Tag Archives: Arsenal

Doors close as Alexis Sanchez set for Arsenal stay

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When one door closes, another door is supposed to open. That is according to Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone.

But for Alexis Sanchez, is seems as one door closes, another slams shut just as he starts to think about going through it.

A few weeks ago, Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness seemed to rule the German club out of signing the Chilean.

“If we want to win the Champions League we’ll have to invest but we can’t spend crazy money,” Hoeness told Fox Sports.

“We are not going to pay €100million [£87m] to get [Marco] Verratti or €25million [£22m] a year to get Sanchez.”

Hoeness’ claims come after he told German outlet Kicker the club would be unlikely to invest in older players this summer.

“You can’t build a new team with €100million transfers for 29 and 30-year-olds. That isn’t a policy,” he said.

“Either we go down this road with all these young players, all getting a chance to play, or we don’t go down this road.”

Having spent about £200m this summer – £120m of that on three full-backs, Pep Guardiola announced this weekend that “We don’t have too much more to spend but we are going to see.”

When asked if he was planning to bring in a central defender to the club, he responded that the club “will try”.

It is clear and obvious to all that, with the oil well nearly dry for the summer, that a new central defender is a priority for Guardiola, not Alexis Sanchez.

The final club who have shown some interest in the 28 year old are PSG. But it seems that Barcelona’s Brazilian forward Neymar is their number on target (and if Neymar does sign, it shows footballers only really care about the money).

All the doors seem to be closing for Sanchez.

He will remain at Arsenal.

Keenos

Pre season – it only counts when you want it to

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So on Saturday, Arsenal beat Benfica 5-2. To some, it was a good victory and showed us moving forward. To others, it was “just a friendly”.

Roll on 24 hours and Arsenal lost 2-1 to Sevilla and everyone had done a 180.

Those that called it “just a friendly” were suddenly saying stuff like “shows nothing has changed” whilst those celebrating the victory were tweeting “just a friendly”.

Meanwhile, the majority did not care about either result. They saw both games as “just a friendly” and he Emirates Cup as a chance to take their kids.

But then we have the media. Already rolling out the usual “Arsenal in crisis before the season has begun” narrative.

It made me wonder: just how well have every other side done pre-season?

This was correct as per the final whistle yesterday. Some results may have changed. Others stayed the same.

It highlights everyone is having a very average pre season.

Arsenal destroyed sides in Australia, Man U in America. Chelsea beat Arsenal, then lost to Bayern Munich and AC Milan (they also beat Fulham).

Spurs beat Leyton Orient and PSG, before losing to Man City and Roma.

So can you read too much into pre-season? Probably only if you want too.

Keenos

5 Alternatives to Thomas Lemar

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The Lemar saga keeps rolling, rolling, rolling on. Whilst I think the epical transfer will eventual happen, it might be worth looking at a few other potential targets that Arsenal could move for, if the Lemar deal ends up dead in the water.

Riyad Mahrez

Arsenal have long been linked with the Leicester City play maker. If Arsenal are looking at Lemar as an option who can play both out wide, and behind the striker – providing competition for Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez – then Mahrez would be a decent option.

2015/16’s PFA Premier League player of the year would give the side another attacking option. He would be the closest ‘like for like’ to Lemar on this list.

I feel the only reason we are going for Lemar ahead of Mahrez is due to age. Lemar is 21 and has a very high potential ability bar. Mahrez is 26 and the finished article.

If the Lemar deal does fall through, Mahrez must be top of the list.

Jean Seri

The unknown-but-everyone-knows-about-him is predominantly a defensive midfielder. There has been talk that Arsene Wenger is targeting Lemar as a long term replacement for Santi Cazorla. That he will mould the Frenchman into a deep lying play maker.

If the Lemar deal does fall through, a move for Seri, whilst a different type of midfielder, will provide the reinforcements in the middle of the park.

Personally I think we should be targeting Seri and Lemar. They are completely different players. Lemar attacking, Seri defensive. By forcing Lemar to be deeper and defend, you lost a lot of his talent.

It should be Seri and Lemar, not Seri or Lemar.

Ross Barkley

Since Paul Gascoigne, there has been a long list of players labelled the next Gazza who have failed to ever fulfil their promise. Jack Wilshere is one, Ross Barkley another.

There has never been any doubting Barkley’s natural talent. The concern is his consistency. He has never quite put it together for a run of 10/15 games, let alone a season. If it ever does click that he is on the verge of wasting his talent, he could become a world class player. But at 24 in December, time is running out.

He has pace, power and ability abundant, but does he have it between the ears.

Gareth Bale

If Arsenal are looking to go big, could a bid for Real Madrid Galactico materialise?

A deal for Bale would only probably happen if Arsenal fail to sign Lemar AND end up losing Alexis Sanchez. The club could package up the £50m put aside for Lemar, add the £50 they get for Bale, to enable them to offer a world record transfer fee for the former Spurs player.

Suso

The former Liverpool youngster has revitalised his career in the last 18 months, becoming a key player for AC Milan last season.

With AC Milan’s new found money, Suso might find himself on the fringes of the future. Like Lemar, he can play in all 3 positions behind the striker, so would be a good, and potential cheap, 2nd choice. He would provide the back up needed for Ozil and Sanchez, as well as be able to play outwide if we change up the formation.

Keenos