Arsenal 2026/27

WeePat said:
Yeah I meant Mosquera starting alongside Gabriel, with Hincapie being the main back up for both CB and LB. White sliding across is a decent idea. I don't rate him anymore though. He fell off completely, maybe it's the injuries but he's nowhere near the level he was 3 years ago. He's alright as a 3rd/4th choice CB though.

Konsa would be a good addition. I get your reservations but he's good, he's experienced and can slot in seamlessly next to Gabriel.
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Yep, I wouldn't be against us signing Konsa, I just think we're gonna get rinsed financially for him.

It will be a bit of a laugh, though. While I'm sure we'll sign a forward at before the window closes, it would be the most Arteta-coded move to respond to our disappointed with failing to sign Vini Jr... by dropping £60m on a CB that can play FB.

It will be the sequel to 25/26... Haramball: Back 2 Back Champs. We're gonna make y'all wish we signed Vini.
 
Daydreamer said:
Yep, I wouldn't be against us signing Konsa, I just think we're gonna get rinsed financially for him.

It will be a bit of a laugh, though. While I'm sure we'll sign a forward at before the window closes, it would be the most Arteta-coded move to respond to our disappointed with failing to sign Vini Jr... by dropping £60m on a CB that can play FB.

It will be the sequel to 25/26... Haramball: Back 2 Back Champs. We're gonna make y'all wish we signed Vini.
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You're gonna spend £140m on Konsa and Neto and you're gonna love it :lol:

Honestly Tzolis looks a sneaky good pick up. I understand the clamour for a big marquee attacker on the left, and I think you do need that but it might not be a disaster if you don't get one.
 
WeePat said:
You're gonna spend £140m on Konsa and Neto and you're gonna love it :lol:

Honestly Tzolis looks a sneaky good pick up. I understand the clamour for a big marquee attacker on the left, and I think you do need that but it might not be a disaster if you don't get one.
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It's looking like you may well sell Neto to City. You ability to extract money out of other clubs needs to be studied.

I'd much rather Acheampong for our annual contribution to Chelsea's coffers. What's his path looking like?
 
Daydreamer said:
It's looking like you may well sell Neto to City. You ability to extract money out of other clubs needs to be studied.

I'd much rather Acheampong for our annual contribution to Chelsea's coffers. What's his path looking like?
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Chelsea say Acheampong untouchable but his path to consistent minutes is currently blocked. Ideally he goes on loan to Palace or Bournemouth and just work on getting 2000-2500 mins under his belt in the prem, but I'm slightly worried that he just says, feck it l want to leave permanently.
 
WeePat said:
Chelsea say Acheampong untouchable but his path to consistent minutes is currently blocked. Ideally he goes on loan to Palace or Bournemouth and just work on getting 2000-2500 mins under his belt in the prem, but I'm slightly worried that he just says, feck it l want to leave permanently.
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Rumour is Alonso wanted anselmino in the squad more than acheampong. More likely Coventry city will take acheampong on loan in my opinion. Lampard tried to get him on loan last January itself.
 
Dave Smith said:
I reckon they end up nicking Barcola.
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I would not mind this. His asking price is insane, though. If he actually goes for £140m, I want no part of that.

The market has got so overheated that I caught myself thinking, ‘It would be good if we could nab him for £100m’. “Nab him”?!?“For £100m”?!?

The only way this end is if clubs start refusing to pay. And to be honest, there aren’t many available options out there that would be significantly better than Eze at LW.

I’d like Barcola, Torres or Williams - but they each have their drawbacks.
 
Sometimes I watch Barcola play, and I am not overly convinced he is a better option than Martinelli. Maybe a bit better but I see a little bit of a brainless player in there too. There are so many great attacking players at PSG, that it's hard to tell how well he would do in a less productive environment.
 
Changeisgood said:
Sometimes I watch Barcola play, and I am not overly convinced he is a better option than Martinelli. Maybe a bit better but I see a little bit of a brainless player in there too. There are so many great attacking players at PSG, that it's hard to tell how well he would do in a less productive environment.
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I have the same fear. I think it helps that Barcola is used to a physical league and encountering low blocks. But I do worry that for someone turning 24 in three weeks, his game is not that much more developed that Martinelli's is.
 
