2012 Summer Transfers

I think that Wenger saying that he is in for "quality, not quantity", and is "willing to gamble" on a "top top player" is indication that he might actually, aside from Podolski, spend big on big talent.

It might mean one player for ~30mil, it might mean a couple for ~15mil each.

I am cautiously optimistic that this will be a good summer transfer window.

Goetze and Podolski please. Go German Wenger.

My Arsenal Treble winners side, 2012-2013:

Szcz (2nd Keeper)

Sagna (Jenks) Kos (Mert) Verm (DJ, Miquel) Gibbs (Santos)


Arteta (Wilshere) Song (M'Vila, Le-Coq)


Wilshere (Rosicky, Gotze)


Gotze (Walcott, Ox) Ox (Gervinho, Podolski)


VP (Podolski, Afobe)



Note: Ramsey to be sent on loan... Diaby is a more likely substitute of Song/Arteta than M'Vila, I don't see us buying both him and Gotze.

If all we sign is Podolski and Gotze and lose none of the important squad members I think we can consider it a good summer. Possibly a veteran back up keeper too

@ Eyal - you kinda look like a Jewish Flanagan (in your picture).....

Chris Chan wrote:If all we sign is Podolski and Gotze and lose none of the important squad members I think we can consider it a good summer. Possibly a veteran back up keeper too

I think we can be serious title challengers with that or at least win ourselves a nice trophy.

Van Roy Bostanian wrote:

Chris Chan wrote:If all we sign is Podolski and Gotze and lose none of the important squad members I think we can consider it a good summer. Possibly a veteran back up keeper too

I think we can be serious title challengers with that or at least win ourselves a nice trophy.

Assuming we have a bit of injury luck for a change of course.

Jason Morrison wrote:

Van Roy Bostanian wrote:

Chris Chan wrote:If all we sign is Podolski and Gotze and lose none of the important squad members I think we can consider it a good summer. Possibly a veteran back up keeper too

I think we can be serious title challengers with that or at least win ourselves a nice trophy.

Assuming we have a bit of injury luck for a change of course.

^ this...

I cannot remember the last we had a good run of all our players fit...I know some one will lose players at some point but sheeesh!!
Every season with us its the big boys out...true we have not had much in the way of back up...

Am I the only one who thinks Gotze is unrealistic?

Jenks1981 wrote:Am I the only one who thinks Gotze is unrealistic?

Unlikely maybe, but I don't see why it should be unrealistic. He's still young enough to not command a transfer fee and wages that would be too much for Arsenal. The only really unrealistic targets for us would be established experienced players who play for big/bigger clubs.

I think we're done with out transfer dealings, assuming Podolski is a done deal. Poldi will come into replace Arshavin and Eisfield will take Benayoun's place in the squad. Afobe to replace one of Park or Chamakh and Bartley to replace Squillaci.

Sami Rockfeller wrote:I think we're done with out transfer dealings, assuming Podolski is a done deal. Poldi will come into replace Arshavin and Eisfield will take Benayoun's place in the squad. Afobe to replace one of Park or Chamakh and Bartley to replace Squillaci.

I actually think it is more likely we will buy another attacking midfielder in the 15-30mil price range. Firstly, from a financial POV, as I understand it (depending on our CL qualification), we have the cash. We have something in the 30-60mil range transfer kitty, Podolski is just 11mil, and VP's loyalty reward if he signs is in the 5mil range which leaves another, if we subtract a few renewals and salaries, another 10-40mil.

Podolski, in my opinion, is brought in mostly as back up to VP, not as a winger. It's true he can be a good winger, versatile players are always a good buy, but Wenger is quoted (if it is true and not a made up quote) today that he wants a player of Podolski's sort as a back up to VP. Arshavin was never a back up goal scorer. Arshavin played on the same slot as Nasri, more or less, and that slot is filled with Ox, Gervinho and maybe the extra attacking midfielder we might buy.

Afobe will perhaps be a 3rd choice striker, tho after seeing Wenger saying he will let Reading keep him if they are promoted I think he will be loaned out next year again but this time to a PL club, can see him going to Bolton, and if Joel Campbell receives his work permit he will be our 3rd choice striker.

If we keep Coquelin and not loan him out he and Diaby will probably be our 2nd choice DM's after Song.

If Wilshere is completely fit and functional I can see Ramsey being loaned out but we might also keep him, can't see him starting too much next year tho. Probably in the FA cup and League cup mostly.

Myaichi might come back, but I also see him doing another season at Bolton if they stay up and I'm sure they will want him. Unless, for example, Gerv/Ox/Walcott suffer an early season injury (god forbid), in which case we will keep him.

Vela will be sold. Bendtner will be sold. Squillaci will be relieved, IIRC his contract ends, and Miquel will take his position as 5th choice CB as we have already seen this season. Denilson might be sold if we find a buyer, but I don't think we will, so he will be loaned out for another season and then relieved.

