Transfer: 2024 Summer Transfer Window - Closed Window Discussion

[Evilo]

- A ton of smoke about Zirkzee to Arsenal, not sure if all the other sources are copying the original one, but I am not liking the sounds of that. Not that Zirkzee is bad, but he seems too much like Lacazette/Giroud 2.0 or a Haaland-lite currently. Definitely will have faith in Arteta and Arsenal though if they think he's worth it since I was quite outspoken against Havertz and even though you can make a good argument that it was a bad move that wasted a ton of money towards FFP, he did finish the season with 14 goals and 7 assists (and that's with a good 3-4 months of awful football). I think I would rather give the chance to Gyokeres, I get he's older than the likes of Zirkzee and Sesko, but he went absolutely nuts this season and could be cheaper than the rest. Obviously, Sesko should be the main target, but I also think his deal would be the most complicated to get done and probably the highest fee of all the #9 targets we are currently linked to (yes I know we're linked to Isak who would go for more, but I don't believe those rumours).

- Some reports about Arsenal wanting Bruno G. from Newcastle, but another report where I am not sure how realistic those are since I read some statements saying that the Magpies won't take anything less than 100 million for him.

- Sounds like Partey is going to leave based on Romano's reports; he's got interest from Turkey and Saudi.

- @Evilo Arsenal is supposedly interested in Desire Doue from Rennes, is he any good and any rumours from the French side of things?

- Arsenal looking at Justin Bijlow as a backup goalkeeper option if/when Ramsdale moves (Newcastle going after Aaron).

Doue is fantastic. Very very high potential.
PSG, United after him. Probably more. 60M asking price.

 

[luiginb]

Yeah I also think he's good enough to come off the bench for a team like Arsenal already. Numbers are quite passenger, but he's only 18.

 

[S E P H]

No you can't. The idea that you shouldn't make any signings because they'll count against FFP is silly. Getting the type of return we got from Havertz - even setting aside him direct goal contributions - is absolutely worth the money we spent on him. Just like Declan Rice was worth the money despite it costing even more against FFP.

I get you will defend it at all costs, but my argument is when you're so close to the FFP, you gotta make better deals instead of "not spending to FFP," that was never my point. Spending 60 million on Havertz is still pretty bad when we could have gotten a mixture of players like Kudus and somebody else or straight-up a better player than Kai last window for around the same amount. We have to admit that Arsenal had a fairly fortunate injury list last season, but that will not be the case every season. We had Saliba healthy for about 99% of the season, Gabriel for 90% of the season, Saka for 90% of the season, etc. Havertz isn't replacing any of those compared to Kudus or getting an extra young talented CB besides just Kiwior.

I loved Havertz down the line, I love how riled up he makes opposing fans when he plays the villain, but that doesn't excuse him from missing 8-10 absolute sitters last season that could've helped Arsenal win the title. There was one during the first leg against Fulham where he should've scored and secured us three points and would've given us the title on GD...and all I am talking about is one extra goal. He has my full support, but that still doesn't mean Arsenal were intelligent to buy him, hell, now we are rumoured of getting a proper #9 which might take away some of his thunder as the false #9 last season, forcing him to play deeper in that Xhaka BxB role if Arteta sees him as a starting XI calibre player.

Doue is fantastic. Very very high potential.
PSG, United after him. Probably more. 60M asking price.

Thanks! If PSG is after him, not sure why he would want to join us over them.

 

[bluesfan94]

I get you will defend it at all costs, but my argument is when you're so close to the FFP, you gotta make better deals instead of "not spending to FFP," that was never my point. Spending 60 million on Havertz is still pretty bad when we could have gotten a mixture of players like Kudus and somebody else or straight-up a better player than Kai last window for around the same amount. We have to admit that Arsenal had a fairly fortunate injury list last season, but that will not be the case every season. We had Saliba healthy for about 99% of the season, Gabriel for 90% of the season, Saka for 90% of the season, etc. Havertz isn't replacing any of those compared to Kudus or getting an extra young talented CB besides just Kiwior.

I loved Havertz down the line, I love how riled up he makes opposing fans when he plays the villain, but that doesn't excuse him from missing 8-10 absolute sitters last season that could've helped Arsenal win the title. There was one during the first leg against Fulham where he should've scored and secured us three points and would've given us the title on GD...and all I am talking about is one extra goal. He has my full support, but that still doesn't mean Arsenal were intelligent to buy him, hell, now we are rumoured of getting a proper #9 which might take away some of his thunder as the false #9 last season, forcing him to play deeper in that Xhaka BxB role if Arteta sees him as a starting XI calibre player.


Thanks! If PSG is after him, not sure why he would want to join us over them.

