GWT: EPL Week 33

Il Mediano

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Plenty of players.
They'll get some salaries off their books first (Ramsey), then they could sell guys like Mustafi, Ozil, Xhaka, Suarez, Welbeck, basically all their dead weight. That'll give them 70 easily (Ozil will get 40 at least+salary).

Cech's retiring which will help clear wages as well.

Suarez is a loan with an option , iirc , I'd be pretty surprised if they exercised it.

The market for Ozil might be tricky. He's on absurd wages , and has done nothing to make himself particularly attractive this season to the small amount of clubs that can afford him. He'd have to take a massive pay-cut to open up a decent market for himself. I don't think that transfer will be remotely easy - but, I've been surprised before.

Mkhitaryan's a guy I would definitely look to move , and I'm sure a lot of people will disagree, but I'd probably sell one of Auba/Lacazette. Emery ideally only wants to utilize 1 striker in his preferred 4-2-3-1 high pressing system , and I really don't see why Arsenal would want to have two aging top class strikers when there's clear needs elsewhere , and those two might be the most attractive assets at the club. Get some good money for one of them (I prefer Laca) , and get a younger player to backup the starter.

For me, Koscielny, Monreal, Elneny, Jenkinson would all be shown the door too, if possible.
 

Chimaera

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Plenty of players.
They'll get some salaries off their books first (Ramsey), then they could sell guys like Mustafi, Ozil, Xhaka, Suarez, Welbeck, basically all their dead weight. That'll give them 70 easily (Ozil will get 40 at least+salary).

I mean, I guess someone might want Mustafi or Xhaka. But they're eating millions of loss on both. They'll be lucky to clear 25-30 million for the pair. Suarez has some value, but he just got there.

I really wonder who is willing to take Ozil at that salary. Unless PSG is willing to do it, I don't really think anyone's going to take him. He's a gifted offensive creator, but he has no desire to put in any effort going back, and any team that could afford him has no real desire. I mean, I think Liverpool would be interested, but not at those wages. Not in a million years, plus a fee?

I'm not saying they have no value to clear out, but much of it is only really going to be salary coming off the books. Unless they're willing to clear young players that they actually have something in (I don't think they are). That doesn't play out in the balance sheet for the short term.


As for the central point, I think the two of us (along with Il Mediano) are actually in general agreement. I completely agree that Arsenal need to find value in the market. I also agree that there is value to be found. I will even go so far as to say that most of what they bought last summer is decent to pretty good for what it is.

My problem is, and has been, the following.


  • I'm not sure at all who is picking the players. If it's Emery, I'm not sure I buy it, but I guess that's better than some other options.
  • I think it's much harder to actually go out and get value than it is to say, 'well they should have bought x and y'.
  • At some point, they need to invest in a bit higher quality. Most of the Liverpool players who have come good (beyond Robertson) have been of the 30 million+ variety.
 

Evilo

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Who cares about losses? Of course they're going to lose. Ozil will obviously find takers. They'll get 70M if they do a hosue clearing and they can buy 6 quality players with 140.
 

Il Mediano

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Who's gunna take Ozil if he doesn't take a pay-cut? He makes like 350k plus/week.

I'm genuinely curious how you think it's so obvious. I honestly don't see it that way, but I'm open to having my mind changed.

The way I see it , the best they can hope for is a James Rodriguez type of loan move.
 
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Chimaera

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Yeah, unless Ozil is willing to give up some significant coin, he’s not moving. I could see if Arsenal made it uncomfortable for him, but they aren’t. He’s their captain most matches out. They play him in the attacking middle and expect him to do zilch beyond attack or create.

He’s not giving up his fat contract to have to go work hard for a club that might be interested.
 

Chimaera

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Heck, name three clubs who could realistically move for him.

I’ll spot you one, PSG. I guess United could be in the market if Arsenal didn’t want a fee. Wages don’t mean much to them. I think both of those are stretches.

Who else?
 

Evilo

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Who's gunna take Ozil if he doesn't take a pay-cut? He makes like 350k plus/week.

I'm genuinely curious how you think it's so obvious. I honestly don't see it that way, but I'm open to having my mind changed.

The way I see it , the best they can hope for is a James Rodriguez type of loan move.
Because Ozil will OBVIOUSLY agree to a certain paycut in order to play.
He's 30 and isn't playing much now. He'll move to a big team (Bayern?) and take a small paycut.
 

