Rate the window out of 10.

6, maybe 7. It’s nowhere near as bad as some are making out. We came 3rd last year, it’s not like we needed the overhaul Tottenham did. We strengthened the most pressing area and got ourselves a more reliable back up keeper. We have five very decent centre backs, we just need to keep them fit and find the right combination but numbers wise we don’t need more. A left back would have helped but Dorgu can cover and he will get the nod against the quicker wingers. Up top I would have liked one more but Rashford, Sesko and Zirkzee should be enough.
 
5... We still have one senior left back and one out and out striker.

The noise now coming out that we have "cover" from other areas, that can fill in there is amateurish. As though injuries or the need to rotate magically won't happen.

If your back up right back, plays left back, we're then short at right back too... Oh wait, Yoro can play there - we'll then be short at centre back. Great plan.
 
mctrials23 said:
Christ you lot are depressing. We've sorted out our midfield for the foreseeable future in all likelihood and we have a great attacking unit. Defence needs work but if we had bought a LB it would easily be an 8/10 window. People giving it a 3 are mental.
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We might have sorted it we might not, a lot probably rests on Baleba who has a high ceiling but a low floor. You rarely fix problems with 100% hit rate.

For me it’s a 5 out of ten, the only first team player sold was Rasmus, fees for younger players sold were all on the lower side.

But Darlow is a good backup, we got the 3 midfielders, two who could be very good players but may require time and Tielemans is a really good signing. Failing to sign a LB or any defender is a big concern though.
 
5/10

We’ve ‘rebuilt’ the midfield at the cost of not addressing any other areas and I’m not even sure if the rebuild is good enough. Tielemans has looked poor in his first few games and I’m sure will improve. Really not sure what Santos offers to be perfectly honest. Baleba on form has massive potential so remains to be seen if he can get back to that level.

I guess if we’d have gone big on the midfield with guaranteed top quality and thus had no money left over for others I could be happy enough with that. But it seems like we kept the budget tight on the midfield and then also just spent nothing in other areas. Disappointing.
 
4/10.

Going into the window absolutely nobody would have said CM was the only position we needed to strengthen, yet it is the only position we strengthened. That in itself is very bad.

And the midfield strengthening itself comes with caveats. Fine signings individually, but we obviously missed out on preferred targets, Santos and Baleba have a lot to prove off the back of seasons that few here were enticed by, and we're heavily dependent on one player to add the athleticism other PL clubs are leaning into with their squad building. An ideal midfield rebuild it wasn't.

In terms of outgoings, we failed to generate a decent fee for anyone in a summer in which notional rivals were able to sell relatively mediocre players for big fees. We're stuck with the financial drain that is Rashford for another season, and didn't manage to shift Zirkzee despite him having been obviously available for months.

It would take very little to go wrong for this to be a squad that deservedly finishes outside the CL places. And while I have doubts about Carrick, I don't think he's been set up to succeed.
 
Robindinho said:
5... We still have one senior left back and one out and out striker.

The noise now coming out that we have "cover" from other areas, that can fill in there is amateurish. As though injuries or the need to rotate magically won't happen.

If your back up right back, plays left back, we're then short at right back too... Oh wait, Yoro can play there - we'll then be short at centre back. Great plan.
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The thing is, we have a lot of defencers. 2x RBs, 5x CBs, 2x LBs (inc. Amass). Then you have potentially 3 further players that could play at LB in Dorgu, Dalot and Maz. If Carrick manages minutes well then we have enough to not be too troubled, though we will likely come up short in CL and PL eventually. In my opinion there's no reason to not do better than last season.
 
If we were to rate it on the spot, it's a 4 out of 10 for the obvious reasons, no LB, no CB, no ST.

But, on the other side, we addressed an area needing addressing for 10 years and that being the midfield.

For a club with no money to spend, they strengthened where needed most. For the others to happen I think Zirkzee and Rashford needed to go and that obviously didn't happen.
 
I'd currently say a 5 out of 10.

LB is a real issue for me, and while I do like each of the midfielders we have on the individual level I do worry about the balance between them. If they do work out and we have multiple good combinations between them then this becomes more of a 7/10 window. If my worries come to pass and we struggle to get the right balance of physicality and skill in the middle of the park (not helped by the lack of athleticism in the backline) then it may drop down to a 3 or 4 out of 10 window. Only time will tell, so fingers crossed it'll be the former.