Those are my predictions.

Jenks1981 wrote:Am I the only one who thinks Gotze is unrealistic?

While it would be great to see him wearing the Arsenal colors, I'm not so sure we'll really need him anymore with the emergence of AOC, Wilshere coming back, Ryo making huge strides, Rosicky's renaissance, and Song reinventing himself as a creative force to be reckoned with this season. I'm just not sure where he'd fit given that he plays anywhere along the front as an attacking midfielder and we seem to have that area covered very well. It's been said we need a player like him to provide that extra creative impetus when we're trying to break down a park-the-bus side... my question would be: looking at our options, do we really (especially if Podolski comes good)? Or should we focus elsewhere?

I do think we really need a player of Gotze's calibre to break down the most serious defenses and truly challenge for honors.

It's true, we are in very good form, but let's not forget we are only competing for 3rd spot this season, and are out of all other competitions.

If we do not want another repeat of that, we have to add proven quality, both for penetration and for a "Plan B", and for strength in depth.

That's just my opinion though.

I agree Eyal, if we are serious about being title contenders and not 3/4 place contenders I think we could do with 1 really top class creative player.

Assuming Podolski is done or close to it, I'd like to see the following:

Keep RVP at all costs
Podolski
Goetze (or similar)
Sorensen

So we have a starting XI of

Podolski - RVP - Theo
----------Goetze (?)
--------Jack - Song
Gibbs - TV - Kos - Sagna
---------Sczezsny

with a second choice

Gervinho - Afobe - AOC
----------Rosicky
-----Arteta - Coquelin
Santos - DJ - Mert - Jenks
---------Sorensen

and we still have the likes of Frimpong, Ramsey, Bartley, Miyachi, etc. in and around the team. That would be a great squad.

Joey Schwab wrote:I agree Eyal, if we are serious about being title contenders and not 3/4 place contenders I think we could do with 1 really top class creative player.

Assuming Podolski is done or close to it, I'd like to see the following:

Keep RVP at all costs
Podolski
Goetze (or similar)
Sorensen

So we have a starting XI of

Podolski - RVP - Theo
----------Goetze (?)
--------Jack - Song
Gibbs - TV - Kos - Sagna
---------Sczezsny

with a second choice

Gervinho - Afobe - AOC
----------Rosicky
-----Arteta - Coquelin
Santos - DJ - Mert - Jenks
---------Sorensen

and we still have the likes of Frimpong, Ramsey, Bartley, Miyachi, etc. in and around the team. That would be a great squad.

Damn, now thats a proper decent squad! One cam only hope...

Joey Schwab wrote:I agree Eyal, if we are serious about being title contenders and not 3/4 place contenders I think we could do with 1 really top class creative player.

Assuming Podolski is done or close to it, I'd like to see the following:

Keep RVP at all costs
Podolski
Goetze (or similar)
Sorensen

So we have a starting XI of

Podolski - RVP - Theo
----------Goetze (?)
--------Jack - Song
Gibbs - TV - Kos - Sagna
---------Sczezsny

with a second choice

Gervinho - Afobe - AOC
----------Rosicky
-----Arteta - Coquelin
Santos - DJ - Mert - Jenks
---------Sorensen

and we still have the likes of Frimpong, Ramsey, Bartley, Miyachi, etc. in and around the team. That would be a great squad.

I like all of this. We just need some luck and we could really be contenders next season. Having all our full-backs out injured at the same time is just terrible luck, you can't really plan for those kind of situations.

It's strange that after finally realising that we need players with experience in the centre of our midfield, everyone is so keen to chuck them out for a player, however talented he is, with less than two years of first team action. Could Gotze have done what Rosicky has in the last couple of months? That Dortmund team seems to be a great team but outside of the Bundesliga we can't be sure how easy he'll find it. He's not the first talented youngster to attract attention. As it stands Rosicky and Song don't need replacing imo.

Also the idea of M'Vila joining us to sit on the bench is laughable. If he did sign I think he'd have to play instead of Arteta.

I agree with you to a degree John, I'm not saying Gotze is definitely the answer, but just an example of a player of that ilk. However well Rosicky has done the last few weeks, I certainly think he can and should be improved upon, or at least added to.

I didnt see where someone suggested M'Villa would be bought as a backup to any other midfielder but if they did, I dont see that either. He is a class player who would no doubt have the deep midfield role nailed down, irrespective of Song or not. I dont think Wenger would look at him now actually, not with Frimpong and Coquelin coming on and Song at the club.

I think signing Podolski is the key signing, then get an experienced Goalie in and we look good.