Daydreamer said:
I would not mind this. His asking price is insane, though. If he actually goes for £140m, I want no part of that.

The market has got so overheated that I caught myself thinking, ‘It would be good if we could nab him for £100m’. “Nab him”?!?“For £100m”?!?

The only way this end is if clubs start refusing to pay. And to be honest, there aren’t many available options out there that would be significantly better than Eze at LW.

I’d like Barcola, Torres or Williams - but they each have their drawbacks.
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Yeah, drop in the ocean :nervous:
 
On paper, and probably on the field, Arsenal look rock solid at goalkeeper, defence and midfield. That makes them title favourites. The attack is not at the same level.

Wenger never retained the title so that is something for Arteta to aim for.
 
surf said:
On paper, and probably on the field, Arsenal look rock solid at goalkeeper, defence and midfield. That makes them title favourites. The attack is not at the same level.

Wenger never retained the title so that is something for Arteta to aim for.
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We haven't retained a title since the 1930's! :o
 
Daydreamer said:
I'd like Konsa, but not for the £60m he'd cost. I'd rather we sign a RB and free up White to cover CB like you said. Hopefully if we don't have to play him through injury and he doesn't have to make the type of runs we require our FBs to make, his body will hold up a lot better.
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Feels like after the Rogers miss you're going to spend the last few weeks trolling us with derisory bids. We certainly will be wanting 50m + given his importance to our team and regular starts for England.

Also a bit surprised. I presume Mosquera was signed as RCB rather than endlessly playing at RB so after a year settling in you'd think he'd be trusted now to play regularly at centre back. Ben White also still there who can cover.

Saliba also not having an operation so I presume the prediction is he might return in October after the first break. There are five prem games and one CL match before so hardly a situation where you are desperate to get in another CB really.

Am guessing though Arteta thinks Timber is still broken so he's going to be using CBs at RB for foresseable future.
 
FootballHQ said:
Feels like after the Rogers miss you're going to spend the last few weeks trolling us with derisory bids. We certainly will be wanting 50m + given his importance to our team and regular starts for England.

Also a bit surprised. I presume Mosquera was signed as RCB rather than endlessly playing at RB so after a year settling in you'd think he'd be trusted now to play regularly at centre back. Ben White also still there who can cover.

Saliba also not having an operation so I presume the prediction is he might return in October after the first break. There are five prem games and one CL match before so hardly a situation where you are desperate to get in another CB really.

Am guessing though Arteta thinks Timber is still broken so he's going to be using CBs at RB for foresseable future.
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Arteta isn't going to miss an opportunity to sign a CB. It's honestly baffling, it feels like the perfect opportunity to sign an attacking full back and use our CBs as CBs
 
Daydreamer said:
I would not mind this. His asking price is insane, though. If he actually goes for £140m, I want no part of that.

The market has got so overheated that I caught myself thinking, ‘It would be good if we could nab him for £100m’. “Nab him”?!?“For £100m”?!?

The only way this end is if clubs start refusing to pay. And to be honest, there aren’t many available options out there that would be significantly better than Eze at LW.

I’d like Barcola, Torres or Williams - but they each have their drawbacks.
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Ah yes you got linked to Williams before
 
surf said:
On paper, and probably on the field, Arsenal look rock solid at goalkeeper, defence and midfield. That makes them title favourites. The attack is not at the same level.

Wenger never retained the title so that is something for Arteta to aim for.
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I remember people said something similar about Liverpool last summer after they won the title and added Isak and Wirtz. Every new season is a new start. Last season you fought for a top 4 spot, next season you may finish in bottom half of the table just like Chelsea and Spurs.
 
ThierryHenry14 said:
I remember people said something similar about Liverpool last summer after they won the title and added Isak and Wirtz. Every new season is a new start. Last season you fought for a top 4 spot, next season you may finish in bottom half of the table just like Chelsea and Spurs.
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Thanks for that confidence boost
 
The way Arteta has built this team, we will at times struggle to win things but we will not fall too far because of our solidity at the back, in goal and defensively in midfield. We will struggle to score goals, but we wont give many up. It wont surprise me to see us drop out of the top 4 in goals scored but it would surprise me if we dont finish on top in terms of allowing the least amount of goals in. I think we are finishing in the top 2 again. ...unless both City and Pool really get going.
 
