{"id":1538,"date":"2020-10-09T19:49:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T18:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1538"},"modified":"2020-10-13T22:29:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T21:29:40","slug":"arsenal-in-the-market-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1538","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal in the Market Place"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Alejandro Rios\/DeFodi Images via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several months ago I wrote a post, Loans, Moans & Groans<\/a>, reviewing our then situation with regard to 10 players we had out on loan. Time now thanks to the Interlull to look briefly at how those loans went, or didn\u2019t go as it turns out, and although there is still a week or so for further business outside the PL it\u2019s time to take a look at the ins and outs of this transfer window as well. Finally, a personal view on what issues have been left to address in the January window, or one step beyond in the case of the ongoing \u00d6zil madness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to The Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our initial business was the largely expected signings of Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari, who were already with us on loan, and soon followed by the signing of Willian from Chelsea on a free (I know, I know, it certainly isn\u2019t free but that\u2019s what they call it). We also had the arrivals or returns of Saliba, Elneny and Emile Smith Rowe from the lovely locales of France, Turkey and Huddersfield respectively. No big surprises so far as the Willian move had been mooted for some weeks in advance. However, we then signed another centre-back in what I thought was a rather gutsy move considering how many we already had and Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es joined us from Lille. We next brought in young Runarsson from Dijon as either 2nd<\/sup> or 3rd<\/sup> choice keeper following the departure of Emi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To much wailing and gnashing of tweets that had looked to be it for this window until we stepped up and amid much excitement paid the release clause for Thomas Partey. Our excitement was of course given a little extra epicaricacy by Atletico\u2019s dismay at losing him and subsequent whining at our supposed discourtesy in not informing them in advance. However, that is the risk you take when you play hardball on a release clause and I have no sympathy for them \u2013 he\u2019s our Partey now, so cry if you want to lads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only time will tell if this was a good summer\u2019s work of course, and I suspect that as usual about half those deals will turn out well, but for the moment I think we are all looking forward to an injection of the midfield oomph that we have been lacking for several seasons now. If I had to sum up the window in a sentence? We have strengthened the squad with a good blend of youth and experience in defence and midfield but probably taken a step back in terms of keeper quality. I had to add the \u201cprobably\u201d there as I have never seen Runarsson play (much like Mikel I suspect) but I do doubt that he is at Emi\u2019s level. We have also spent money we did not have and if the stories are to be believed Mikel has spent his goodwill capital from the FA Cup win in ensuring we got the Partey deal done. A tip of my hat to you for your courage Mikel and, in what I must admit is a first for me, an appropriately voiceless nod to the silent one for recognizing that Mikel was owed the trust. A heartening end to the window and overjoyed as I am at the arrival of Partey, I must admit to being just as pleased with the arrival of Gabriel. I know it\u2019s much too early and we have been here before with young centre backs but I have been pleasantly surprised and very impressed with what I have seen so far. Though not new signings Luiz, Auba and Saka were all signed up this summer too. Busy days for the transfer and commercial teams and mostly successful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fond fare thee well<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nwindow has seen the actual departure of only two senior players \u2013 Emi Martinez\nto Aston Villa for a fee around 18m and Henrik Mkhitaryan to Roma on a free. Matteo\nGuendouzi and Lucas Torreira are of course both out on loan, to Hertha Berlin\nand Upsetico respectively, so it is possible they will return to the club one\nday but we will cover that a little later. Although we wish Mkhi all the best I\nthink it\u2019s fair to say that the departure of Emi has been the more painful for\nmany supporters. It may become even more painful if Leno gets injured between\nnow and January. We have taken a major risk and unless we sign another keeper\nfrom outside the PL in the next week or so we are only some Maupian oaf away\nfrom Runarsson as our No 1 keeper. Mikel has been an excellent General to date,\nlet\u2019s hope he is a lucky one as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lend us a player Guvnor?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani Ceballos. Although it\u2019s a loan I suspect it is actually more expensive than all bar two of our new signings. However, it is a sign of the progress Dani made that we were keen to continue the loan. Or…alternatively, reflects the dearth of talent in our central midfield if you prefer your glass half-empty. A blend perhaps although I prefer single malt myself, however with the arrival of TP the competition for places just got a step tougher in our midfield as it should be. Dani\u2019s relative versatility compared to Xhaka and Mo may serve him and us well this season.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\u2019s halfway out? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guendouzi, Torreira, and Mavropanos from the first team\nsquad to the aforementioned Hertha and Apopletico with Mavro joining Sven\nMislintat at Stuttgart in the Bundesliga after a decent spell in Bundesliga 2\nlast season with Nuremburg. Nothing is impossible but I would be surprised to\nsee any of them playing for The Arsenal again, but then I did say that about Mo\nElneny last season. However, it benefits us as well as them if their loan\nspells go swimmingly so I wish them all the best at their new clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But think of the kids\u2026..