Kudus had fewer goals and fewer assists and is only a year younger, but I guess he would have made the team better this season because you said so. Which better players at Kai's positions were available for less money? Arsenal, by the way, also signed an extra young talented CB, he just happened to be injured the whole season. Having one extra squad player wouldn't have made that much of a difference.

You can point to a dozen players who missed opportunities that cost us points and potentially the title. Or who made a mistake and cost us the title. Or whatever else.

 

[luiginb]

Kudus had fewer goals and fewer assists and is only a year younger, but I guess he would have made the team better this season because you said so.

For Moyes' West Ham

 

[bluesfan94]

For Moyes' West Ham

Which benefits a player who is strong on counterattacks, which Arteta's system has less of an emphasis on. Kudus also tends to favor the right side, which is occupied by players a level or three beyond Kudus. Now, perhaps Kudus could have played the left 8, but comparing the two is a comparison of different technical and tactical profiles.

And I say this all as someone that would have liked to sign Kudus, both to provide cover for Ode/Saka and to offer a different tactical option off the bench as necessary.

I still would rather have Havertz.

 

[les Habs]

- A ton of smoke about Zirkzee to Arsenal, not sure if all the other sources are copying the original one, but I am not liking the sounds of that. Not that Zirkzee is bad, but he seems too much like Lacazette/Giroud 2.0 or a Haaland-lite currently. Definitely will have faith in Arteta and Arsenal though if they think he's worth it since I was quite outspoken against Havertz and even though you can make a good argument that it was a bad move that wasted a ton of money towards FFP, he did finish the season with 14 goals and 7 assists (and that's with a good 3-4 months of awful football). I think I would rather give the chance to Gyokeres, I get he's older than the likes of Zirkzee and Sesko, but he went absolutely nuts this season and could be cheaper than the rest. Obviously, Sesko should be the main target, but I also think his deal would be the most complicated to get done and probably the highest fee of all the #9 targets we are currently linked to (yes I know we're linked to Isak who would go for more, but I don't believe those rumours).

Gyokeres very likely wouldn’t be the cheapest of the three options. In fact, he might be the most expensive. I would think Zirkzee would be the cheapest of the three. I would imagine Bologna’s financial situation isn’t as good as that of Sporting Lisbon or RB Leipzig and they also didn’t qualify for the CL as the other two clubs did. Additionally, Zirkzee’s contract is up in 2026 while the respective contracts of the other two aren’t up until 2028.

While I’ve always liked Zirkzee, but if I’m Arsenal and I can afford it I go for one of the other two though. You could argue all three players have some proving to do, but if I’m looking for a goalscorer it’d be Gyokeres or Sesko before Zirkzee.

 

[Savant]

Gyokeres very likely wouldn’t be the cheapest of the three options. In fact, he might be the most expensive. I would think Zirkzee would be the cheapest of the three. I would imagine Bologna’s financial situation isn’t as good as that of Sporting Lisbon or RB Leipzig and they also didn’t qualify for the CL as the other two clubs did. Additionally, Zirkzee’s contract is up in 2026 while the respective contracts of the other two aren’t up until 2028.

While I’ve always liked Zirkzee, but if I’m Arsenal and I can afford it I go for one of the other two though. You could argue all three players have some proving to do, but if I’m looking for a goalscorer it’d be Gyokeres or Sesko before Zirkzee.

I think Bologna did qualify for UCL. Think Italy got (one of) the extra coefficient slot

 

[cgf]

Sorry for the spam, but uhhhh...

Borussia Dortmund keen on Mason Greenwood as Man Utd push to sell

United are exploring all options for a permanent departure with Greenwood value around £40 million

www.telegraph.co.uk

After the protests that signing Nmecha caused just for making some transphobic comments, it’s hard to see them sign Greenwood.

 

[cgf]

Kudus had fewer goals and fewer assists and is only a year younger, but I guess he would have made the team better this season because you said so. Which better players at Kai's positions were available for less money? Arsenal, by the way, also signed an extra young talented CB, he just happened to be injured the whole season. Having one extra squad player wouldn't have made that much of a difference.

You can point to a dozen players who missed opportunities that cost us points and potentially the title. Or who made a mistake and cost us the title. Or whatever else.

It’s obviously all Saka or Odegaard’s fault for not winning you 1 more match. Farmers gunna farm

I think Bologna did qualify for UCL. Think Italy got (one of) the extra coefficient slot

Yep. Next season there will be 5 Serie A & Bundesliga clubs in the CL.

 

[les Habs]

I think Bologna did qualify for UCL. Think Italy got (one of) the extra coefficient slot

I thought so too, but when I checked WhoScored they had them slated for the Europa League on their Serie A table. Not sure how much of a difference it makes with regards to Zirkzee’s price compared to those of Gyokeres and Sesko.

