when needed.
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August 19th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
I honestly love Arsene Wenger like a father, but i fucking wish i could grab him by the throat and shake him around and say..WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!! wake up and smell the the kenco!,we need more than these 3 players
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August 19th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
I think there are still more players to leave yet like Chamakh, Young, Bendtner, Watt, Arshavin, Eastmond, Squillaci, Djourou, Fabianski and Mannone. I would sell the lot of them.
As backup for Szczesny we should sign Craig Gordon on a free and use Martinez when needed.
I would sign Sakho from PSG for around £12mil as understudy to Vermaelen. Both these players can also play leftback and cover Gibbs/Santos.
Not sure who to bring in at rightback as Sagna no.1 and jenkinson understudy when both fit. I would try to bring in a player on loan or reaccess next season. Coquelin can cover for now.
In midfield sign Sahin on loan with view to make the deal perminant at end of season. If we cant sign him go for M’vila.
I think we do need another striker with possible 3-4 more leaving. Sell Watt, Chamakh and Young first and keep Bendtner until last incase we dont get anyone. He is still recovering from injury but we could try to loan Rossi from Villareal. He was excellent working with Carzorla
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August 19th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
am i the only one who likes the look of our squad. i just can not wait for wilshire, artea/diaby, carzola, chambling to be on the pitch together. there was real signs of a team yesterday. we played well but of course we need to score. i have been told and believe giroue can step up. i do hope we get sahin as he is excellent. but i do also believe this squad with van percy would be a contender. so i would spend this make believe money on a top draw striker. llorente fits the bill, but highly unlikely. i hear good things about niang, and matatius suazez. i good young striker would help also i believe. niang really should be jumped on. but pretty positive about the new season. we may have lost a few, but wilshire, diaby hopefully will be like new signings. chambling is a year to the good. gervinho is in his second season and could kick on. french people really rate giroue and allot of them where saying he should be in the team ahead of benzema. and carzola looks the fucking business. so i am pretty upbeat. sundland did not look our equal and on another day it could of been four. first game and according to wrenger the new strikers are short of fitness. lets hope we get it all sorted soon and sahin signs. come on the gooners
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August 19th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
Loans are not free. There is a loan fee (say a player is valued at £10m and has 5 years on his contract the loan fee will be in the region of £2m). And then there are wages on top, usually covered in full – unless you are being loaned by Man City in which case they are subsidised because they are considerably over and above the market rate. Sahin would be a good loan signing though.
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August 19th, 2012 at 5:53 pm
Song has gone, good,wot are we stil waiting for,den bring m’vil or shanko to to fill d gap,nuri shn wil be arrive on loan,wit dis two we are ok,den wenger should offload all our substitute piple like arshavin,ramsey.lastly, i suggest another striker,so poldoski and ground should be merge on d pitch it should be 4-4-2.up gunners
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August 19th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Song has gone, good,wot are we stil waiting for,den bring m’vil or shanko to to fill d gap,nuri shn wil be arrive on loan,wit dis two we are ok,den wenger should not offload all our substitute piple like arshavin,ramsey.lastly, i suggest another striker,so poldoski and ground should be merge on d pitch it should be 4-4-2.up gunners
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August 19th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Capoue was better than M’Vila last season and he only costs half as much. Given Yann’s off field problems I’d take a chance on Capoue over him.
Sahin could come in on loan and we’d pay some of his wages.
Why would you not go for Debuchy at right back? Debuchy can even play right wing if necessary as he’s done a few times for France. At 9-10M I think Lille would consider it and Debuchy is at a good age where he is experienced enough to take over and cover Sagna but not too young to overshadow Jenky.
Left back – Leighton Baines, why look anywhere else? That’s maybe 14-15M but he’s the most consistent and one of the best LBs in the league and has been for years. He’s in his prime, isn’t injury prone and has easily 3-4 years to go at the highest level
We don’t need a striker? How many do we actually have? If Giroud or Poldi goes down who is coming in? Chamakh? Yeah we need another decent striker, maybe someone who is older but can still contribute with some goals like a Saha or someone reasonably young and not so well known like Mirallas, who I thought was a good one to look at. I wouldn’t spend more than 6-8M on this kind of player.
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August 19th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Totally bored of this year after year, just sack Wenger now and get in a manager with ambition rather than one lining his own pocket.
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August 19th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Gokhan inler from napoli and vucinic from juve …tell me I’m talking shit
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WC Reply:
August 19th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
You’re talking shit. After we hard balled Juve over RVP, you think they’re going to play nice on one of the already few strikers they have that’s good?
Inler just signed for Napoli last year and has quite a bit of time left on his contract. They’d overcharge us for him and we can find as good without less negotiation.
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August 19th, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Buying in butland would be a massive mistake… why would you jeopardise the careers of two excellent young keepers? If they don’t play they don’t develop! We have one excellent young keeper, we need another… you can buy in a much older keeper, with quality and experience, but not one the same age.
Is sahin a defensive midfielder? Biglia is the best option, he is a captain, experienced at international level and has proven ability. M’Villa is to expensive and he has a major attitude problem. Go for Sahin and /or biglia.
Gibbs and Santos … unless wenger is going to come out and slam santos, and putting our money on sagna coming back early, we are ok for that position… at least untill january.
I still think we need firepower up front… Everton have just go two good strikers this summer… we could use some money and buy a Llorente… it is not realistic at all, but the club needs a star signing and he is a good striker.
