Tag Archives: kylian mbappe

A wish list for Arsenal – 5 players we need to sign

1 Reply

I found this in my drafts. I wrote it before the FA Cup Final. I have no idea why I did not publish it earlier, but here it is.

Every year I write a wish list. A prediction. I play football manager with myself. Attempt to build the Arsenal squad. Who I want to see come in, who I think will leave, what I think the squad will look like next year.

Here are my thoughts on the 2017/18 season…

In goal, Wojciech Szczesny and David Ospina will leave the club. We will raise £20-30m be selling them both. In their place, we should go for Sunderland’s Jordan Pickford.

Valued at £30m, we could pretty much get him for free if we get a decent value for the other two keepers. At worst we would be looking at a £10m outlay. Personally, I do not think Pickford is ready to play for a team like Arsenal.

It is easy at Sunderland. Saving 20 shots a game, not getting criticised if you concede 6, as you have said another 14. At Arsenal – and other top clubs – you come under higher scrutiny. By getting in Pickford now, we could easily play him in the cups whilst an understudy to Petr Cech. He will learn form the goal keeping legend, and this time next year, will take over as number one.

A deal for Sead Kolasinac looks done. A free transfer. Ignore the price tag. He is the best left back in the Bundesliga.

With his height and physicality, he could drop inside and become the left side of a 3 at the back. With Nacho Monreal also offering similar attributes, it could be a case of flipping a coin to decide who players where. Kieran Gibbs will make way.

In the middle of the park, I have been a long term fan of Renato Sanches.

He went for big money to Bayern Munich last year, but has struggled to nail down a spot. Munich could well look cash in before what they owe on him increases again.

Sanches has the physicality in the middle of the park that we have missed. An all round central midfielder, he can defend and attack, pass and tackle. He covers the ground and could become an absolute beast in the middle of the park alongside Granit Xhaka.

Moving forward, after their poor season last year, Riyad Mahrez might come available.

At the right price, he could provide competition for Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. If we get him in early, it would also take the pressure off if we lose either player as we would already have a replacement.

Mahrez would also do a job on the wing, if we decide to move Sanchez up top (or behind Sanchez alongside Ozil).

Having a choice between Ozil, Sanchez and Mahrez is something we could certainly accommodate.

Finally we have Kylian Mbappe. The young striker is going to be very expensive. I am not 100% sure on him. He has the talent. But his price tag does not quite justify what he has done so far. He would be a luxury signing if signing him does not mean we have to give up on other targets. I would not sacrifice (for example) signing Sanches and Mahrez to bring in Mbappe, but once sales come in, we could free up enough money to sign the wonderkid.

It will be interesting to see how many we sign.

Note: This was originally written before we won the FA Cup Final

Keenos

Arsenal set to sign 2 to replace 1

12 Replies

I tried really hard to work the Spice Girls song 2 Become 1 into the headline, but it just did not work. Sorry for letting you all down.

Personally I have felt since December last year that this season will be the last he has at Arsenal. Throughout his career he has shown he is unable to remain at a club for longer than 3 years. He certainly has a 3 year itch. He has also never signed a 2nd contract at a club. He is off.

So then it comes to replacing him.

Replacing someone as uniquely talented as Alexis Sanchez is impossible to do. You can not just pick up players like him with his skill and desire, off the shelf. There is not a single player in the world that would replace him. So rather than look at a single replacement, perhaps we should be looking at 2 replacements (and maybe even 3?).

Rather than sign 1 player to replace Sanchez, you look beyond that and sign two players that improve the first XI.

Let’s take Kylian Mbappe to start with. Rumours are that Ivan Gazidis and Arsene Wenger are currently in Monaco to try and secure the young Frenchman’s signing. Now personally I think his cost is ludicrous for a player who has proven so little, but he will at least get some positivity into the club. And will surely be an improvement on Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck.

Talk is that if a deal for Mbappe is completed, Sanchez will leave the next day. The only reason we are happy spending so much on the Frenchman is due to the cash coming in from Sanchez. It is money that is outside out war chest, and therefore will have no impact on other targets.

So Mbappe up top, it then leaves a Sanchez size hole behind to be filled. This could be done by Riyad Mahrez.

Whilst Mahrez is no as good as Alexis Sanchez, the bigger picture needs to be looked at:

Ozil Sanchez
Welbeck

Or

Ozil Mahrez
Mbappe

Whilst Sanchez is the stand out player, bringing in both Mahrez and Mbappe is exiting. We might get weaker in a single position, but potentially stronger in the front 3.