 

[S E P H]

Kudus had fewer goals and fewer assists and is only a year younger, but I guess he would have made the team better this season because you said so. Which better players at Kai's positions were available for less money? Arsenal, by the way, also signed an extra young talented CB, he just happened to be injured the whole season. Having one extra squad player wouldn't have made that much of a difference.

You can point to a dozen players who missed opportunities that cost us points and potentially the title. Or who made a mistake and cost us the title. Or whatever else.

No, he would not have made this team better because "I said so." I mentioned Kudus because he can cover many possible injury positions being able to play as a #9, #10, and a #7. I also mentioned Kudus because he was 30 million cheaper and that money could've gone to somebody else...perhaps Arthur Vermeeren who went to Atletico for 18 million. Additionally, Timber isn't a CB for me, not that I can't see him being played there, but more for the reason that Arteta probably won't play him there until it is necessary.

I am not anti-Havertz, I am anti-spending 70 million for him when he showed nothing to be worth that amount, even this season which @cgf mentioned is one of the best he's shown since Leverkusen. Also, I am not blaming Havertz for "supposedly" losing us the title because he never did, but if he had been just a tad more clinical in the early goings, we could've won some of the games we drew and drawn some of the games we lost. I am not saying double digits here, but at most two matches where we needed a bit more skill. Man City had a secondary difference maker in Doku scoring some big goals here and there, we never had any of that with Kai until the last 2-3 months of the season.

 

[S E P H]

Gyokeres very likely wouldn’t be the cheapest of the three options. In fact, he might be the most expensive. I would think Zirkzee would be the cheapest of the three. I would imagine Bologna’s financial situation isn’t as good as that of Sporting Lisbon or RB Leipzig and they also didn’t qualify for the CL as the other two clubs did. Additionally, Zirkzee’s contract is up in 2026 while the respective contracts of the other two aren’t up until 2028.

While I’ve always liked Zirkzee, but if I’m Arsenal and I can afford it I go for one of the other two though. You could argue all three players have some proving to do, but if I’m looking for a goalscorer it’d be Gyokeres or Sesko before Zirkzee.

From all my records, Bologna got the CL spot and why I would think it would be hard to poach him. For sure Sporting also made the CL since they won Portugal's Liga Title. Portuguese teams also are very shrewd businesses being able to make tons of money from unexpecting wealthy clubs, however, most of these are for high-potential players that have a crazy amount of hype. I am thinking of the likes of Felix (127 million), Enzo (121), Nunez (85), Dias (71), Goncalo (65), Bruno (65), and Ugarte (60) to name a few. Gyokeres isn't similar to these lot, he will still get a good transfer fee, but he is also a lot older and has bounced around many leagues including the EPL (Brighton who he never played a game for) with not a lot of talk about him. I think that lack of talk will keep his transfer fee down, while Zirkzee will be given "Hojlund" treatment I reckon from Bologna where they have no reason to sell him, except at an enormous fee.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1796115710696947773

 

[luiginb]

Why are we getting rid of the good players and keeping the Johnsons, Kulusevskis and Bissoumas of the world

 

[Chimaera]

to be fair... you kinda gotta sell some folks with some value to get money in return

Unless you're Liverpool to Saudi I guess.

 

[cgf]

to be fair... you kinda gotta sell some folks with some value to get money in return

Unless you're Liverpool to Saudi I guess.

It’s not that hard. Just sell your trash to an epl team

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Why are we getting rid of the good players and keeping the Johnsons, Kulusevskis and Bissoumas of the world

Which players are you referring to? Richarlison can't be relied upon to stay fit. Lo Celso and Hojbjerg are free agents next summer. The rest are dead weight.

Selling Johnson would be foolish in my mind. His production was good and he can still improve even more.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

It’s not that hard. Just sell your trash to an epl team

That’s true like Werner and Kai

 

[cgf]

That’s true like Werner and Kai

Yeah, you really have to take #s with a pinch of salt when they're being put up against EPL "defenses"

 

[bluesfan94]

Looking like Sesko is getting closer to completion.

Yeah, you really have to take #s with a pinch of salt when they're being put up against EPL "defenses"

Idk, took Arteta unlocking Havertz for him to beat his Leverkusen numbers

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Think Sesko would be a great option for Spurs right now, but there's been no indication they are interested.

 

[Peen]

 

[Savant]

Think Sesko would be a great option for Spurs right now, but there's been no indication they are interested.

Spurs only get the players RBL willing to give away for free.

 

[robertmac43]

I'm here for this at the price.