I do think the unfortunate timing of the Ugarte injury, combined with Rashford and (to a lesser extent) Zirkzee staying did create issues in generating funds to put back into the squad. If we'd been able to shift at least two of them I expect we'd have signed either a LB or another attacker.
 
A 5 or 6. Not sure about the Baleba signing, last season he didn't look great. Tielemans was a smart pickup I think. Santos, not really sure but could be good. Unlike others I am not bothered about selling Rashford, especially if for a pittance. He still could be a very useful player for us and I don't think he will be a dressing problem at all. Switching Zirkzee out would have been nice. Like everyone else I would have liked to see us buy a left back. The squad is decent but pretty definitely short of a title challenge which seems a shame.
 
We won't able to give a judgement until after 10-15 games of the season in all competitions. Everyone thought Liverpools transfer window was great last season and look how that turned out.
 
Yeah it's a prediction, that's all. Most of these predictions are wrong anyway.
 
We've got some midfielders in. Only 1 will be starting at a time though next to Kobbie and bruno so not sure if we've really improved our first 11 much if at all. Will still be enough for top 5 and the Arsenal qualifying for the cl trophy though. 6/10
 
No sales, no left back, no striker. All 3 midfield signings are in "ok" region, neither of them is top quality and neither of them is better than Casemiro.

We did bare minimum.

2/10
 
Roboc7 said:
We might have sorted it we might not, a lot probably rests on Baleba who has a high ceiling but a low floor. You rarely fix problems with 100% hit rate.
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Of course you don't but by that logic, no team has done good business. You never know how a player will work for a new team with 100% certainty but we have bought a new midfield and I think it will be a good one.
 
Olecurls99 said:
Eventually the scales will be removed from Carrick's eyes and Dorgu will become our starting left back, and a bloody good one at that.
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Let's hope you're right.

I think we will just see a lot of Mazaroui turning back in on his right and passing the ball back to his centre back personally.
 
4. Three midfielders in and really you'd say they are Europa or lower CL quality currently and I doubt many would say they are a midfield to mount a title challenge. No LB/CB, no striker, no sale of Zirkzee or Rashford who could come good but I doubt he or the club wanted to be in this situation. It's a window lacking ambition and Carrick has a job on his hands to get us into the CL next season when he really needed backing after his miracle job when he took over.
 
mctrials23 said:
Christ you lot are depressing. We've sorted out our midfield for the foreseeable future in all likelihood and we have a great attacking unit. Defence needs work but if we had bought a LB it would easily be an 8/10 window. People giving it a 3 are mental.
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We needed a backup and successor to Shaw, an upgrade on RB, a backup striker, a replacement for Casemiro, and an additional midfielder.

We got the latter two.
 
OverratedOpinion said:
Let's hope you're right.

I think we will just see a lot of Mazaroui turning back in on his right and passing the ball back to his centre back personally.
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Do you take my point about the quality of our 2 11s?

Lammens Darlow
Dalot Maz
Dorgu Shaw
De Ligt Maguire
Martinez Heaven
Baleba Santos
Amad Lacey
Mainoo Tielemans
Sesko Mbuemo
Bruno Zirkzee
Cunha Rashford
Yoro
Mount
Ugarte
Heaton

That's a squad that should challenge
 
mctrials23 said:
Christ you lot are depressing. We've sorted out our midfield for the foreseeable future in all likelihood and we have a great attacking unit. Defence needs work but if we had bought a LB it would easily be an 8/10 window. People giving it a 3 are mental.
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Until in 6 months time when people are saying Andrey Santos isn't ready to start bigger league/CL games and people question if Tielemans has any legs with 4.5 years of contract remaining. This is also hoping Baleba discovers form from 24/25 rather than last season
 
Olecurls99 said:
Do you take my point about the quality of our 2 11s?

