Tag Archives: Alexis Sanchez

Arsenal on international duty

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Has anyone actually bothered following the international tournaments that have been going on in the last few weeks?

We have had the Confederations Cup in Russia and the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland bubbling on nicely in the last couple of weeks. And now we are at the business end of both competitions.

I have kind of drifted in and out of both competitions. With the Lions Tour, some cricket and Love Island, my TV time has been fairly filled. But I have tried to catch a bit of Chile and a bit of England U21s.

Both Chile (in the Confederations Cup) and England (in the U21s) have made their respective semi finals. England play tonight, Chile tomorrow night.

In the U21 tournament, England are 3rd favourites to win.

It has been a bit of a mixed ability tournament. The majority of German’s U21 team – England’s opponents tonight – are in Russia playing for the 1st team, as Joachim Lowe decided to play a development team and rest the likes of Mesut Ozil and Manuel Neuer.

Likewise the England side is certainly not our strongest set of U21 players as the likes of Raheem Sterling, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Marcus Rashford on senior duty.

A stand out player for the England U21’s has been Arsenal’s Calum Chambers.

Chambers has had a rough couple of years since his big money move to Arsenal, but it is easy to forget that he is still just 22. He has started every game for England, ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup hero Rob Holding.

Before this summer, Chambers would have been one of those slated to leave Arsenal. But his performances for England would have changed a lot of fans mind on him. He has been brilliant, and most noticeably very strong in the air.

The fact he has been continually picked ahead of Rob Holding is testament to his ability. Arsenal would be silly to let him leave.

As for Rob Holding, it has been a frustrating tournament for him. From the high of the FA Cup win and becoming an Arsenal regular, to struggling to get any game time for England, behind Calum Chambers and some bloke from Swansea (in fairness, Alfie Mawson has played well).

Whilst the England and German sides are certainly not the strongest they could put out, Spain have selected the best side they could, with many senior professionals stepping down to the junior level.

One such player has been Hector Bellerin.

Bellerin played 90 minutes in both the first and second game, before being rested for Spain’s 3rd group game – with Spain being guaranteed qualification. Favourites Spain face Italy in the semi finals.

Krystian Bielik would have been disappointed to be an unused substitute in all of Poland’s games.

Meanwhile over at the Confederations Cup, record breaking Alexis Sanchez started off the tournament injured, but has shown just what a key player he is for Chile as he made history and became their all time top scorer.

With the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal in the squad, there is certainly some value in Chile to beat Portugal, and even go on to win the thing.

Arsenal have more interested in the other semi-final as Germany take on Mexico. Shkodran Mustafi has played two of the 3 games for favourites Germany, where a big mistake against Chile led to club team mates Alexis Sanchez record breaking goal.

With Sanchez’s contract set to be resolved once the Confederations Cup is over, Arsenal fans will be itching for it to end at the weekend.

Plenty of football to watch this week.

Have a good one

Keenos

How could Arsenal spend £130m (and it’s not Mbappe)

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The reported fee that Monaco are now asking for is £130m. I think I speak for every sensible Arsenal fan when I say thanks but no thanks and think Arsenal should walk away from any deal at this price.

It is not that I do not want us to spend big, nor do I want us to stop chasing a player who has great potential. But £130m for Kylian Mbappe is just a piss take, quite frankly.

Mbappe has a lot of talent, but that is a silly price for an 18 year old who has done nothing in his career so far. He has played just 40 league games for Monaco. Yes, he might become the next Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, but what Monaco are asking for, allegedly, is the price of Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi, not a player who might become as good as them.

It is silly price tag, at least four times as much as I would pay for him, probably twice as much as anyone should consider paying him. I feel £130m could be better off spent elsewhere.

Thomas Lemar & Alexandre Lacazette

When travelling to France to discuss a deal with Monaco for Kylian Mbappe, you have to wonder if a duel bid for his team mate Thomas Lemar and Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette might be a better option.

Lemar is equally as talented as Mbappe, but at a couple of years older just has a lesser potential. He would provide perfect back up – and become a potential replacement – for Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

Upfront, Lacazette is a better striker than Mbappe. Again, Mbappe might well surpass his French team mate, but as it stands, Lacazette is the superior individual.

Last season, Mbappe scored 15 goals in 29 games. In the exact same league, Lacazette scored 28 goals in 30 games.

For me it is a no brainer, spend the £130m on two talented players rather than a single player with potential

Romelu Lukaku & Riyad Mahrez

Instead of going for a duel French option, how about a double Premier League swoop?

Lukaku might have his dreams on a move back to Chelsea, what with their Champions League football and love of casual racism, but could Arsenal muscle in on a deal?

Mahrez has also been a target for Arsenal for some time.

Both players are Premier League proven. Both could be signed for within the £130m. And Arsenal can get some change out that too.

Ousmane Dembélé & Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Maybe you know where this is going now? If we don’t fancy a bit of French or English, perhaps we should go for something German?

