Unai Emery

[swipe right]

Buy Harry Macquire, Goncalo Guedes and Kieran Tiermey or f-off. That’s all I gotta say about that.

[EliteKiller]

This summer needs to be a big statement from Emery. Already some fan's questioning him, let's be honest some were hating him on the day he joined so we ignore those. But the end of season collapse and Europa League final result, did him no favors with some fans. He needs to really make a statement, getting rid of the deadwood and bringing in signings that will give us some hope. I'm not expecting big names but players with a ton of potential and Premier League quality will do for this season. He needs to stamp his style over this team come the start of next season.

What I honestly think will happen, he sign probably 3 players of decent quality for CB, Winger and a player who can play LB or RB, won't get the fan's excited and will probably put pressure on Emery before the season starts. He probably bring through three or four youth players, I'm sure the board will be pushing him to do it more so then him and that's why Freddie is on the staff. He get rid of one or two of the dross from the squad but I don't think the squad will be too different from last season's to be brutally honest. First run of bad results and he be straight under pressure.

I think he needs CB of top quality and leadership qualities, even another new CB wouldn't go amiss imo. First team LB, a decent back up at RB. A replacement for Ramsey and a top quality winger. I'd even think a third choice Striker on the cheap would be another I'd look for. 7 players at most. He probably needs to get rid of the likes of Mustafi, Elneny, Jenko, Kos for definitive. Even trying to get rid Of Xhaka or Sead if he can. I don't think Ozil will budge. If he can do that I think he can be on for at least getting himself a chance at top 4.

If only .... think you're spot on but you ignore the elephant(s) in the room. With bugger all (in football terms) transfer budget Emery can't go out and get 3 players of decent quality, or indeed 3 or 4 decent youth players ...

Three players of decent quality - that's 120m all day long and even then you're talking tier two players ...

Decent 18/19 year old players are 20m and more ... there are some ridiculous numbers Sancho >100m, Zaniolo 60m, Junior 55m but even ignoring those the best of the rest are still all over 20m - Kean, Hudos-Odoi, Foden, Kamara, Lafont, Porro, Konate, N'Dicka, Sessegnon we won't get any of those for South of 20m and probably a whole lot more ...

So what to do? well it sounds simple we just have to sell before we can buy ....

Emery has to raise funds, that means getting rid off some or all from Ozil, Mkhi, Elneny, Ospina (done), Mustafi, Chambers, Jenkinson ... do that and your strategy makes admirable sense ... the problem is that so far nobody wants to pay the fees or the salaries for our rejects ...

Start selling the crown jewels Auba, Lacca, Torr and what are we left with?

[theHotHead]

EK, Torreira didn't cost anywhere near £40m. It can be done, there are plenty of good players out there at affordable prices.

[EliteKiller]

EK, Torreira didn't cost anywhere near £40m. It can be done, there are plenty of good players out there at affordable prices.

Name them ... if you think that any club ours included is going to keep finding a stream of cheap players with no other club bidding ... you're sadly deluded ... those days died with the dawn of the social media age ...

Torreira for 40m ... probably about right ... at 23 with a year's EPL experience he's now worth 55m ... but to replace him would cost us 70m ...

The notion that with every single club in Europe now scouting kids from six year's old that somehow Arsenal are going to find a string of hidden gems ... not going to happen ... these are the players we've signed to Arsenal FC Youth since 2011 ... how are they all doing ...

O'Connor, Boadu, Hinds, Okoflex, Kwateng, Beckford, Beckham, Patino, Clarke, Virginia, Laing, Flores

It's very hard to unearth hidden gems which is why EPL sides have perhaps one or two players they've developed in house many have none at all .... even bringing in the best and the brightest from lower divisions academies is no guarantee of success ... we have an excellent youth development system but it's never going to do more than generate players to sell and the odd superstar ...

[theHotHead]

EK, Torreira didn't cost anywhere near £40m. It can be done, there are plenty of good players out there at affordable prices.

Name them ... if you think that any club ours included is going to keep finding a stream of cheap players with no other club bidding ... you're sadly deluded ... those days died with the dawn of the social media age ...

Torreira for 40m ... probably about right ... at 23 with a year's EPL experience he's now worth 55m ... but to replace him would cost us 70m ...

The notion that with every single club in Europe now scouting kids from six year's old that somehow Arsenal are going to find a string of hidden gems ... not going to happen ... these are the players we've signed to Arsenal FC Youth since 2011 ... how are they all doing ...

O'Connor, Boadu, Hinds, Okoflex, Kwateng, Beckford, Beckham, Patino, Clarke, Virginia, Laing, Flores

It's very hard to unearth hidden gems which is why EPL sides have perhaps one or two players they've developed in house many have none at all .... even bringing in the best and the brightest from lower divisions academies is no guarantee of success ... we have an excellent youth development system but it's never going to do more than generate players to sell and the odd superstar ...