Lammens Darlow
Dalot Maz
Dorgu Shaw
De Ligt Maguire
Martinez Heaven
Baleba Santos
Amad Lacey
Mainoo Tielemans
Sesko Mbuemo
Bruno Zirkzee
Cunha Rashford
Yoro
Mount
Ugarte
Heaton

That's a squad that should challenge
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Not personally no, I don't think our defence is up to it.
 
give it a 5, Santos not really proven yet, Tielemann doesn't seems to be the right fit, and not sure which Baleba will we be getting - the 24 or 25 version. We still need a LB and cover for Sesko. But I do want to caveat that while I rate the window as 5, I don't think there is much Ineos can do - Ugarte's injury, lack of buyers for Zirkzee, Barcelona not taking up option for Rashford - and general inability to sell anyone to generate funds. Nothing we can do until contracts for Onana, Rashford, Bayandir, Mount, Zirkzee, Shaw, Magguire runs out in the next 1-2 years. The mess Woodward, Arnold and Ten Hag left behind cannot be laid on Ineos's feet.
 
stoinz said:
give it a 5, Santos not really proven yet, Tielemann doesn't seems to be the right fit, and not sure which Baleba will we be getting - the 24 or 25 version. We still need a LB and cover for Sesko. But I do want to caveat that while I rate the window as 5, I don't think there is much Ineos can do - Ugarte's injury, lack of buyers for Zirkzee, Barcelona not taking up option for Rashford - and general inability to sell anyone to generate funds. Nothing we can do until contracts for Onana, Rashford, Bayandir, Mount, Zirkzee, Shaw, Magguire runs out in the next 1-2 years. The mess Woodward, Arnold and Ten Hag left behind cannot be laid on Ineos's feet.
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Good point. Those 3 were the players to sell and get decent money this summer. If we did then I think we would've bought a LB, LW and a striker.

Still it wasn't difficult to get a 20/30m LB and cheap striker like Welbeck.
 
We need to relax. Games are won on the pitch. How many times have we thought that we’ve won the transfer market but then came 7th/8th? There’s no reason why we can’t meet our objectives this season if everyone puts in 100% effort every game.
 
5/10, can't argue with the midfield rebuild which was clearly the priority, got good numbers there now, 3 good players in for not much more than some clubs have bought one midfielder for (and I'm certainly not convinced that the likes Anderson, Tonali and Fernandes are worth the obscene fees and wages paid for them, I don't think we would have been guaranteed to become a significantlycbetter team with any one of these players coming in vs what we bought). We had to play a numbers vs quality/price game, and I think the club handled this pretty well.

I can understand leaving centre back for now as we do have 5 players there, and a couple of others that can do a shift there in emergency situations. It's a position that needs upgrading but wouldn't have been able to afford that, no point bringing another body in just for the sake of it.

Disappointed to not even really try to get a left back, especially as Shaw appears to be struggling for pace now, and will clearly be targeted by opposition given the first couple of games. I don't think Dorgu or Amass are up to the task, so that's a real problem.

Also incredibly disappointed that we didn't get someone in up front, even an older player as Sesko seems to struggle with his fitness at the moment. I don't really fancy Mbeumo, Rashford or Cunha through the middle, so while I can see why the club would argue they have plenty of cover there, I just don't think they are good enough in the central striking role.

If we do fall down this year, it will certainly be through failing to address an additional left back and someone who knows how to play centre forward properly.

Therefore 5/10 for me.
 
Proof is utterly in the performances here on in.
5/10 for now and could go either way.
 
We signed Luke Shaw in 2014, its now 2026 & we're going into a season where Luke Shaw is the only LB we have in our squad.
 
Im pleased with our business, think the investment in midfield was sensible and well executed. Its a 7 for me.

Of course would have liked a LB and another striker but we havent got the ability to throw money around like the City's of this world so appreciate the clubs approach.
 
I’d say 6/6.5

The thing you can also lose sight of is the improvements within the team that can happen from one season to the next so the transfer market isn’t always the deciding factor. I think Amad will have much better output this year, I think Cunha now that he’s settled will also improve his level. Mainoo will have a full season as being an important player unlike last year where he was unhappy and got little minutes for half the season. Yoro is another player I’m backing to see a big improvement on his performances last year. Lastly there’s Rashford who will probably take all the minutes Zirkzee got last year. Sure Rashford isn’t the LW we all wanted at the start of the window but he’s a massive upgrade on Zirkzee and will contribute way more goals and assists.