Can't Calafiori play CB too? Sure he played there in Italy and for Italy.

A better LB probably, but I'm sure he can slot in there if need be so you have Gabriel, Mosquera, White, Hincapie and Calafiori who can all play there and Saliba of course.
 
SambaBoy said:
Can't Calafiori play CB too? Sure he played there in Italy and for Italy.

A better LB probably, but I'm sure he can slot in there if need be so you have Gabriel, Mosquera, White, Hincapie and Calafiori who can all play there and Saliba of course.
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And Timber. Arteta loves buying defenders who are comfortable at CB and FB. I’m pretty sure he’s bought at least one every year for the last five years.
 
We have enough cover at CB. We really dont need to purchase a temporary option. But yes Arteta likes to make sure with defensive positions. Just hope Konsa doesn't cost too much.
 
Changeisgood said:
We have enough cover at CB. We really dont need to purchase a temporary option. But yes Arteta likes to make sure with defensive positions. Just hope Konsa doesn't cost too much.
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But we don't really, or depends on what you view the RB options as.

RB: Timber, White
CB: Saliba, Gabriel, Mosquera
LB: Calafiori, Hincapie

We're 1 body short anyway, then you factor in Timber, White and Calafiori are made of glass and Saliba is out for who knows, could be months.

We needed a body even before the Saliba news, now we definently need a body and a good one too. I'd lean towards maybe a RB now and transition White back into a CB, but could be a CB who can play RB too.
 
Nish115 said:
But we don't really, or depends on what you view the RB options as.

RB: Timber, White
CB: Saliba, Gabriel, Mosquera
LB: Calafiori, Hincapie

We're 1 body short anyway, then you factor in Timber, White and Calafiori are made of glass and Saliba is out for who knows, could be months.

We needed a body even before the Saliba news, now we definently need a body and a good one too. I'd lean towards maybe a RB now and transition White back into a CB, but could be a CB who can play RB too.
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White was pretty reliable until recently. All these guys can play centrally. We could also play MLS at LB, Saka even started his career there and Rice/Mosquera if desperate at RB, can fill in. We have had problems keeping our designated FBs healthy as of late, so I get what you are saying. But things were way thinner 4 years ago.

I dont think it's necessary. Saliba from what I am hearing should not be out too too long. We have managed in the past with other members of the squad addressing temporary shortcomings.
 
Changeisgood said:
White was pretty reliable until recently. All these guys can play centrally. We could also play MLS at LB, Saka even started his career there and Rice/Mosquera if desperate at RB, can fill in. We have had problems keeping our designated FBs healthy as of late, so I get what you are saying. But things were way thinner 4 years ago.

I dont think it's necessary. Saliba from what I am hearing should not be out too too long. We have managed in the past with other members of the squad addressing temporary shortcomings.
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Nothing wrong with having 8 defenders seeing as MLS is moving back into midfield. It would be stupid to be caught short at the back having known about Saliba’s absence for so long.
 
I must be the only on here that thinks we have more pressing concerns. If we spend 60 more on Konsa, that puts our total spending at 170 mil. And we have not addressed anything concrete in evolving our stagnant attack. Odegaard hasn't been good in 2 years. He was decent at the WC, so I have some hope. Saka by his standards was pretty poor, and we have effectively traded our best attacker last year in Trossard, for a guy from the Belgian league who may or may not work out. We have Havertz who cannot stay healthy at the moment and Gyok upfront. Neither are that good from the start. At what point are we focussing on our attack which requires a lot more help, than squad luxuries?
 