<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it appears that we have given some thought to our development approach. A total of 11 Academy players, plus Deyan Iliev (who oddly was named in our Europa League squad the day before), have gone out on loans this season…so far that is. The club, somewhat inconsiderately given I was halfway through this review, sent out two more yesterday. It marks a more modern aggressive use of the loan system and though I am somewhat dubious of an endless stream of buy lo lets in a sales machine that is probably harsh and I will trust that Per and the boys will manage in way that helps our young players to build their career under The Arsenal\u2019s large and protective umbrella. It is worth pointing out that after a few wilderness years the 1st<\/sup> team squad now boasts Saka, AMN, ESR, Eddie, Nelson and Joe W who have come through the Academy so the previous approach was not entirely worthless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new approach has also led to an influx of new young players over the past few months \u2013 too many to mention I\u2019m afraid but I will give you a brief rundown of those out on loan. Apart from two players to Championship teams Jordi Osei-Tutu, who had a good game for Cardiff this weekend I hear and Ben Sheaf, who is at Coventry with an option to buy it is rumoured, most of our young starlets are in League One this season. Trae Coyle and Zech Medley are at Gillingham, Mark McGuiness at Ipswich, Tolaji Bola at Rochdale, Matt Smith of FA Cup fame is at Swindon, Tyreece John-Jules is at Doncaster, Daniel Ballard at Blackpool and Dejan Iliev is at Shrewsbury, where according to a Shrewsbury local he will not be the 1st<\/sup> choice. It is honestly difficult to see many or even any of them returning to the first team squad next season but I believe we are still hopeful of John-Jules, Smith and possibly McGuiness. The others seem to have been around for a while without making a breakthrough but of course they are young and there is certainly time for them to turn things round. No doubt some of the drinkers in this fine establishment will have seen more of the youngsters than I and will firmly contradict my somewhat tentative prognosis. The remaining two players Zak Swanson and Joseph Olowu have gone to MVV Maastricht in the Dutch 2nd Tier and Cork City respectively. Busy days for Ben Knapper too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did our garden grow? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far be it from me to be contrary but not a great result from\nthe loans I reviewed back in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some were rotational and some developmental but of the 10\nplayers reviewed only Mhki has been moved on and that was for free. The majority\nof them are on loan again. Emile Smith-Rowe has returned to us but due to\ninjury we have not seen anything of him yet, Mo Elneny has also come back and\nis back in the squad but seems destined to be a back-up for the foreseeable\nfuture. Mavro, John-Jules, Iliev, Osei-Tutu, and Sheaf are all back out on loan\nagain. Not much rotation or development, though some have joined clubs at a\nslightly higher level to be fair. And what of William Saliba? There was a\nsnippy press release from St Pettienne that I found somewhat annoying to be\nhonest (hence the cheap jibe) but it does seem to be something we did not get\ndone. The coming days may possibly see him join a Championship side for a few\nmonths but you\u2019d hope we are talking with him right now to explain exactly what\nhappened. It has been a difficult few months for him privately and\nprofessionally and I feel for the kid, I only hope he comes through strongly\nand will one day form a stalwart CB partnership with Gabriel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s in the transfers and loans inbox?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we think about what needs to be done now or in the next\nfew months then there are still a few things for Mikel and Edu to get sorted\nout and so I have looked briefly at those by position<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keepers<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I have already said we are taking a risk in this area and\nif we don\u2019t get someone in now then we must look to give Runarrson experience\nin the Europa League games at least as soon as possible. If he looks capable of\nplaying in the PL at a pinch or even a strain, pull or break then that is fine\nand dandy but if not we must add another keeper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defence<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have ended the window top heavy with CBs and at least one,\nSokratis seems first in line, will need to be moved on in January, probably two\nI would have thought. I expect we will also look to move Kola on too though\nselling anyone has proved easier said than done. I suppose it made sense at the\ntime to give Soares a four-year contract when we probably thought AMN would be\nmoving but not so much now, it would be a little odd but we might think of\nloaning him out in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midfield<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve addressed one need and I suspect finances dictate that will have to do for now. \u00d6zil will have to wait until the end of the season to leave our house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attack<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make them score more goals please Mikel. And resist efforts\nto sell Laca, there are clubs enough and time to sell him next summer if we\u2019re\nsure about Eddie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, that is about it for this review. All in all it wasn\u2019t a bad window, I\u2019d give it a B and while I am handing out grades it would D for last year\u2019s loans. Room for improvement as always but for now let\u2019s forget about \u00d6zil, PR disasters and failed loans, it\u2019s time to look forward to next weekend at the aptly named Emptihad and Thomas Partey\u2019s debut. Let\u2019s squeeze \u2018em till the peps squeak lads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several months ago I wrote a post, Loans, Moans & Groans, reviewing our then situation with regard to 10 players we had out on loan. Time now thanks to the Interlull to look briefly at how those loans went, or didn\u2019t go as it turns out, and although there is still a week or so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1538"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1548,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1538\/revisions\/1548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}