Category Archives: Arsenal

Arsenal ready to raid Newcastle again for star defender

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Oh wouldn’t it be glorious if Arsenal went back to Newcastle United to solve our defensive headache.

Malick Thiaw is the man who has been wearing the captains armband for Newcastle in preseason friendlies. It is expected that the German defender will take the armband full time following Bruno Guimaraes, and their fans are already celebrating him leading them into the “new era”.

But could Thiaw be the perfect defensive signing for Arsenal?

The Champions have been in the market for a central defender who can also play right back. We have been linked with the likes of Ezri Konsa already this summer as we look to sign someone who can come into the defence during William Saliba’s absence, whilst also offering cover for Jurrien Timber.

Ben White could be the ideal profile and it looks like he might be willing to remain at the club. But there are still concerns around his injury record. Those concerns, combined with some questionable performances from the defensive unit during pre-season, could lead Arsenal to still enter the market for a new defender.

The German international has many of the qualities that would make him attractive to Mikel Arteta.

At 6′ 4″, Thiaw is powerful, aggressive in the challenge and dominant in the air, while also possessing the athleticism required to defend in a high line. Thiaw is also an excellent passer and has also shown his leadership potential during his one season for Newcastle.

And there is another aspect of Thiaw’s game that should make him particularly attractive to Arsenal: his versatility.

Although primarily a centre-back, Thiaw has previously played at right-back and also has experience playing in defensive midfield earlier in his career. That background is important because it has helped him develop an understanding of different defensive responsibilities and positions on the pitch. Ideal for Arteta.

Arsenal defenders are often asked to do far more than simply defend. Full-backs can move into midfield or transition into a back 3. Centre-backs are expected to progress the ball whilst also cover out wide. Players must be comfortable changing positions during matches. Thiaw’s experience at right-back and defensive midfield means he has already had to understand the game from different perspectives.

Thiaw could potentially provide cover across the defensive line when injuries or suspensions strike. In a squad competing in the Premier League, Champions League and domestic competitions, that flexibility is incredibly valuable.

His physicality could be particularly important at Arsenal. Arteta’s team often pushes high up the pitch, leaving defenders exposed to counter-attacks. Arsenal therefore need centre-backs capable of defending large spaces and recovering quickly when opponents break forward. Thiaw’s combination of size, strength and mobility gives him the tools to do exactly that.

At just 25, Thiaw is still at an age where his best years could be ahead of him But he also has valuable experience at the highest level.

His time at AC Milan gave him exposure to Champions League football, while his move to Newcastle United has allowed him to experience the intensity and physicality of the Premier League. That combination could make him an ideal addition to Arsenal’s defensive unit.

Imagine having Saliba, Gabriel and Thiaw, alongside Cristhian Mosquera, competing for two starting centre-back positions, while also knowing that Thiaw has the experience to operate at right-back if required. That is the kind of defensive depth Arteta wants.

Of course, Newcastle would not make a player like Thiaw easy to sign after we snatched Bruno from them. But if we did, it would be absolutely priceless and they would need to issue flood warnings for the Tyne basin area, despite the UK being in a heatwave and drought.

What started off as a wind-up blog looking to catch a few Geordies with some bait has ended up with me convinced. Thiaw should be our number one target if we are looking for a new defender this summer.

And if it is not this summer, keep an eye on next. He could be the perfect man to come in if Saliba does not return back to his best following his back issue.

Keenos

Jesus sale could unlock over £100m in spending

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There is a key reason why Arsenal’s opening asking price for Gabriel Jesus is £20m. It is because we are willing to let him go for as low as £9m

Signing in 2022 for £45m, Arsenal have £9m of the initial fee yet to hit the accounts. That is the rock bottom the club would take for the Brazilian. Anything under would see the fee show as a loss on the accounts. Breaking even on the book value will be key for the club.

That £9m a year in amortised transfer fee is the equivalent of a new £45m signing, spread across a further 5-years. Put simply, we could sell Jesus for £9m, sign someone for £45m, and our amortised fee expenditure would remain neutral. Zero change.

More important than the transfer fee for Arsenal is the wages – Jesus is reportedly on a huge £265k a week, totalling £13.78m a year. That would save Arsenal £22.78m a year, once combined with the amortisation saving.

Put simply, Arsenal could commit to spending £114m over the next 5 years, and for 2026/27 our outgoing would remain the same. As long as Jesus left for £9m and Arsenal did not contribute to any future wages.

Rolling back to the £20m, Napoli would normally be happy to pay that for a player of Jesus’ talent. But they wouldn’t be happy to pay his huge salary. Not even for a year.