Obviously some of these can go the other way and a player may perform worse than last season but other than Yoro, I think those are all reasonable bets.

Internal improvements in the squad with our window could bump it to a 7.5 which is pretty good. Defence is a massive worry though.
 
So, first of all I've asked myself what does a 10/10 window look like?

- Midfield rebuild (3 midfielders in: 1 creative, 1 holding, 1 pressing/tackling. Ideally at least one being "World Class") Ugarte & Collyer sold.
5/5

- Left back (A top one to displace Shaw, eg. Hall, or at the very least a rotation option to ease the burden of 2 games a week)
2/2

- A new Forward/Striker (ideally pacey, running in behind) with Rashford & Zirkzee sold.
2/2

- A new right back (even if it's just a data-driven young prospect signing) with Mazraoui or Dalot sold.
1/1

10/10

So, let's look at our actual Summer transfer window:

Left back, right back and forward didn't happen (I'm not counting Thompson as I have no reason yet to believe he's going straight into the first team)

So that part is 0/5.

On to the midfield rebuild:

We did indeed get a creative (Tielemans) a presser/tackler (Baleba) and a holding/sitter (Santos)

None of these you would describe as "World Class". Tielemans is the most established but I would say he is a very good PL midfielder at most, not great. Santos is a solid young prospect, and Baleba is an exciting prospect (potential high ceiling but somewhat of a risk due to last season)

Ugarte got injured, so I can't really hold that against the club. And if we had sold him, I imagine we would've been able to get a better midfielder.

So overall I am happy with the rebuild and I'm giving it a 4/5 (which is perhaps slightly generous)

So in conclusion I will give our Summer Transfer Window....

4/10
 
Olecurls99 said:
I can see clear flaws in all 4 of Arsenal's attacking positions but they're the Champs. We clearly have our flaws but compared to where we were 2 years ago we are miles better equipped.
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Right but they still scored more than us last season and conceded just over half as many goals.
 
Olecurls99 said:
Eventually the scales will be removed from Carrick's eyes and Dorgu will become our starting left back, and a bloody good one at that.
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Is Dorgu playing at left back just so obvious now? He might be better left wing but we have players there. Plus it would suit Cunha, he'd get more space to move inside. It should be at least tried, sick if seeing Shaw start every game.
 
We're Manchester United and we want to give ourselves the best chance to win the biggest trophies every year. 4/10


We're still paying the Glazers debt and have to maximise every purchase and sale to get the best value out of what we have. While no longer being seen as mugs who will pay over the odds or let talent go for nothing. 7/10
 
Olecurls99 said:
I can see clear flaws in all 4 of Arsenal's attacking positions but they're the Champs. We clearly have our flaws but compared to where we were 2 years ago we are miles better equipped.
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Difference is they often only need one goal to win a game - their defence is on a complete other level to ours.

They can grind out 1-0 wins galore.
 
golden_blunder said:
5/10 simply because we added Baleba

- overpay for a reasonably inexperienced Santos
- Tielemans is a decent passer but weak and not as mobile as others. May need runners around him. 5 year contract is a bit much for a 29 year old
- going into a CL season, where the money is, with a woefully unbalanced squad
- no backup option for CF. Sesko is young, gets lots of niggling injuries because of his frame. We are a professional football team without another CF!?
- likewise, no backup for LB, despite it being painfully obvious that Shaw is not the player he was anymore. I think that we may have to witness his Gary Neville moment
- being unable to sell, even the academy players for any decent fees.
- €100m Net spent in the window, despite financial experts telling us that the club has great spending power this window. We’ve moved like a club that has no money
- CEO told us that this will be the year of a title challenge. And by next year we’d win it. Dead man walking
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I fully agree with this though I added a -1 for our inability to sell players.
 
Defensively 0/10 without a suitable replacement for Cas we will have problem with aerial delivery into our box especially when Maguire does not play. Also left back cover is irresponsible.
Midfield 3/10 Santos, unproven, Tielemann at present does not look fit enough to start, Baleba jury out and if the plan is to play at LB unproven.
Forwards 5/10 Rashford back O.K. for cover but all of them are inconsistent.
 
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