Changeisgood said:
I must be the only on here that thinks we have more pressing concerns. If we spend 60 more on Konsa, that puts our total spending at 170 mil. And we have not addressed anything concrete in evolving our stagnant attack. Odegaard hasn't been good in 2 years. He was decent at the WC, so I have some hope. Saka by his standards was pretty poor, and we have effectively traded our best attacker last year in Trossard, for a guy from the Belgian league who may or may not work out. We have Havertz who cannot stay healthy at the moment and Gyok upfront. Neither are that good from the start. At what point are we focussing on our attack which requires a lot more help, than squad luxuries?
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Our first offer was reportedly a little over half of that £60m (so likely around £35m). And all the reporting for months (even before Saliba’s injury) have said a defender would be in addition to a forward. So it isn’t either/or.

In that case, why wouldn’t we want to have two players for each position with Saliba out long term and Califiori, White and Timber all injury concerns? I’m trying to see the advantage in that, what am I missing?
 
Daydreamer said:
Our first offer was reportedly a little over half of that £60m (so likely around £35m). And all the reporting for months (even before Saliba’s injury) have said a defender would be in addition to a forward. So it isn’t either/or.

In that case, why wouldn’t we want to have two players for each position with Saliba out long term and Califiori, White and Timber all injury concerns? I’m trying to see the advantage in that, what am I missing?
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We aren't any weaker here than last year though and we were fine then. I actually forgot about Hincapie whose transfer fee hits up this year's budget, so even if we get Konsa for 50 mil, we are already at 200. I am the one who is missing something...was our attack the part that was working well last year?
 
Changeisgood said:
We aren't any weaker here than last year though and we were fine then. I actually forgot about Hincapie whose transfer fee hits up this year's budget, so even if we get Konsa for 50 mil, we are already at 200. I am the one who is missing something...was our attack the part that was working well last year?
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But we are quite a bit weaker?

We've lost Timber being reliable, Saliba is out for a while, and MLS has proven he can't really play as a LB anymore and is a midfielder. Effectively we've lost one player, would be crazy not to sign another defender, find it odd to not think that really.

We have the money for a defender and a forward anyway, but if anything i'd say a defender is more pressing than another forward right now unless the forward is a proper needle mover/world class or high end potential player.
 
Changeisgood said:
We aren't any weaker here than last year though and we were fine then. I actually forgot about Hincapie whose transfer fee hits up this year's budget, so even if we get Konsa for 50 mil, we are already at 200. I am the one who is missing something...was our attack the part that was working well last year?
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Saliba is out for months and MLS is moving back into midfield. So yes, we’re quite a bit weaker there. And no one is saying don’t upgrade the attack, neither myself, others in this thread or any media reports.

I feel there’s been some crossed wires here, so to be ultra clear, my question is why would we not want to sign a defender in addition to a forward? How would that be advantageous?

EDIT - I’ve just seen that @Nish115 said pretty much the same thing in their post above. I thought I was going crazy for a second.
 
But we are expecting Saliba and Timber back in the first half of the season, likely by November. Look, in an ideal world I dont mind these transfers. Who doesnt want depth? But looking at how things went, especially in the second half of the season, every game virtually was a down to the wire thing. We lucked out a bunch of times because our attack just never got going. We scored probably an average of 1 goal per game in the last 2 months.

When we won, other than having the joy of winning and our CL run, I thought...great we are going to have a little extra to boost our attack. The large majority of our transfer budget would go to two attacking players. We are not getting that. We will have spent 200 mil already, before getting even scratching at that. And seeing how expensive the available options are out there, I am not even sure we are getting one key signing at all. We are nearing the start of the season, and I am seeing completely opposite priorities to what I would have hoped or even expected. Maybe there are going to be last minute wheeling and dealing but so far, other than the Vinicius fun, this has been very underwhelming.
 
Changeisgood said:
But we are expecting Saliba and Timber back in the first half of the season, likely by November. Look, in an ideal world I dont mind these transfers. Who doesnt want depth? But looking at how things went, especially in the second half of the season, every game virtually was a down to the wire thing. We lucked out a bunch of times because our attack just never got going. We scored probably an average of 1 goal per game in the last 2 months.

