Transfer Thread 11 - January Window 2018

[Baphomet]

Lacazette to Arsenal official, a £46.5m record signing for them.

[Cactus Jack]

Lacazette to Arsenal official, a £46.5m record signing for them.

So, they finally got their guy. Two years too late, maybe.

[Baphomet]

Lacazette to Arsenal official, a £46.5m record signing for them.

So, they finally got their guy. Two years too late, maybe.

It's typical isn't it? All this arse you hear about them only being able to sign top players when in the CL, and the one year they drop out, they complete their record signing, a legitimate goal threat and natural finisher. Meanwhile Spurs qualify for the CL but are sitting on their arses waiting for Ross **** Barkley (who I rate as a slightly better Sissoko) while teams below us are improving. Then again the transfer window's been open for 5 days. Pull your finger out Levy.

With the addition of Lacazette, if they hold on to Sanchez Arsenal will doubtless be back in the top four again and possibly competing for the title.

[BUCKnation]

Keeping Sanchez is a must for them

[HIF]

Lukaku Manure £75m.

So pots Mahrez at least £80m

[Baphomet]

Lukaku is good but I have my reservations about him. His work rate is a little suspect at times and I'm not sure how well that will vibe with Mourinho who demands every player contributes defensively. £75m is also a ludicrous fee.

[Mitas]

He fits the bill of Mourinho's preferred choice of striker: a big, physical forward. In theory he should be an almost perfect fit and should slot nicely into the Ibrahimovic hole. Crazy money though. Man Utd have spent a tonne over the last couple years.

Lacazette is a great signing, but yeah, a few years too late. I wanted Liverpool to sign him in both the previous summers, but he didn't seem interested.

[Ted Lasso]

Lacazette to Arsenal official, a £46.5m record signing for them.

So, they finally got their guy. Two years too late, maybe.

It's typical isn't it? All this arse you hear about them only being able to sign top players when in the CL, and the one year they drop out, they complete their record signing, a legitimate goal threat and natural finisher. Meanwhile Spurs qualify for the CL but are sitting on their arses waiting for Ross **** Barkley (who I rate as a slightly better Sissoko) while teams below us are improving. Then again the transfer window's been open for 5 days. Pull your finger out Levy.

With the addition of Lacazette, if they hold on to Sanchez Arsenal will doubtless be back in the top four again and possibly competing for the title.

I think you're overreacting on both counts. I'm hardly an optimist in these matters, but it's far from doubtless that Arsenal will be back in the top four. They have to beat out a Manchester United team which is almost certain to be much improved before they even glimpse a CL place. And i don't think Lacazette was the missing piece. It's not like what lacked was scoring last season. They need to stop the other team first. They need small improvements all over the pitch as opposed to one big signing.

[Baphomet]

I think you're overreacting on both counts. I'm hardly an optimist in these matters, but it's far from doubtless that Arsenal will be back in the top four. They have to beat out a Manchester United team which is almost certain to be much improved before they even glimpse a CL place. And i don't think Lacazette was the missing piece. It's not like what lacked was scoring last season. They need to stop the other team first. They need small improvements all over the pitch as opposed to one big signing.

Arsenal averaged the second most shots (behind Liverpool) in the penalty area at 8.9 per game but have a mediocre conversion rate there relative to their top 7 peers. That's Lacazette's bread and butter. Let's say that they take 10 more of those chances over the course of the season. That has to be worth a lot of points. You're correct though, they have to improve defensively if they want to rejoin the top 4. That starts with conceding less penalties, only Hull conceded more goals from penalties last season.

Having said that, if Sanchez leaves, they will still probably get worse without further reinforcements. Lacazette is good but he's nowhere near the overall player Sanchez is.

I'm just a little anxious is all, the transfer market is like an arms race in the Premier League, and we never seem to get our business done in due time. I keep thinking about our squad and it's actually very strong across the board, I think what we need most is an efficient backup striker to Kane, as Janssen hasn't shown himself to be capable of that at all. I also think Dier regressed considerably last season, but that may be in part down to the fact that he was played frequently as a CB and Wanyama had usurped him in midfield.

[Spens1]

Lukaku is good but I have my reservations about him. His work rate is a little suspect at times and I'm not sure how well that will vibe with Mourinho who demands every player contributes defensively. £75m is also a ludicrous fee.

much better than the 100 million they were reporting before though. For Woodward, he did well in not overpaying massively.

[britblazerdude]

Ihenacho to Leicester would be brilliant for them.

[Matty]

Lukaku is good but I have my reservations about him. His work rate is a little suspect at times and I'm not sure how well that will vibe with Mourinho who demands every player contributes defensively. £75m is also a ludicrous fee.

much better than the 100 million they were reporting before though. For Woodward, he did well in not overpaying massively.

Plus he's a known quantity in the PL. Lot more comfortable dishing out this sort of money for him than Morata. Very good signing but IMO a playmaker and a proper winger are still needed. The lack of creativity in the midfield is what's keeping this team stagnant offensively.

[Spens1]

Lukaku is good but I have my reservations about him. His work rate is a little suspect at times and I'm not sure how well that will vibe with Mourinho who demands every player contributes defensively. £75m is also a ludicrous fee.

much better than the 100 million they were reporting before though. For Woodward, he did well in not overpaying massively.

Plus he's a known quantity in the PL. Lot more comfortable dishing out this sort of money for him than Morata. Very good signing but IMO a playmaker and a proper winger are still needed. The lack of creativity in the midfield is what's keeping this team stagnant offensively.

agreed. i really hope we go in for Sanchez and at least tempt Arsenal (as much as Arsenal fans would hate it), he'd be a lot better than Perisic at least.

[mas1977]

Lukaku is good but I have my reservations about him. His work rate is a little suspect at times and I'm not sure how well that will vibe with Mourinho who demands every player contributes defensively. £75m is also a ludicrous fee.

He's good, but he's also overrated. He's big and strong and that's about it. Oh and he scores goals, apparently that's important.

[Spens1]

he's big, strong and quick. He isn't that bad technically, i mean he isn't Morata in that department but he is no slouch either. His workrate does worry me (dealing with berba was a pain when he wasn't at it).

We'll need another high workrate guy in attack (hence, Sanchez wouldn't be a bad option at all).

[Baphomet]

Chelsea match United's Lukaku bid...

Could be interesting, I guess.

[Spens1]

damn, if we miss out now we're going to look like fools.

[BUCKnation]

Lol at Mourinho. Lukaku dominates at West Brom, he brings him back into the team at Chelsea, doesn't use him, loans him out and then sells him to Everton, now wants to buy him for 75M. Genius.

[Spens1]

Lol at Mourinho. Lukaku dominates at West Brom, he brings him back into the team at Chelsea, doesn't use him, loans him out and then sells him to Everton, now wants to buy him for 75M. Genius.

yeah can't argue with that. Mourinho is an idiot for letting him go the first time.

[Ted Lasso]

Or a genius who masterfully started paving Lukaku's way to United years ago