Category: Arsenal Transfer News

Talking tough is good Mari; welcome to the Premiership by Lagos Gooner

It is no longer news that Arteta has succeeded in bringing in his first signing as coach of Arsenal. Just yesterday, Pablo Mari was announced as an Arsenal player. Like other new signings, there are always fears if such signings would click or not. Well, as if Mari was reading the minds of the Arsenal fans, he provided an answer to that, while assuring the fans that Arsenal would compete with the best. Pablo Mari believes that with his performance against Liverpool’s attacking duo of Salah and Mane, he is ready for the premiership.

He told the Arsenal website: “It was a great experience. It was really exciting to play against a big club and I think I performed really well. At the end of the day, they’re just people like everyone else.

‘Obviously they’re in great form at the moment and they’re among the best players in the world, but we also have a fantastic team with top players.. This is football and that’s the way you have to look at it.

‘You have to compete against every side, whether it’s Liverpool or any other club in the world.

‘I have a lot of faith in this great club, Arsenal, and I know we’re going to do very well.”

Well said Mari! Arsenal has a fantastic team and should be ready to contest against any team in the world! This is just the best way to look at it. If we are to analyze Pablo’s words, we will be happy to know that we have just signed a footballer who knows he is coming to Arsenal to work for the team, and would do anything to make the team tick. His encounter in the world club competition against the best team in the league right now, gives him so much confidence to look towards challenging more of the Premiership best.

Mari sounds like a winner who knows how to just win, win and win, he wants to come to the Premiership to shake things up and go head to head, toe to toe with the premiership best, because according to him they just humans doing extra ordinary things. With this type of mentality, we can be sure that we are signing a player who is not afraid to do whatever it takes, to neutralize any danger Arsenal may face against the best teams or the best players. All that is needed right now, is for Mari to be humble, avoid controversies and allow his game to speak for him. Who knows what will happen after his six months loan at Arsenal expires? After six months at Arsenal, the club may be encouraged by his performances to sign him up permanently.

We are Arsenal and we are proud.

Sylvester Kwentua

Henrikh Mkhitaryan hopes Aaron Ramsey ends all speculation on his future here at Arsenal, and becomes a real club legend.

As we all know and have read on a daily basis, Ramsey is no closer to signing a new contract with the club than he was a few months ago when negotiations started.

Nobody knows the full details about the kind of deal Ramsey has been asking for, but it has been rumoured he wants the same kind of deal which Ozil managed to get out of us last February when he literally waited until the very last minute to get a deal done.

The German knew we could not afford to lose another big name after the departure of Alexis Sanchez last January, and got his massive £350,000-a-week contract, which is about £150,000-a-week more than we were initially prepared to offer.

Anyway, whatever the reason for Ramsey not committing his long-term future with the club, Mkhitaryan is hopeful he will put pen to paper and ‘become a legend’ at the Emirates.

Mkhi said on the official website: ‘His work rate is very, very high and everyone appreciates what he does on the pitch and off it, because he’s a true professional.

‘Of course it’s very easy to play next to him because he tries to be everywhere to help the team – to score goals, to assist, to tackle, recover balls – and that’s why I’m going to be very happy if he stays at the club.

‘I think he’s been with the club for 10 years already and it seems that he became a symbol for this club. I will be very happy for him if he signs a new contract because he’s in the history of Arsenal already and I hope he can become a legend for Arsenal after a few more years.’

There are seven days left in the transfer window and with Rambo’s contract running out next summer, we need to wrap up this contract signing soon or decide to cash in and get an adequate replacement.

He may be an important member of the squad and one of our most creative, but just like Ozil he could run down his contract and force the club to offer silly money, as he knows he can get that kind of money elsewhere.

Should we pay whatever he asks?

Granit Xhaka’s performance in the match against Brazil revealed why Lucas Torreira is fundamental to his future with Arsenal FC. The 25-year old player could well enjoy a new lease on life at Arsenal thanks to Torreira’s arrival. Of all the players that could be used as a reference point for how Unai Emery intends to reshape the midfield for Arsenal, Valon Behrami, from Switzerland, is not the most obvious choice. Yet, in the match against Brazil, the former utility man from Watford and West Ham provided a favour to Xhaka that should not be overlooked during the debate as to how to bring out the best in the 25-year old player at the Emirates and he certainly has the right mindset to go far.

The Last Few Weeks Have Been Very Kind

Not that he has been having much difficulty of late. The last few weeks of the season saw him enjoying a rise in consistency and stature as one of the finest performers in the final days of Arsène Wenger’s reign. Punters who support the young player thanks to the online betting NZ makes available will recall that he has been awarded a new contract along with some words of encouragement from Wenger’s successor in the dugout at Arsenal. Emery stated that Xhaka was an important part of the team, and his youth made it possible for him to develop his natural skills even more. It is clear that Emery has big expectations when things settle down after the World Cup.

