Ivan Toney and Douglas Luiz. Two names we have been linked with for some time.
In the She Wore WhatsApp group, one commented “£100m for 2 squad players…they would be uninspiring signings”…”. An I could not disagree more.
£100m for 2 squad players
Football has moved on to where squad players for top clubs will now cost £30-50 million.
Mikel Arteta is building a fantastic squad, and the result is to improve on the players we have will cost a lot of money.
We are now at a similar stage to Manchester City in our transfer policy – 1 or 2 1st XI signings a season, and then 3 or 4 squad signings.
Last summer, we signed Declan Rice for £105m. He was the only one we got that you thought “he will walk straight into our first XI.” Rice was then joined by Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber. Two brilliant talents but neither would be a guaranteed starter.
Close to £200m spent, of which around half was splashed out on what could be labelled as “squad signings”. Manchester City had a similar window.
They spent £211m last summer, of which £77m was spent on Josko Gvardiol. The centre back was the only one that you thought “he will start regularly”.
A further £134m was then spent of squad players – Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes.
Doku has started 6 games, Kovacic the same and Nunes just 2.
I expect next summer to go similar as this summe. Perhaps one big money signing, and then a couple of “squad” players. So what for Luiz and Toney?
Ivan Toney
Victor Osimhen is the only striker in world football (that might be available) who I think would walk into our team ahead of Gabriel Jesus. If he is not on the market, or does not want to join us, we need to look at the level below. And top of that list is Toney.
Toney is a different sort of forward to Jesus, but also fairly similar.
Where as Jesus is tricky and instinctive, Toney is powerful and direct. Both have incredible work rate and make space for team mates with their clevel movement.
I think that Toney and Jesus could co-exist in an Arsenal squad in the same way Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez do for Manchester City.
With 50-games a season, there will be plenty of matches for both to start (especially considering Jesus’s injury issues). Toney would have certain games he is more suited to, and Jesus would have others.
Having Toney would also free up Jesus to be cover on both the left and right wings, and he would also be an option to play centrally, in behind Toney.
You can certainly see a case of Toney starting 30-35 games through the middle across the season, with Jesus starting 15-20 up front and a further 10-15 outwide.
I think the pair would tovetail nicely, and Toney would give us an option we do not have with Jesus and vice versa.
I would not be paying anywhere near the £100m Brentford are reprotedly demanding. He will have a year left on his contract come the summer so I think we could sneak a deal for less than £50m.
Douglas Luiz
Mikel Arteta and Edu have been fans of the Aston Villa midfielder for a while.
Between January and next summer, we are likely to lose both Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny. Jorginho might make it a trio of midfield exits. That will mean we need to sign at least one, but more realistically two new midfielders.
The first midfielder would have to be cover for Declan Rice as our most defensive midfielder, and if they can also play further forward as a defensive minded “8”, it will be a bonus.
Dougie Luiz is certainly someone who can do both roles to a high standard.
With over 150 appearances in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Luiz has proved he has what it takes to perform week in week out in England. He would certainly be a “no risk” signing.
97 of those apperances have come playing as the deepest of Aston Villa’s midfield. A single pivot whilst the likes of John McGinn, Emi Buendía, Philippe Coutinho or Youri Tielemans played further ahead.
This season, with the recruitment of Boubacar Kamara and departure of Coutinho, Luiz has played further advanced.
Luiz has the right mix of defensive awareness and tenacity, combined with wonderful technique. He is Aston Villa’s best passer and anything positive they do tends to come through him.
You could certainly see Luiz in an Arsenal shirt, as cover for Rice defensively and as an option to compete with Kai Havertz further forward.
I think he would make the perfect midfield recruit.
I am seeing fees of around £60m, which might seem expensive for a squad player, but it is a figure that I think we can work with.
You would expect Thomas Partey to depart either in January or the summer.
Partey is costing us £9m a year in amortised transfer fees and a further £10m a year in wages. A total of £19m a year.
£60m for Luiz would see his amortised cost be £12m. An increase on his £4m Villa wages to £6m (£115k a week) would cost Arsenal a total of £18m a year. So despite the big transfer fee, Luiz would actually cost us less a year than Partey.
You would also hope that we can flog him to the Middle East, get a fee of around £30m+. That fee would offset what we play for Luiz.
So are they uninspiring?
No. I would be more than happy if, over the next 2 windows, we spent around £130m on Ivan Toney, Douglas Luiz and David Raya.
All 3 are Premier League proven, risk free signings. The trio would improve the depth in our squad.
We would then have kept a bit of powder dry for a further midfield signing who could perhaps walk straight into the first XI ahead of Kai Havertz.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 