Tag Archives: She Wore

Alexis Sanchez to sign new Arsenal contract

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Alexis Sanchez has provisionally agreed a double your money £280,000 a week, 3 year contract to remain at Arsenal.

In doing so, Sanchez turned down a mega money £40,000,000 a year deal to move to China which included a £12 million bonus a year.

Arsenal also warded off interest from Bayern Munich who offered a club record transfer fee in an attempt to pry the Chilean away from the London side.

Sanchez’s agreement is apparently with the understanding that Arsenal will sign 3 top players this summer, with the club reportedly letting him know that we are already in advanced negotiations for two high profile players.

The deal for Sanchez is set to be announced within the next 2 weeks.

Alongside this, Mesut Ozil is almost certain to follow Sanchez by signing a new deal at the club. Apparently the German’s contract is 99% agreed.

Sanchez has agreed the deal after a post-FA Cup meeting with Arsene Wenger and Stan Kroenke, when owner and manager outlined their short term plans for the club.

With Sanchez and Ozil set to stay, and Arsene Wenger prepared to make big moves in the transfer market, Arsenal are preparing to make a serious title challenge in 2017/18.

Alexis Sanchez – targeting trophies, not millions.

Keenos

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

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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 need to play hardball over defenders future

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He got a lot of (unfair) criticism at Crystal Palace, which has maybe led him to fall out of love with the club a bit, and he has certainly had his head turned by Barcelona. But Arsenal need to do everything they can to keep Hector Bellerin at the club.

Whilst a reported offer of £45m is – too some – too big to turn down, if Arsenal want to win the league next year, they need to keep their key players at the club. Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Hector Bellerin, etc.

The offer of £45m is massive, and 5 years ago we would have had to have accepted it. But Arsenal is a different place now. A club that no longer needs to sell to buy. A club that is offering £100m for an 18 year old with hardly any experience.

We reportedly have £150m to spend on transfer this summer. We do not need to inflate that amount by cashing in on Hector Bellerin. It is more important that we keep the squad strong, and together.

Some will point to the fact that Bellerin lost his place in the starting XI at the back end of last season. That he is now expendable. That £45m for what is now a squad player rather than a first teamer is something Arsenal should seriously consider. These people are incorrect.

Whilst Bellerin might have fallen down the pecking order in the later end of the season, he is a very important member of the squad.

When we play 3 at the back, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is first choice at right wing back. But the Ox has his own problems. He is injury prone. Unable to put a consistent run of games together.

Having moved to 3 at the back, the Ox played 5 of the first 6 games in the new formation. He then picked up an injury against Southampton which ruled him out of the next 3 games. He is fragile and his work load needs to be managed.

Therefore you need a top quality back up who can be rotated in to manage the Ox’s work load. Bellerin is that man.

Up the road at Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino has shown a tendency to rotate his wing backs on almost a game by game basis. Kyle Walker and Danny Rose one week, Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies the next.

Whilst I do not think you need to change the wing backs every game, and I certainly will not be looking at a manager who has won nothing for tips, it is true that your wing backs get through a lot of work every game, and with Arsenal set to play around 50 games next season, we need to keep the squad rotated and fresh.

Oxlade-Chamberlain can not play 50 games a season. His back up needs to be of equal quality. And we have not yet even discussed the Ox’s contract situation. With one year set to run, were he to refuse to sign, it would potentially leave Arsenal without a quality right wing back. Losing Bellerin would also give even more power to the Ox who could point to the fact he will be the only decent right wing back at the club next season, and pretty much name his price.

You then have the scenario if Arsenal return to 4 at the back. With Mathieu Debuchy and Carl Jenkinson set to leave this summer, allowing Bellerin to also leave would put Arsenal in a situation where we do not have a single right back at the club – Oxlade-Chamberlain is not good enough defensively to play right back.

The other option in the squad would be Calum Chambers.

Chambers would provide good cover for a first choice full back, but I am sure we all agree that he is not at the standard required to be first choice full back. His future is at centre back, with the ability to cover a full back if needed.

If Arsenal let Bellerin go, we would then need to buy a new right back – who would probably then cost £45m and not be as good.

Bellerin signed a new 6-and-a-half year deal back in November. This will keep him with the club until 2023. Arsenal are in no rush to sell. Keep hold of Bellerin, prove to him that he will get enough game time in the new formation. Regain Champions League football next year. Get Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on a new long term deal.

And in 2018 if Bellerin still wants to leave, F**k him off and he will still be worth £45m.

Keenos