Aubemeyang is clearly available at an affordable price. He has 10 years on Mbappe. But is a much, much better player. Arsenal should not need to buy potential anymore. This would be a perfect example of signing an established world class player, against signing someone with potential.

On the potential side, Dembele is a talented kid. In the same bracket as Lemar and Mbappe.

Like the Lacazette & Lemar deal, Arsenal could get an established star and a future star for the same price as Kylian Mbappe.

Mauro Icardi & Lorenzo Insigne

Our round the world in a double transfer swoop takes us to Italy.

Icardi is one of the most all round strikers in world football, whilst Insigne has taken massive steps forward in the last couple of years and would be capable of competing with Ozil and Sanchez.

No potential in this one, just two established stars.

Andrea Belotti & Arda Turan

Yes, they both play in different leagues, but I though I would do one last pairing.

Belotti has been sensational form for Torino over the last 18 months. He has all the attributes of being able to play as a long striker, and at just 23 still has room for improvement.

As for Arda Turan, Wenger has been a long time admirer. He would not be a stunning signing, but would certainly be good enough to play second fiddle to Sanchez and Ozil.

Cristiano Ronaldo

If we are willing to risk £130m on someone’s potential, and therefore write it off when it turns out he is just s midget Sanogo, why not spank that money on Cristiano Ronaldo for 3 years?

Alexis Sanchez

Just give him £100m. Job done.

Bergkamp & Henry

Create a baby from Henry and Berkamp’s DNA and cultivate it for 16 years.

Keenos

Arsenal need to make Bundesliga star their Number 1 target

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There is nobody better available is a common line put out by many Arsenal fans to justify our poor dealings in the transfer market.

Occasionally it is justifiable, but in the majority of occasions, there is someone else better available.

The line is also often used when we miss out on a player. Again, sometimes you can be genuinely frustrated that we missed out on an available player that is better than what we have, other times it is just idiots trying to create a stick to beat Arsene Wenger with.

One such occasion I read recently is some plonked tweet DANI ALVES IS AVAILABLE. As if it to make the point that:

  1. He is available and;
  2. He is better than what we have

This is a perfect example of fans chatting rubbish.

Dani Alves is only available because Manchester City are offering big money in terms of wages for a 34 year old, and the chance to one more work with Pep Guardiola. Alves has mutually terminated his contract with Juventus. If it was not for the Manchester City interest, Alves would not be available and would still be contract to Juventus.

Secondly, whilst Alves has had a stellar career, he is now 34. Is he really a better option than Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Hector Bellerin – men 10 years his junior? Alves would be a short term option, a very short term option.

So if we are going to bring up names of players who are available, and are better than what we have, let’s be sensible with it. Let’s not just name names for RTs and blog or vlog hits.

One player who is most certainly available, and is clearly better than what we have is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. And I am baffled as to why it seems we are not in the race for him.

Of course, we could be moving up on sly like a Love Island alpha male muscling in on another man’s girl without the bloke she is currently coupled up with knowing. But at the minute, it just seems we are not interested. And it baffles me as to why not.

Here is a striker who is amongst the best in the world. A world where there are not too many top, top strikers. At 28 year old, he is at the peak of his powers. In 4 years at Borussia Dortmund he has scored 120 goals in 189 games.

Last year alone he scored 40 goals in 46 games for the German outfit.

He is big, he is strong, he is quick, and he knows where the back of the net is. And according to reports, he is available for as low as €70 million – in the current market, for a player of his ability, that is relatively cheap.

At the minute, it seems Liverpool are leading the race for him, with the offer of working alongside former manager Jurgen Klopp a key factor. But then you look at who else is in the race. Manchester United and Chelsea. But both clubs seem to have him as second choice if they are unable to sign Alvaro Morata or Romelu Lukaku respectively.

So you have two clubs interested in signing him as a second choice, and one club looking to signing him who can not really offer him the chance of winning trophies. Meanwhile Arsenal sit their with 3 FA Cups in 4 years and Danny Welbeck upront.

Aubameyang would come straight into the first team, and would surely be the type of stellar signing that makes Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil think I am staying here.

And imagine Aubameyang himself getting told Arsenal want to sign you and play you infront of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. It is the type of thing dreams are made of. He would get 30 league goals next seasons without even trying.

Arsenal do not have Champions League football, which might be a down point, but I am becoming a believer that players do not actually care about the Champions League – unless they win it – and just feign an interest in clubs needing to be in the Champions League to eek out an extra 10%.

I can imagine how the conversation went with Manhcester United and Henrikh Mkhitaryan went last summer.

Man U: Henrikh, we want to sign you
HM: OK, but Arsenal want to sign me, and they have Champions League football
Man U: How much is their contract offer?
HM: £120k a week
Man U: We will pay you £140k a week
HM: Deal

Not having Champions League football is not an issue. If will not affect Arsenal financially a great deal, it will just mean we have to pay a little more for Aubameyang’s services.

With Dortmund saying a deal must be done before their pre-season training starts on July 26th, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a player who Arsenal should not just be targeting, but should be going all out to sign.