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August 19th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
All arsenal do is sell their guns, how then can we remain the gunners? i wish we could buy another gun in ISCO from (malaga..
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August 19th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
We were once a club that all of the world knew as having the class and the pedigree of a TOP world club, now our reputation is in tatters and we are viewed as a club going nowhere, who will sell our assets to any club – even our biggest and most disliked rivals and competitors!! We have a manager who has constantly lied and destroyed the whole foundation of our club, and an owner who allows all of this because he is assest stripping the club to make PROFIT!
RVP gone, Song gone and maybe Walcott too – Yet again Wenger,Kronke and his puppets (the board) have sold away our hopes and chances of the future, and no Podolski,Giroud and Cazorla do not replace what has gone, we have sold a world class striker who single handedly made it possible for us to finish in 3rd place last season as opposed to fighting off relegation!! The only player to come in will be Sahin as he will cost us peanuts to loan for the season! No other purchases will be made as that would mean no profit for Kronke and be aware, that is what life at Arsenal is all about now…Remember the letter from Usmanov – he is being proved exactly right in his assessment of how things are! There is no investment from Kronke, no determination to buy and keep the best players, no burning ambition to win trophies or worrying of all no pride – otherwise there would have been no sale of Fabregas,Clichy,Nasri,Van Persie or Song.
Wenger looked a pathetic figure at the after match press conference, his regular inane and soporific comments almost made me vomit! To sit there again and expect us to listen and believe the same lies and excuses that he has trotted out with regularity every year for the past 8 years is offending our intelligence and looking at him even he doesnt believe what he is saying!!.
He spoke of Knowing exactly how Sunderland would play, yet still he plays the same formation that has failed every time! Yet again he quotes how much possession we had – how many times have we heard that, but we have learnt that possession means nothing unless you win, and we regularly fail at doing that! He also spoke of how big our squad is…yes but what he omits to say is how the squad made up of mainly AVERAGE or poor players! Average=Szcesny,Gibbs,Mertesacker,Arteta,Diaby,Walcott,Gervinho,Giroud,Arshavin,Ramsey,Santos,Coquelin,Miquel,Yannaris,Eastmond,
Poor=Jenkinson,Fringpong,Squillachi,Fabianski,Mannone,Park,Chamakh,Djourou
Only 1 player – Cazorla has class, and 4 others Podolski, Wilshire, Ox, and Rosicky are good squad players!
If we want to gain some minute amount of respect the club must go out immediately and by Llorente a potential world class replacement striker in addition to getting Sahin, that would just about be enough to get us to 4th place again! On top of this we would need at least another 2 top class players to be purchased to show we mean business again, but I dont believe any if this will happen, and we will begin the drop into mid table obscurity!
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August 19th, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Song-replacment yan m’vila no other players cn fil tht gap as u know mr wenger z worst couch he dnt knw hw to buy bt only knws hw to sel key players
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August 19th, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Dont forget the amount of money we have saved and will on wages.Almunia 60 grand less,Van persie 80 grand a week less and Song 60 grand less,Vela 50 grand less,Kyle B 30 grand less,Bendtner 50 grand less and whatever dross will be shipped off.It is a massive wage cut and even though we have signed 3 costly players we are once again more then balancing the books.
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August 19th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
I think what we need is a player in the Eduardo mould. Someone who is clever and finds space in the box and who is a clinical finisher. Can you imagine how many goals Cazorla would assist a striker like Eduardo?
Also this supposed War-Chest is non-existant. For some unknown reason Arsenal FC never seem to actually spend any of their own cash on players. If you have a look at http://www.transferleague.com you will see that most years we actually make a net profit on player transfers. In other words Wenger pays for his new players by selling others.
I would guess Wenger was only allowed to spend £44million on Podolski, Giroud & Cazorla if he raised that amount from player sales. As it stands we have made £42million from the sales of RvP, Song, Vela & Bartley. Once we sell Bendtner we will have once again made a profit on player transfers.
One day when I have the time I will go through Arsenals Financials to try to figure out where all the money goes since it so obviously does NOT go on the signing of new players.
And one other thing – we have been called a selling club because we let our best players go every season… If you look back down the years you will see we have ALWAYS been a selling club under Wenger. If you make more money than you spend on player sales you are a SELLING CLUB.
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August 19th, 2012 at 8:38 pm
We had better get those players fast. M’villa, Sahin and Llorente would be good and the cash can buy them since Sahin is on loan.
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August 19th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Nice regurge of all the midfield links. Real opiniated stuff!!
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August 20th, 2012 at 3:10 am
I hate book balancing.. and there will be strong protest if no more players are signed.
What about the next window? Who are we gonna lose again?!
Right now, just bring in Sahin + M’Vila.
Coquelin slot to RB to ease defender crisis.
Can’t trust Djourou or Diaby.
If Walcott doesn’t stay, we’ll look for replacement again, just get the lad to decide fast, I highly doubt anyone would offer him 20M & 100k/week too.
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August 20th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
splash that on lorente and forget the rest , gunners is okay we just nid to be commiyted and have faith in what we having ryt now……….. let’s be hopeful and believe in our own guys . we wil be there beofore you even notice it
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August 21st, 2012 at 9:09 am
i would love we get van der viel for about 8 million, biglia for 12million and llorente, i think 15 million would get him. then we can contest for all the championships this season
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