Tag Archives: Theo Walcott

Arsenal transfer round-up

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Seems to be plenty going on at Arsenal at the moment, so thought I would do a quick round up of what is being reported / rumoured.

Firstly on Alexis Sanchez. Manchester City pulled out for the race for him yesterday. Rumours doing the rounds are that Sanchez priced himself out of a deal – demanding too much in salary, signing on fee and agent fees. Reports from the summer is that a deal to join Bayern Munich fell through for similar reasons.

As Manchester City ended their pursuit, Chelsea were rumoured to be involved. I would say this no more than agents leaking news in an attempt to force Manchester United to complete a move for the Chilean.

It seems a move to Manchester United is close, with the Red Devils happy to pay wages in the region of £350-£400k for the 29 year old, as well as £10m to the agent and a bumper signing on fee for Sanchez. A lot of money for a 29 year old.

The deal is rumoured to be for £25m plus Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming the other way.

Arsenal were close to signing the 29 year old Armenian in 2016, but Manchester United gazumped a deal. People have ask “why would Mkhitaryan turn down Champions League football for Europa League”.

In 2016, Manchester United were in the Europa League, Arsenal were in the Champions League, so there is precedent with Mkhyitaryan. And at the end of the day, playing in the Europa League is a better option than not playing in the Champions League.

If Arsenal do a cash plus player swap for Sanchez, it will be a good deal for the club – taking into account the contract situations of Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

Mkhitaryan could be joined at Arsenal by former Borussia Dortmund team mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabon forward has been heavily linked with Arsenal in the past 48 hours, with some reporting that a deal could be done within the next 48 hours. A transfer fee in the region of £50m is being reported.

If both do join, it is interesting that two players that Sven Mislintat uncovered whilst at Dortmund will become two of the first players (after the Greek lad) he has singled out as quality enough for the new Arsenal.

Going out of the club is Theo Walcott, on his way to Everton. A deal reported to have been agreed for £20m rising to £25m for the Englishman, who has become surplus to requirements this season.

News about Malcom seems to have gone quiet. A deal was reportedly close last season, but with Arsenal now moving in for Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan, that transfer has gone cold.

Swapping Sanchez and Walcott for Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan, with an outlay of just £10m will be good business for Arsenal.

Keenos

Arsenal set to receive £150,000,000

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Spend some f*****g money has not been heard round the ground for a while. Not due to us not spending much, but more due to the apathy of the protesting fans.

In the summer, it was already a documented disgrace that Arsenal made a profit on transfers.

The club made just two signings:

Sead Kolašinac  – Free transfer
Alexandre Lacazette – £46,500,000

This £46,500,000 spent was offset by over £70,000,000 coming in:

Kaylen Hinds – £2,500,000
Wojciech Szczesny – £10,000,000
Gabriel – £10,000,000
Jon Toral – £3,000,000
Kieran Gibbs – £7,000,000
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – £40,000,000
Donyell Malen – £1,000,000

Already in January we have bought in £12,000,000 selling Francis Coquelin, with £1,800,000 being spent on Konstantinos Mavropanos.

This brings us to £85,500,000 in income, and just £48,300,000 spent.

News broke yesterday that Theo Walcott was on the verge of joining Everton. I imagine this deal will go through – or cause the likes of Southampton and West Ham to revive their interest. Taking into account he is a proven Premier League goal scorer, and with 18 months still to go on his contract, Arsenal are in a position of strength.

I would expect us to bring in between £20-£30,000,000 for Walcott.

We then have Alexis Sanchez.

Arsenal have made it clear that Sanchez will leave, if a replacement is sourced. It would not be surprising to see him go on deadline day, even if a replacement does not come in. Reports are that Arsenal will do business at around the £30,000,000 mark.

If both Walcott and Sanchez leave, that will leave us not too far off £150,000,000 bought in with players leaving – and if no one else joins, a profit of nearly £100,000,000.

And the board wonders why we scream spend some f*****g money

Keenos

Going…Going…Gone…Sanchez, Walcott and Coquelin

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So it has been a busy week in the transfer market for Arsenal.

Sadly, but predictably, it is players leaving rather than coming in.

Firstly we had the news yesterday about Francis Coquelin joining Valencia for £10-ish million.

Coquelin’s departure means that only Jack Wilshere remains from our 2008 FA Cup youth winning team.

He was on his way out in 2014 after being shipped to Charlton Athletic on loan. But as quick as he was out the door, he was back in.

Reports were he had emptied his locker and was walking out the door with a box of his gear his loan deal set to be made permanent when Arsene Wenger stopped him and told him he was required for first team duty. I am not sure if it was that dramatic, but from that point forward, he always gave 100%.

He was never the best player in the side, he was massively flawed, but he had the heart and desire and, over the last few years, has played a big role for the club.

Coquelin leaves Arsenal with 2 FA Cup winners medals in his cabinet. When you think Coutinho left for Spain with nothing, it shows how much others are under performing.

The Frenchman is certainly one who will be applauded if he ever returns to Islington.

Last night the news broke from the reliable David Ornstein on Twitter that Arsenal were prepared to let Alexis Sanchez leave if a replacement was found.

The situation has then not changed from the summer, when Arsenal were happy to let Sanchez leave as long as someone else came in.

A late deal for Thomas Lemar fell through, leaving Sanchez to stay at Arsenal.

In the summer, Arsenal decided to hang on to Sanchez when a suitable replacement was not sourced. This transfer window I think it will be a different story. A deadline day deal will be done even if someone does not come in.

The final bit of news is with regards to Theo Walcott.

It is a risk for Arsenal to let a man who scored 19 goals last season leave, but he has become surplus to requirements in the formation we are currently favouring.

It does leave us with a shortage of natural widemen, and that will need to be addressed if we ever to play 4 at the back again.

Going…Going…Gone

Keenos