Oh leave off, I don't follow football closely enough to name players, I had never even heard of Leno or Torreira when we bought them. The point is ..... they were available last season and other clubs don't seem to have difficulty finding decent players at bargain/reasonable prices, so why should I not believe the same cannot be done this season?

[EliteKiller]

Oh leave off, I don't follow football closely enough to name players, I had never even heard of Leno or Torreira when we bought them. The point is ..... they were available last season and other clubs don't seem to have difficulty finding decent players at bargain/reasonable prices, so why should I not believe the same cannot be done this season?

Hmmmmm the fact you don't know players is on you - Leno (26) was at the time the 6th most expensive keeper transfer ever ... he had six German caps and 230 Bundesliga appearances .... we got him because the Don payed top dollar ...

Torreira (22) had just played in all five of Uruguay's world cup matches ... you know the World Cup you heard of that?

The point is we paid top price at that time for quality players, not for a couple of unknown youth players, if we wanted to buy the 6th most expensive keeper now that would be 35m .... a 22 year old world cup international probably >50m ....

So good value sure, bargain/reasonable prices ... that's just a question of how much you've got .....

[theHotHead]

Well you just made my point for me !!

Leno - 6th most expensive keeper transfer, has German caps, only cost us £22.3m according to Transfermkt.com
Torreira - Argentina international and key player in last World Cup, only cost us £26.7m
Sokratis - established defender at B. Dortmund, only cost us £14.2m.

None of these purchases were anywhere near £40m and we managed 3 of them. Surely there are more players we can get. You called it top price, no its not ! How is £26.7m top price for a good DM ? Look what we paid for Xhaka who was hardly regarded as a good CM. We bought these players last year, not 3-5 years ago, we can pay the same money this year for decent players.

[EliteKiller]

Well you just made my point for me !!

Leno - 6th most expensive keeper transfer, has German caps, only cost us £22.3m according to Transfermkt.com
Torreira - Argentina international and key player in last World Cup, only cost us £26.7m
Sokratis - established defender at B. Dortmund, only cost us £14.2m.

None of these purchases were anywhere near £40m and we managed 3 of them. Surely there are more players we can get. You called it top price, not its not ! How is £26.7m top price for a good DM ? Look what we paid for Xhaka who was hardly regarded as a good CM. We bought these players last year, not 3-5 years ago, we can pay the same money this year for decent players.

Jesus H ... what bit about "that was a year ago" do you not get .... I can name you fifty players who have all inceased massively in value since last summer so what ...

The point is can you now but the 6th highest rated goalkeeper for 22m? ... can you now buy a World Cup midfielder for 27m? or can you now buy any of last year's players for the same price .... I say not a chance ... but go ahead list me a few decent players we can buy for that same money, always happy to be proven wrong .....

[Power n Glory]

Well you just made my point for me !!

Leno - 6th most expensive keeper transfer, has German caps, only cost us £22.3m according to Transfermkt.com
Torreira - Argentina international and key player in last World Cup, only cost us £26.7m
Sokratis - established defender at B. Dortmund, only cost us £14.2m.

None of these purchases were anywhere near £40m and we managed 3 of them. Surely there are more players we can get. You called it top price, not its not ! How is £26.7m top price for a good DM ? Look what we paid for Xhaka who was hardly regarded as a good CM. We bought these players last year, not 3-5 years ago, we can pay the same money this year for decent players.

Jesus H ... what bit about "that was a year ago" do you not get .... I can name you fifty players who have all inceased massively in value since last summer so what ...

The point is can you now but the 6th highest rated goalkeeper for 22m? ... can you now buy a World Cup midfielder for 27m? or can you now buy any of last year's players for the same price .... I say not a chance ... but go ahead list me a few decent players we can buy for that same money, always happy to be proven wrong .....

It makes zero sense to make such an assumption whilst the window is still open, the season hasn't kicked off and we're still waiting to see who goes where and who is any good.

[EliteKiller]

It makes zero sense to make such an assumption whilst the window is still open, the season hasn't kicked off and we're still waiting to see who goes where and who is any good.

Fair enough ... so it must equally make zero sense whilst the window is still open, the season hasn't kicked off and we're still waiting to see who goes where and who is any good, to claim that we can but top class players for a packet of magic beans ...

The market is what it is, just as it was when we spent 101m, 137m and 73m the problem is that's all been spent and we are now the team with no money, no CL, and according to some (not me) a manager who's shite .... getting great players on the cheap when the likes of B'mouth, Wolves, Leicester even West Spam have bigger budgets? Can we reasonably expect that to happen?

[swipe right]

Oh leave off, I don't follow football closely enough to name players, I had never even heard of Leno or Torreira when we bought them. The point is ..... they were available last season and other clubs don't seem to have difficulty finding decent players at bargain/reasonable prices, so why should I not believe the same cannot be done this season?

Hmmmmm the fact you don't know players is on you - Leno (26) was at the time the 6th most expensive keeper transfer ever ... he had six German caps and 230 Bundesliga appearances .... we got him because the Don payed top dollar ...

