Former targets back on the radar after step away from Martinez & Raphinha deals

1 Reply

Weekend news is that we have pulled out of the deal for Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez.

This is being promoted as a “huge snub” for Arsenal, compounded by the Raphinha “rejection”.

Like Raphinha, the truth is very different to the narrative taken by the media.

Arsenal have not been rejected by Martinez. We have decided he is not worth spending £45million on him.

To those that demand we “pay the asking price”, let’s break it down for you.

Leeds United we’re demanding £65m for Raphinha. Martinez looks to be off to Manchester United for £45m. That is £110m combined.

Should we really be spending £110m on players that are not guaranteed a start?

Martinez was always going to come in as dual competition and cover for Kieran Tierney and Gabriel. Raphinha would have to compete with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli on the wings.

Arsenal were looking to get the deals done for a combined £70m (£40m for Raphinha, £30m for Martinez).

£70m for the pair feels good – especially after the investment in Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira. £100m+ feels steep.

Stepping away from the deal does not mean we need to go “back to the drawing board”.

We will be interested in many players at the same time. Martinez would not be the only left back we were keeping an eye on, talking to representatives.

Remember Aaron Hickey?

We were linked heavily with him at the beginning of the transfer window before seemingly switching to Martinez as our priority.

He looks set to join Brentford but it might not be too late to sweep in.

Likewise Olexsandr Zinchenko was linked to us prior to the Martinez “interest”.

This was of course press speculation and they never know everything.

We were getting linked with Zinchenko at around £25m. That is £20m less than Martinez’s impending move to Man U.

He might not cover centre back but he does cover central midfield. Arteta loves versatility.

Another forgotten man is Youri Tielemans.

The Belgium midfielder seemed to be our number one target back in June. Then we signed Vieira and began to target Raphinha.

The fee for Tielemans was rumoured to be around £30m.

Could Arsenal go back in for him and then utilise Vieira’s versatility as another option on the wing?

Edu and Mikel Arteta would likely have preferred Martinez and Raphinha for £70m ahead of Hickey and Tielemans for £55.

But Hickey and Tielemans for £55m feels much better business than Martinez and Raphinha for £110m.

So we move on to our next targets. Potentially going back to the two lads we were heavily linked with earlier in the summer.

And at £55m for them, it could leave us with some money left on the pot to improve elsewhere. Has we spent £110m that would have been our transfer budget blown.

I would not be surprised if we see links to Zinchenko and Tielemans intensify this week.

Final thought: We could potentially sign Zinchenko, Tielemans and Cody Gakpo for the price of Raphinha and Martinez. That is sort of business we should be doing.

Keenos

https://twitter.com/shewore/status/1542927999603019776?s=21&t=NBp3SN5l8zTEVjfMI1i1tQ

Is this the worst transfer window ever?

7 Replies

£125million spent.

A striker that has never scored more than 15 goals in a single season. £60m.

A midfield facing sexual assault charges. £25m.

A 33-year-old that Arsenal rejected for being too old 3 years ago.

A 34-year-old goal keeper who has been second choice at Southampton for the last 5 seasons.

And finally the £40million spent on the centre back they had last year on loan.

If you take the Romero deal aside, the rest is simply horrendous business.

If Arsenal had have signed Richarlison, Bissouma, Perisic and Forster we would be unanimously criticised.

Yet Tottenham are celebrating this window as if it will turn them into title winners.

I have seen them stating that they have the best striker in Europe. The best in Asia. The best in Brazil. The best CB in South America. The goalkeeper of the world champions. The best manager in the world. That no Arsenal player would start for them.

Yet if they were so good why did they only finish 4th? Just two points ahead of an Arsenal team that lost its first 3 games of the season? And trophyless for the 14th season in a row.

That lot really are deluded. Celebrating winning the transfer window when buying a load of duds. They will finish 8th this year.

Moving onto us, there is still plenty of white noise out there regarding transfers. We really need to ignore it.

Just because a reliable journalist has stated we are in talks for a player, does not mean they will join.

There is a huge step from being interested in a player and getting a deal signed.

We pulled out of the Raphinha deal as we were unwilling to meet Leeds United’s ludicrous valuation and it looks like the deal for that Ajax defender is going the same way.

If Chelsea (or Barcelona) want to pay £65m for Raphinha and Manchester United pay £45m for Martinez then let them.