When we won, other than having the joy of winning and our CL run, I thought...great we are going to have a little extra to boost our attack. The large majority of our transfer budget would go to two attacking players. We are not getting that. We will have spent 200 mil already, before getting even scratching at that. And seeing how expensive the available options are out there, I am not even sure we are getting one key signing at all. We are nearing the start of the season, and I am seeing completely opposite priorities to what I would have hoped or even expected. Maybe there are going to be last minute wheeling and dealing but so far, other than the Vinicius fun, this has been very underwhelming.
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Whilst it's pre-season, I hope you're watching this game and if so it should answer why we need another defender.
 
Nish115 said:
Whilst it's pre-season, I hope you're watching this game and if so it should answer why we need another defender.
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Agreed.

I can't believe Gyokeres didn't stay on his feet, there. That is really disappointing. Why is his instinct to go down when the contact is incredibly minor and you have the ball in perfect striking position in behind the defender?
 
Changeisgood said:
I think that can also be said at the other end?
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I really don't think you understand what everyone is saying.

It's not, a defender or an attacker, it's both.

We desperately need both, it's just the pool of defenders is much larger than the pool of elite attackers, which is very small and overpriced.
 
Only twice did we get more than 1 goal in the last two months of the season....and in one the result was meaningless. That should tell a story. 12 games...ok I am moving on....it seems obvious to me but I guess I am in the minority!

May 30, 2026 (UCL Final): PSG 1–1 Arsenal (Arsenal won 4–3 on penalties)May 24, 2026: Crystal Palace 1–2 Arsenal May 18, 2026: Arsenal 1–0 Burnley May 10, 2026: West Ham United 0–1 Arsenal May 5, 2026 (UCL Semi-final): Arsenal 1–0 Atlético Madrid May 2, 2026: Arsenal 3–0 Fulham April 29, 2026 (UCL Semi-final): Atlético Madrid 1–1 Arsenal April 25, 2026: Arsenal 1–0 Newcastle United April 19, 2026: Manchester City 2–1 Arsenal April 15, 2026 (UCL Quarter-final): Arsenal 0–0 Sporting CPApril 11, 2026: Arsenal 1–2 AFC Bournemouth April 7, 2026 (UCL Quarter-final): Sporting CP 0–1 Arsenal
 
Daydreamer said:
But no one is saying not to buy a forward (or two). Why do you keep ignoring that? It's really odd.
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But we are not getting anything concrete there. I am not sure what our exact budget is, but at 200 mil we have blown at least two thirds of it.
 
Nish115 said:
I really don't think you understand what everyone is saying.

It's not, a defender or an attacker, it's both.

We desperately need both, it's just the pool of defenders is much larger than the pool of elite attackers, which is very small and overpriced.
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And that's why I wanted to see attackers in first! We wont be able to maneuver here.
 
Changeisgood said:
Only twice did we get more than 1 goal in the last two months of the season....and in one the result was meaningless. That should tell a story. 12 games...ok I am moving on....it seems obvious to me but I guess I am in the minority!

May 30, 2026 (UCL Final): PSG 1–1 Arsenal (Arsenal won 4–3 on penalties)May 24, 2026: Crystal Palace 1–2 Arsenal May 18, 2026: Arsenal 1–0 Burnley May 10, 2026: West Ham United 0–1 Arsenal May 5, 2026 (UCL Semi-final): Arsenal 1–0 Atlético Madrid May 2, 2026: Arsenal 3–0 Fulham April 29, 2026 (UCL Semi-final): Atlético Madrid 1–1 Arsenal April 25, 2026: Arsenal 1–0 Newcastle United April 19, 2026: Manchester City 2–1 Arsenal April 15, 2026 (UCL Quarter-final): Arsenal 0–0 Sporting CPApril 11, 2026: Arsenal 1–2 AFC Bournemouth April 7, 2026 (UCL Quarter-final): Sporting CP 0–1 Arsenal
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I really don't understand you.

Who cares about last season?

This season, we've lost Saliba for a good chunk, Timber is still injured, MSL is a midfielder. Last season is massively irrelevent.
 
Changeisgood said:
And that's why I wanted to see attackers in first! We wont be able to maneuver here.
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Great, what attacker do you want to see :confused:

We tried for Vini. Beyond that, there's barely anyone suitable.
 
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