Xhaka Won’t Be Returning On His Own

Xhaka won’t be the only footballer heading back to Arsenal when the tournament finishes, but, even if you include those already associated with the club, there is set to be another midfielder to wend his way from Russia to North London.

Lucas Torreira, from Uruguay, is likely to become a member of the Gunners, and this could actually be just what the deep-lying playmaker from Switzerland requires in a partner in order to unlock his true potential.

Torreira’s work as a winner of the ball and middle-of-the-park enforcer for Sampdoria has already earned him comparisons to players like N’Golo Kante, but it’s the possible similarity he shares with Behrami, or rather his relationship on the pitch with Xhaka, that will be the most instructive over how he could assist with the creative dreadnought at Arsenal.

Wenger Was Unsure of What to Do With Xhaka

Wenger seemed to be uncertain as to what exactly to do with Xhaka when he first came to Arsenal from Borussia Monchengladbach back in 2016. He had crafted a reputation as an incredible passer in the Bundesliga, as well as one who patrolled the pitch in front of his back-line, collecting and making use of the ball to unleash the players in front of him. But he was not a defensive player, and he was not a holding midfielder. Havard Nordtveit was doing the dirty work, a far more destructive presence in the park’s middle, and while the Norwegian went for it, closing down opponents, Xhaka was able to sit back and dictate play.

This is possibly the hoped for direction that the Torreira/Xhaka partnership is going to be headed in.

The Gunners, for once, made serious strides in the latest transfer window, despite losing star man, Alexis Sanchez. It is certainly a rarity for a team to lose their best player and somehow be better off for it, but that is exactly what Arsenal seem to have managed.

For starters, Sanchez was just six months away from leaving the club for absolutely nothing. And while it’s disappointing that his contract situation got to that stage, to bring in someone in the ilk of Henrikh Mkhitaryan as part of the deal was nothing short of a masterstroke.

Indeed, the Chilean wasn’t the only player to depart the Emirates, with established squad members, Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Francis Coquelin also leaving for a combined fee of around £50 million. So, to lose three fringe players and bring in one of Europe’s most prolific strikers, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in his prime for just a few million more seems an absolute snip.

And then there was the small matter of Mesut Ozil’s shock contract renewal on deadline day, which – in itself – is a huge signing.

Obviously, there is still a long way to go before Arsenal are back at the top of the Premier League challenging for honours. But the shrewd business of January shows they are heading in the right direction.

Of course, the Gunners are in the final of the League Cup against Manchester City, as they hope to end Pep Guardiola’s quadruple hopes and bringing a trophy to the Emirates. But the bigger priority is the not so small matter of the Europa League – which currently represents Arsene Wenger’s best hope of returning the club to the Europe’s premier club competition: the Champions League. Indeed, as of the end of January, Arsenal are at hefty 6/1 in Premier League betting markets to finish in the top four and qualify for the tournament domestically.

Can Aubameyang Return Arsenal to the Champions League?

Alexis Sanchez has led the Arsenal line since joining the club from Barcelona in 2014, but few could have hoped for a replacement at the level of Aubameyang.

Naturally, it is a shame that the pair, along with Ozil, couldn’t have played together in North London. But with a forward line now containing Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang, opposition defences are on full guard. Indeed, the latter had long seemed destined for Real Madrid, having netted a remarkable 141 goals in 213 appearances during his five years in Dortmund.

And it’s not like Arsenal paid over the odds for Aubameyang. By the current market standards, his £57 million price tag is widely agreed to be outstanding value.

But while the pacey Arsenal forward line may have rekindled attention from the league’s elite sides, a defensive rebuild is still required at the Gunners. That said, after years of stagnation in the transfer market, Arsenal have at last made a positive stride forward. So maybe a new back line in the summer isn’t beyond the realms of possibility?

Nevertheless, the one thing that is not in doubt is that Arsenal certainly ‘won’ the 2018 January Transfer Window. Now the big question is; can the Gunners get back to winning major honours?

It is hardly a surprise but Arsenal now have yet another striker leaving the club in this transfer window, as it has been revealed by Belgian media outlet Het Laatste Nieuws that Chuba Akpom has has arrived at Sint-Truidense for a routine medical, before signing a contract that will keep him at the club for the next three years.

Akpom and his father were among the over-17,000 spectators that watched Sint-Truidense draw 1-1 with Racing Genk on Saturday in the Belgian First Division. They are currently in 6th place in the League and they are hoping that Akpom can score goals to help them get back into the European places.

Akpom has actually been at Arsenal for 16 years since he was 6 years old, but despite his great promise in his younger days he has only made 12 appearances for the club and only 4 in the Premier League.

But his senior performances simply never met up to his promise and there are very few Arsenal fans that will miss the youngstr. Maybe he’ll do well in Belgium.

Good luck