That is £110m for two players who would not be regular starters for us.

If we still have that kind of money left after the Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira signings I would rather get in Aaron Hickey and Youri Tielemans for a reported £60m combined (less than Raphinha on his own) and then invest the additional £50m elsewhere.

A transfer window is like a big jigsaw. It takes a while for all pieces to fit into place.

There is still just under 2 months left of it, so plenty of time for my deals to be made.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Keenos

https://twitter.com/shewore/status/1542927999603019776?s=21&t=NOIvTRa3AHkKlaRFc6YtdQ

Who is the best Brazilian attacker in the Premier League?

2 Replies

Hope everyone is having a cracking Saturday so far.

So Gabriel Jesus, Richarlison and Raphinha. Three 25-year-old Brazilian attackers all making a big move this summer.

We have secured Jesus, Richarlison looks off to Tottenham and Raphinha is Chelsea bound. Rumoured transfer fees range from £45m – £65m.

So who is getting the better player?

All stats per 90 minutes

Now it is easy to compare Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus as both played a similar role at their respective clubs last year.

Both spent plenty of time playing down the middle but have also performed out wide for club and country.

Raphinha is a little different as he plays exclusively out wide.

All 3 men average the same amount of goals per 90 minutes – Raphinha leads the way in total goals (11) but has played the most minutes (2922) – and over 1000 minutes more than Jesus/

Raphinha’s goal return from out wide is impressive compared to the two others who have played most of the season through the middle.

However once you take penalties out of the equation, Gabriel Jesus becomes the leader.

Excluding penalties, all 3 men scored 7 goals last season – 4 of Raphinha’s 11 goals came from the spot and 3 of Richarlison’s 10.

Taking into account Harry Kane takes penalties for Tottenham, Richarlison’s goal scoring impact at Spurs will not be as great as it was at Everton.

Arsenal are another story however as our three preferred penalty takers – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alex Lacazette and Nicholas Pepe – have left the club (or are leaving).

Bukayo Saka took up the mantle towards the end of the season but our regular taker spot is certainly up for grabs.

I would be surprised if Jesus becomes our regular taker as he has missed 3 out of 6 penalties taken in the Premier League – but with 8 penalties awarded to us last season in the league there might be an opportunity to further boost that goal tally.

Whilst is is perhaps unfair to throw Raphinha in with Jesus and Richarlison when it comes to scoring goals, we can legitimately compare his other statistics.

When it comes to assists, Raphinha comes out surprisingly poorly with just 3 assists last season.

Considering he was Leeds United’s corner taker last season, this is very poor – although you also have to take into account Leeds were the lowest goal scorers of themselves, Everton and Manchester City. Man City scored over twice as many goals.

What is becoming clear is that in Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal are getting a striker that scores and creates, and one that is clearly superior to Richarlison in both departments.

As we go further down the statistics, Jesus is also the best passer of the 3 – attempting the most per 90 minutes.

Richarlison comes off fairly poor in this area with just 18 passes a game.

That might suit Tottenham who tend to play long ball football, but Arsenal need a striker that can drop into the 10 and get involved in the build up.

Jesus is also clear when it comes to pass completion.

Arsenal’s new striker has an 84.84% pass accuracy. Both Richarlison and Raphinha are below 70%. Not a single outfield player for Arsenal had a pass accuracy below 70% last season.

Raphinha and Richarlison are well known for their take-ons (a posh word for dribbling). But Jesus leads this category as well.

He completes the most per game, and also has the highest take-on success.

So Jesus is the best goal scorer, most creative, best passer and best dribbler. He is also the cheapest option.

Now there is another Brazilian attacker in the Premier League who is a little bit younger than his compatriots – Gabriel Martinelli.

If we remove Jesus from the comparison matrix and add Martinelli, how do things look?

Richarlison, Raphinha and Martinelli are all equal when it comes to non-penalty goals – the younger man slightly behind when it comes to all goals.

Martinelli leads the way it comes to assists per 90, pass accuracy, take-ons completed and take-on success.

It makes you wonder why we were bidding for Raphinha when Martinelli is ahead of him on every important matrix of a wide forward.

So when it comes to Brazilian attackers in the Premier League, we have signed the best of the best. And we also have the second best.

Marching on with Edu’s Army.

Keenos