If Napoli sign Jesus for £9m, they could basically pay him a £10m “bonus” for signing, which would more than cover the difference between what Jesus was expected to earn at Arsenal over the next 12-months and the likely lower salary Napoli would pay.

It is a deal that then suits all teams.

Napoli sign a top player without breaking their wage structure, Jesus does no take a financial hit and gets a new 4 or 5 year deal with Napoli, and Arsenal free up the equivalent of £114m to be spent on someone new.

That £114m could see Arsenal sign someone worth £70m a year on £160k a week. Or for £50m on £240k a week. Other combinations are available.

So whilst Arsenal fans might be disappointed if we “only” get £9m for Gabriel Jesus, there is a bigger financial upside that the club will be acutely aware of.

Just like when buying a player, the transfer fee is jut part of the clubs total costs, when selling a player the sale fee is also just part of the picture. That £266k a week wages saving is huge.

Now how Arsenal spend the money would be a different story….

Keenos

Arsenal “ready to stick rather than twist” at left wing

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In the fall out of the Vinicius Jr deal, a lot of names have been mentioned as potential replacements.

They contain many of the usual suspects – Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nico Williams, Rafael Leao, Bradley Barcola – and some new names such as Jamal Musiala. There has also been many raw young talents that fans have mentioned that Arsenal should sign. And it is this last group that we need to avoid.

At the end of last season, when we won the league remember, we had Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli. Two Premier League, and international, proven wingers. At the time, I always felt that we should only replace one, not both.

Squad continuity is huge if you want to try and win back to back league titles. A big mistake by Liverpool last summer is they saw too many big names depart, and tried to recruit too many new stars. It failed.

My feeling was you either replace Gabriel Martinelli with an absolute superstar (such as Vinicius Jr), or you replace Leandro Trossard with a raw talent such as Mika Godts or Kenan Yildiz. You could also do the vice versa and kept Trossard as the continuity player, and sign the raw talent to replace Martinelli.

We moved early in the market to replace Trossard with Christos Tzolis.

Whilst the Greek man is 24, he is coming from the Belgium league and, beyond a struggled spell at Norwich, has no top flight experience in a major league. He is a raw signing who will need to step up to the next level at Arsenal.

Following the Vini Jr saga, fans have been quick to make the point that Kvaratskhelia was only 23 when he joined PSG, that Vinicius Jr broke through at Real Madrid at 21, Michael Olise was just 22 when joining Bayern Munich and Mo Salah was not a global superstar when joining Liverpool. The case is made that we do not need to look at an experienced, existing superstar and instead should be looking at prospects.

The concern is we have already done this with Tzolis. And it would then be a huge risk to go into next season with someone as inexperienced in elite European football as Tzolis alongside someone such as Godts, Antonio Nusa, Ibrahim Mbaye, Kaua Elias or Jean-Mattéo Bahoya.

Going into the season with two players who are unproven at the top level would be a huge risk.

The names are above are the sort of players you recruit when you already have an established superstar. If you have a Vinicus Jr or Kvaratskhelia already playing left wing, you go and get Godts, Nusa or Kaua Elias to be their understudy and learn from them, with the aim of one day becoming the next global superstar.

The other issue is none of those mentioned above are better than Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard. They may well turn out to be better, but right now, today, they are now. And Tzolis is also in that same camp.

So what we would actually be doing by selling Trossard and Martinelli, and recruiting Tzolis and (for example) Nusa is weaking our left hand side, not strengthening it.

Having failed to sign Vinicius Jr, I think we need to remain focused on a “ceiling raiser” left winger, and not a raw talent for the future. That is Jamal Musiala or, at a push, Kenan Yildiz. Iliman Ndiaye is another who may came into the equation if we want to go “Premier League proven”. Bjut he only comes into the thinking if Martinelli pushes for a move away.

For now, if we can not get Yildiz or Musiala, we are probably best of sticking.

We know what we have with Martinelli. His strengths and weaknesses. He is not a bad player and has 62 goals in 278 games. He has hit 10 goals in 3 of his last 4 seasons for us. You keep him, see if Tzolis develops into the player you hope, and then revisit next season.

Come 2027/28, one of Godts, Nusa, Mbaye, Kaua Elias or Bahoya may have kicked on. Got another full season of elite football into their legs and be ready to take a step up. You would then have them alongside Tzolis who would have a year of Premier League football under his belt. For now, they are all too big of a risk.

There is then also the likes of Musiala and Yildiz (who I actually think was out first choice this summer, ever before Tzolis). We open talks now with their people. Get a move to Arsenal on their minds. It might not happen this summer but we begin doing the prep-work for next.

Unless we get a proper ceiling raiser of a left winger, I think we stick with Martinelli and Tzolis rather than twist and replace Martinelli with an unproven talent.

Keenos