Then we have the third option. With Sanchez’s destination likely to be Bayern Munich, could Arsenal make a move for Renato Sanches to come the other way? A talented central midfielder who has struggled in Germany this season, he would certainly provide the drive and muscle next to Granit Xhaka in the middle of the par.

Losing Sanchez is not great, but we have lost better before, and will lose better again. The important thing this summer if we do lose a single player is that we make the overall team stronger.

Keenos

Alexis Sanchez crucial as always for Arsenal

2 Replies

Source: Arsenal via Facebook.

Arsene Wenger must be a huge fan of the film Groundhog Day. Bill Murray was forced to experience the same events day after day until he realised the error of his ways, but Arsenal are operating on a grander scale by facing the same conundrums year after year. There may have been a few cracks in the cycle of late, from Petr Cech providing a solution to the goalkeeping problem and Arsenal not finishing in the top four of the Premier League, but for the most part, very little has changed.

A new centre-back is still required to lead the defence, the midfield is still lacking a strong presence, a world-class striker is still desired and there are still question marks over the club’s financial and competitive ambition. One thing that has become a fixture over the past few seasons is a reliance on Alexis Sanchez, and Arsenal’s fortunes in the summer transfer window and the next campaign will rest heavily on where the diminutive Chilean decides to call home.

Bayern Munich are the most conspicuous suitors, with compatriot Arturo Vidal already in Bavaria and the club’s attack in need of reinvigoration. Chelsea and Manchester City will always be interested in a talent like Sanchez, with the former likely to be especially keen if Eden Hazard is snaffled by Real Madrid. Of course, if Madrid sign a player of Hazard’s ilk then Gareth Bale could become superfluous at the Bernabeu. Manchester United have been heavily linked with the Welshman of late, and if Arsenal had qualified for the Champions League, they might also have considered themselves front-runners for a signature that would monumentally annoy Spurs fans.

However, it is easier to keep hold of a world-class player and convince them that the club’s dalliance with Europa League football will only last one year than it is to tempt a world-class player to join a club outside of the Champions League. Admittedly, Manchester United managed this last season when they enticed Paul Pogba with mountains of money and Mourinho. The latter seemed able to guarantee trophies, which proved to be the case, but in Wenger, Arsenal have a manager who has struggled to compete for anything notable other than the FA Cup in recent years.

As a result, Arsenal’s best bet is to throw everything at Sanchez in the hope that he will feel settled enough to stay. In terms of football odds, Paddy Power are offering a price of 11/8 for the Chilean to remain at the Emirates Stadium, making Arsenal his most likely employers next season. But things in football can change quickly. When Manchester United and Real Madrid make their inevitable big money moves in search of new attackers, the market will be given fluidity and bids may well come flowing in for Sanchez.

In demand – AS Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe. Source: AS MONACO via Facebook.

Sanchez will need reassurances from the leadership at Arsenal that the Premier League title is still viewed as a primary and attainable objective. Although Arsenal may struggle to attract the top-tier players, younger stars from the tier below with scope for growth can represent a desire for upward mobility from Wenger. Rumours of a rejected £87 million bid for Kylian Mbappe shows ambition, although a cynic would suggest that Arsenal merely bid to appease fans whilst safe in the knowledge their offer would fall short financially.

Being linked with Mbappe is in vogue for any club with sufficient spending power, and the young Frenchman would provide a suitable replacement for Sanchez as his potential is unlimited. However, Arsenal are likely to be forced to consider more realistic alternatives. Excitement at recent suggestions that Riyad Mahrez is angling for a move to Arsenal should be tempered by the Algerian’s indifferent season, whilst Alexandre Lacazette, Andrea Belotti and Carlos Bacca would be solving the striker problem rather than the Sanchez problem.

Sanchez is nearly irreplaceable, a testament to his ability. If he were to leave, Arsenal would struggle to find a player of his level in the same position and would struggle to head the queue for the brightest prospects such as Mbappe. However, the addition of a focal point such as Lacazette or Belotti, players just short of world class but still among the leading strikers in Europe, could enable Arsenal to change their shape and allow other players to flourish in Sanchez’s absence. Mesut Ozil used to be considered world-class; if the team was built around him, perhaps the German could become the focal point of a successful side.