-------------------------SCHEZNEY/SIGNING---------------------------
SAGNA/JENKS-KOS/MERTESACKER-VERM/DJOUROU-GIBBS/SANTOS
------ARTETA/RAMSEY/DIABY------SONG/COQUELIN/FRIMPONG-----
--------------------------WILSHIRE/ROSICKY---------------------------
WALCOTT/OX-------------RVP/PODOLSKI---------GERVINHO/MIYACHI

With Bartley, Miquel, Afobe, Campbell, Lansbury and Vela maybe around as well, thats pretty good.

And thats only with 2 signings people, Podolski plus a goalie, anyone else coming in strengthens us further and the talk of someone as good as MVila takes an already good squad to another level in my opinion.

Rosicky is a superb player when on form. His record suggests we won't get another couple of years out of him without injury problems so I'm not against improving the squad. However, Wenger clearly likes Ramsey which makes me think that he won't be particularly focused on Gotze at all. We have so many young exciting players that I'm not sure we can afford or need another this summer. Perhaps we do need that extra quality but we can't even be sure that he'd offer us something that neither Oxlade-Chamberlain nor Rosicky can.

By buying M'Vila, Podolski AND Gotze he would be err.... killing Coquelin, Gervinho and Ramsey. Something like that anyway. Jokes aside, he won't invest in players like that just to replace them within a couple of years because of a flight of fancy.

I'm sorry guys but I think you're talking crazy.
Time will tell, but I think that even with Podolski we are too short to compete for anything bar a lucky FA cup run. As much as I like Song and love his lofty passes, you know you are short on a creative midfielder when you count on your DM for that supply.

Wilshere is fantastic and a big talent but he just missed a complete season on injury, the last time we saw him really play, he had Cesc on his side. How much can we count on him for creativity? Who knows what form he'll be in when he comes back? The lad is barely 20 and already missed a year of his career!

Rosicky is definitely rejuvenated, it's a plus, especially considering we lost Wilshere to injury and Cesc to Barca, but can we count on Rosicky to carry us through an entire season to challenge for honors?

Arteta is a solid player, with very good distribution and holding, but as we have seen even when we are in good form, he barely adds a creative spark.

Where does that leave us? With a 20 year old returning from injury (Wilshere), a non creative distributor (Arteta), a rejuvenated 31 year old (Rosicky) with a fantastic half a season, but still just half a season, and an unproven, unexperienced midfielder (Ramsey). Ramsey might have bags of talent, frankly I like him and think he gets too much stick, but I do not think we can count on him for anything at this stage.

We definitely need a top class, creative midfielder. Seeing as we are not short on experience currently (oh, how things change), I wouldn't mind that being a younger talent such as Gotze or Hazard. I don't see us being able to afford both VP's wage increase and the wages of an imported midfield proven star, so young and talented is our only option.

The Ox might fill that role in the future, but he is not there yet. We don't want to pressure him into that role.

Our squad is fine, that's true. It's probably enough for 3rd. It's not enough to compete with Real, Barca and the likes in the CL. It's not enough to compete with City, United and an improved Chelsea in the league. It's not enough to penetrate the bunkers of Sunderland away on a bad cup game. We need a creative spark in the middle that the league hasn't seen before. That will take us to where we want to be.

my 2 cents

I think it's beyond doubt now that Song is more than just a holding midfielder. He's playing as the third midfielder, the Essien role, albeit with a totally different style to that man.

At the start of last season, there were games like WBA at home, where he looked positionally awful. Yet, with the arrival of Arteta, there can be no doubt that he's doing it with Wenger's blessing and improving as he goes. In tougher games I think we could do with more defensive cover, it really depends how we progress as a squad in the next year or so. We've been playing with so much energy of late that the defensive side of our game has been much improved but when that level drops, it's obvious we could still benefit from the DM signing that we've been lacking since 2008.

I agree with Eyal. Yes, we're in great form right now, but I feel it's clouding our judgement just a tad. Right now it seems like we're the best in the world; in January we were barely contenders for a Europa League place. The truth is somewhere in the middle, obviously. We're still lacking one or two more special players other than RVP to push us on from 3rd-4th place contenders to genuine title contenders.

Young and talented is the realistic option for us. I'm not willing to 'chuck' our current players out, rather, I would like us to simply add to the selection of talent at our disposal. At the very least we'll be losing Benayoun at the end of the season so we should replace and improve upon him.

People also forget that while Goetze and Hazard are young, they do have a couple of seasons of experience in top leagues under their belts, not to mention they've both been instrumental in winning domestic league titles for their clubs. Incredible potential, consistent performers and already winners, exactly what we need.

It's not that I don't think we need another attacking mid, but knowing Wenger I doubt we'll be getting one.

And about offloading players, it has taken a long long time to get this perfect blend of experience and youth. We shouldn't be looking to sell anyone except those already out on loan and maybe the backup keepers.