Torreira (22) had just played in all five of Uruguay's world cup matches ... you know the World Cup you heard of that?

The point is we paid top price at that time for quality players, not for a couple of unknown youth players, if we wanted to buy the 6th most expensive keeper now that would be 35m .... a 22 year old world cup international probably >50m ....

So good value sure, bargain/reasonable prices ... that's just a question of how much you've got .....

You do talk some nonsense don’t you.

[Power n Glory]

It makes zero sense to make such an assumption whilst the window is still open, the season hasn't kicked off and we're still waiting to see who goes where and who is any good.

Fair enough ... so it must equally make zero sense whilst the window is still open, the season hasn't kicked off and we're still waiting to see who goes where and who is any good, to claim that we can but top class players for a packet of magic beans ...

The market is what it is, just as it was when we spent 101m, 137m and 73m the problem is that's all been spent and we are now the team with no money, no CL, and according to some (not me) a manager who's shite .... getting great players on the cheap when the likes of B'mouth, Wolves, Leicester even West Spam have bigger budgets? Can we reasonably expect that to happen?

It's still nonsense. The markets the market but it can't predict player development or growth. Undervalued players that go for cheap are what they are because sometimes they are playing under the wrong coach, system, or they just haven't had that environment that boosts their confidence. That's why it's called 'undervalued'.

You can't name all the players that have run down their contract and on their last year or the the ones that have had a dodgy season but actually have potential. We're not the only ones out there doing bad business and mismanagement.

[theHotHead]

Well you just made my point for me !!

Leno - 6th most expensive keeper transfer, has German caps, only cost us £22.3m according to Transfermkt.com
Torreira - Argentina international and key player in last World Cup, only cost us £26.7m
Sokratis - established defender at B. Dortmund, only cost us £14.2m.

None of these purchases were anywhere near £40m and we managed 3 of them. Surely there are more players we can get. You called it top price, not its not ! How is £26.7m top price for a good DM ? Look what we paid for Xhaka who was hardly regarded as a good CM. We bought these players last year, not 3-5 years ago, we can pay the same money this year for decent players.

Jesus H ... what bit about "that was a year ago" do you not get .... I can name you fifty players who have all inceased massively in value since last summer so what ...

The point is can you now but the 6th highest rated goalkeeper for 22m? ... can you now buy a World Cup midfielder for 27m? or can you now buy any of last year's players for the same price .... I say not a chance ... but go ahead list me a few decent players we can buy for that same money, always happy to be proven wrong .....

Since when did a players cost determine how good he is? So Is Xhaka better than Torreira? Is Allison 3x better than Leno? Silly argument. When Bale became the most expensive player in the world was he the best player in the world? Not even close!

So with that in mind my point is this; we bought a good young keeper with big potential for £25m for argument's sake. We bought a good young DM with big potential for £28m. This transfer window there will be plenty of good young players with big potential for similar sums. Why you are looking at what Leno and Torreira would now cost if we were to buy them is irrelevant. We should be looking for your Lenos and Torreiras of last season, at last season's prices - or very close to them.

[EliteKiller]

Since when did a players cost determine how good he is? So Is Xhaka better than Torreira? Is Allison 3x better than Leno? Silly argument. When Bale became the most expensive player in the world was he the best player in the world? Not even close!

So with that in mind my point is this; we bought a good young keeper with big potential for £25m for argument's sake. We bought a good young DM with big potential for £28m. This transfer window there will be plenty of good young players with big potential for similar sums. Why you are looking at what Leno and Torreira would now cost if we were to buy them is irrelevant. We should be looking for your Lenos and Torreiras of last season, at last season's prices - or very close to them.

Since the dawn of time ... the most expensive players Messi and Ronaldo ... the best players Messi and Ronaldo ... need I go on?

A player's value is entirely based on his performance, the older he is the more reliable that is ... what you're talking about is finding a player with potential that nobody else has seen ... what I'm saying is that is extremely difficult, for every 'bargain' success you put up I can counter with a 'bargain' failure ... we did well last year no question and let's hope we can do the same this year ... but keep it real, player value is a direct correlation to player ability, the skill is in spotting the future potential ..... and the best guy at that job just left us ....

[theHotHead]

I knew you would make that comment even though I made it perfectly clear what I meant, you had to go for a cheap rebuttle!!

Of course ultimately the price of a player "should" determine how good they are, but given I explained my point - that shit players have cost considerably more than good players - the point made is the cost of a player DOES NOT necessarily determine how good they are.

So now can we move back to the point I made which is, we bought good players for far less than the going rate for good players, last season, why do you think we cannot do the same this season? Every single year bargains are found by clubs, why should it not be the case that the same is true for this season EK?

Its not potential that nobody else has seen! You quoted 2 players that had played for their countries, that we bought for below market rates, Leno and Torreira, as you alluded to, they were not unknown players.