STM

And mount himself isnt going to be conducting talks.

Arsenal took a slight risk when spending money despite under achieving on the pitch for quite a few years. They aren't in any financial trouble, in fact they are an absolute machine commercially but from an FFP point of view and from a transfer spend point of view, they need some incoming in order to supplement their future spending. I'm not entirely sure how it works but outgoings are quite "strong" for FFP right? I think it's something that Newcastle are also trying to take advantage of. Arsenal are going to sell a few this summer, Xhaka has already gone and he was one of their best players.

Yeah but that's just not true though, is it? It sounds good saying "he's injury prone" but that's just too simplistic and bordering on a pseudo-science type view. You could say he's more susceptible to certain types of injuries, you could say he's got weak bones, you could say he's got a weak knee or that he doesn't recover from injuries well but again, it's down to smarter people than me to answer which of these are true, if any. Saying "he's just fragile" is reductive and quite frankly bollocks.

40m is too much for Tierney mind. He's a fucking left back. Full backs are the cheapest position on the pitch unless you are Chelsea. I'd give them 20m plus a bunch of performance/appearance related add ons. 5 year deal, give Arsenal an extra 2m for every season he plays more then say 22 games. That way, we know we are at least getting our moneys worth out of him.

What your saying here doesn't make sense though does it? If he had muscle injury problems, then carried them on at Arsenal, then yes he might be more susceptible to them and therefore its a risk. However, from what I'm aware his injuries have either been unrelated niggles, which any player can have, which ultimately comes down to luck or a serious knee problem which he's now had surgery on and presumably is fixed. This idea that you or me could somehow find some medical issue that the actually experts can't is a bit weird. Whatever we have thought of, you can pretty much guarantee these doctors will have already thought of. Unless you have a mistrust in science and the medical profession? If our medical team say "he's had injuries before and he's likely to have similar problems in the future", then fine, we shouldn't touch him.

That's quite misleading if someone has had a reoccurring knee injury though? It would be like counting Shearers two seasons out against him or even Fat Ronaldo. Shouldn't his injury record be left to experts? More specifically, is the chance or reoccurrence likely? If it was persistent hamstrings etc, I think that's possible a different matter.

It's not a case of "knowing the league", it's case of being one of the best in DA league. The opposing arguement would be to avoid signing someone who has excelled in the German league or wherever because how can we be certain of their true level. Ultimately, as you say, trust our scouts and understand the risk/reward.

Just to get an idea of the person.

This is what I mean, our doctors will be fully aware of his injury issues and therefore the risks. I'm fairly sure Shaw (for comparison) had injury issues when younger and he's shrugged them off too. Apparently Tierney is a mentality monster too, so it would be like signing a young Trippier.

Really, really unfair lumping Tierney with McTominay and whilst Tierney may be "dispensable" from an Arsenal viewpoint, alot of people would argue that Tierney is actually a better player than Zinchenko, however they are both massively different players.

I know some have reservations about his fitness, but given he's one of the best left backs in the league, he'd be a cracking signing. Shaw Chilwell Zinchenko Robertson These are the best in league (I've probably missed someone), Tierney is in that bracket IMO.

What we signing him for? 4/5m I think it's safe to say our scouting hasn't gone particularly well if we don't recoup that back on him. We are probably paying less than 1m per year over the length of his contract and potentially getting a couple of loan fees in too. It's hardly going to cost us a penny in the long haul. On the other hand, if he's even half decent we could make.... who knows? On any future sale. The idea is to sign loads of these young kids, Kuol, Minteh etc and if just one makes the "big time", it could potentially pay for another 6/7 similar deals. They either become part of the first team, or supplement our income through their sale. It's smart business sense and could provide us with a couple of future stars.

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1664545638632103937?t=a176v7r57E5_Ih-PFspt3g&s=19 Signing.

I think what annoys me most in this, is that I get the distinct impression that Barcelona believe clubs should just sell them their players because they are Barcelona... compare that to Real Madrids pursuit of Bellingham, where by all accounts both clubs have a great relationship and respect. It's openly trying to unsettle players, presumably with the purpose of lowering their price tags. If you want Bruno, fine, but go through the process correctly by indicating a willingness to pay top dollar from the outset and more importantly be engaging in a respectful manner to the club. I never thought I'd see the day when Real Madrid were the lesser of the two evils.

I think this window I've finally learned not to believe a word of it, it's only taken me about 18 years of intense transfer speculation to get to this point. I remember getting the bus home from town and buying an evening chronicle reading about how we had signed Scott Parker and then Emre, I've come along way. Whether it be Szobozlai, Veiga or anyone else, this time I'm waiting until something absolute concrete comes through. It will take Ornstein ilk to break me this time. There was no better feeling than last August when out of nowhere we were signing Isak... it was perfect. More of that please. ?

Don't want Gallagher, he doesn't have a fancy foreign name and he hasn't done it in a shite league so obviously it's good enough. Tells you alot about the modern football fan: This Turkish kid has a few fancy highlights on YouTube... obviously the next Modric. Gallagher, had a genuinely class season in the hardest league in the world at the age of 21/22... na he's shite. Can we not be sensible for one minute.

We aren't signing 9 players FFS. It will be 4/6, 3 will be proper top class and a couple more to offer us depth.

Take away Kane and Bentancur, they become bang average, even Son isn't what he was. Eric Dier still playing for them baffles me the most. Their goalkeeper is shite, their defence is dreadful, their midfield is pragmatic but without any real quality. Kane really does keep them going.

I've said for a while that I can't see his long term future as a winger. He hasn't the trickery. However, I don't really see him as a traditional playmaker either. I suspect he will end up as a jack of all trades, someone who can slot in anywhere and play the team game. However, if Howe can get him to continue to make the type of run he did yesterday, then he will get goals and we've seen a few times that he can find a cute pass. There's something there with Gordon, I just don't know what and how much or where he best fits in. Loads of questions for Howe to answer but I'd back Eddie to answer them all.

In fairness, this has to be Dan Ashworth Mark II, as much as Brighton have done fantastically well... I don't want the same model here.

From what I gather, transfer fees are largely not an issue for us. As KaKa points out, we can spread their costs out over a few seasons if we like. That said, we don't want to be pissing money up the wall. On the other hand, wages are a fixed budget every year and signing one player like Bruno costs us 6m in wages each year for the length of his contract. Wages is always where the issue is. Getting Shelvey and Wood off our books was massive.

He's got 19 goal contributions in 30 games, so I'm guessing that would have had a detrimental effect on their season but yes they needed a keeper.

He's absolutely class. Shocked by a few comments but that's football I suppose. I've seen a few interviews with him and he comes across quite an articulate lad.. for a footballer. I few on here don't like Grealish for similar reasons. Another class player.

There's an arguement that a full year training with an elite squad will help his development far more than being shipped out to the arse end of nowhere with a shite manager and shite teammates. He's also only 17. He's still got time for a loan move in a years time.

Pressing is a teachable skill. Liverpool signed Wijnaldum from us when the guy looked like the laziest fucker going. Also, going forward if we start ignoring quality players because they might not be able to press the ball like Miggy, we aren't going to progress much. It's a fine line. If we can get Maddison pressing the right areas, then we will reap the rewards. I suppose my wider point is that there aren't that many world class talents who can also press like a demon.