Evilo

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PSG is not impossible, but I don't think that works with Tuchel. Bayern, Milan, Inter, Chelsea, United, Juve, etc...
 

hatterson

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Heck, name three clubs who could realistically move for him.

I’ll spot you one, PSG. I guess United could be in the market if Arsenal didn’t want a fee. Wages don’t mean much to them. I think both of those are stretches.

Who else?

United isn't an option under OGS, they're going back to focusing heavily on younger/emerging players with transfers as opposed to expensive (either salary or fee) vets. Even if it was on a free or for a crappy swap, they're not gonna take on a massive salary for a guy who will be 31 near the start of next season who has been mediocre at best for the last 2 years.
 

Evilo

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Of course they would. If they're in the CL, they'll need all the help they can get and not only rely on youngsters.
 

Chimaera

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I've long been a Ozil defender, (heck, his national team jersey is one of the few I own with numbers), but I think that's a stretch.

He's aging, never been the fastest, and most importantly, has no reason to give up his fat paycheck. You of all people bang the drum about how players are mercenaries, and how money is the key motivation. Ozil has shown in the past that's one of his key factors. I don't think they can move that contract.
 

Chimaera

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United isn't an option under OGS, they're going back to focusing heavily on younger/emerging players with transfers as opposed to expensive (either salary or fee) vets. Even if it was on a free or for a crappy swap, they're not gonna take on a massive salary for a guy who will be 31 near the start of next season who has been mediocre at best for the last 2 years.

I mean, I buy the that's what OGS wants, and I also buy that playing some of the young players and moving the deadwood is what United might want to do. But who is directing that policy?

If it's Woodward still, I don't think you can say with a straight face that he wouldn't at least look at getting Ozil for pennies on the dollar, if all he had to do was eat the wages. Heck, maybe he swaps Ozil for Sanchez. Wouldn't that be a laugh.
 

Il Mediano

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He's also a #10 , so on top of his insane wages , you'd have to find a coach who operates with one and wants a starter there.

Just assuming he'll take a wage-cut and listing a bunch of big clubs , doesn't really convince me of anything.
 

bleedblue1223

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If Ozil goes, it will be to a club that has a ton of money to spend, but aren't at the top of the game competing for anything. Like a club that's just been taken over by a billionaire, or a club with high prestige that kind of sucks right now and wants a big name star. At a certain point, I bet the MLS becomes more realistic.

I don't see him starting on any club that has real aspirations of winning the Champions League.
 

Evilo

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I've long been a Ozil defender, (heck, his national team jersey is one of the few I own with numbers), but I think that's a stretch.

He's aging, never been the fastest, and most importantly, has no reason to give up his fat paycheck. You of all people bang the drum about how players are mercenaries, and how money is the key motivation. Ozil has shown in the past that's one of his key factors. I don't think they can move that contract.
Nope I never do, you mistake me for someone else.
Of course Ozil will want to play. 20 EPL games this season.
 

Chimaera

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Hmm, I thought I recalled you being one of the ones saying something to that effect on players forcing moves. Who knows.

Either way, the point stands. I don't think any club who really wants to win the CL will take Ozil at his wages and give a fee.
 

phisherman

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Ozil is comfortable in London and probably won't leave. They've already benched him and he used that to work hard in training rather than sulk. He loves London that much.

But you guys don't realize how many players there are on the Arsenal squad. Just clearing that would free a lot of wages.

Cech, Jenkinson, Bramall, Asano, Chambers, Bielik, Lich, Elneny, Monreal(He's getting old and apparently wants a return to Spain), Mustafi, Pleguezuelo, Ospina, Welbeck, Nwakali.

That's a whole squad that they can get rid of to free the wage bill.
 

Evilo

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Ozil will want to move. He's still a competitor. Bayern have shown interest in the past, he's clearly a good target for them. And he'll take the paycut necessary to play for a contender.
 

Chimaera

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I don't think that's the direction the leadership in Bayern want to go. I think they want to get younger, more hungry, with much more pace. I think they've soured a bit on this past crop of German National Team players, and I don't think Ozil fits what they're trying to do going forward.

I could have seen it, if it was a case of 'getting the band back together', or just needing a bit more to put Bayern over the top. But I think James was that attempt (even though he's much younger and probably better at this point). Having seen it not work, I can't think they would shoehorn, or god forbid build a side around what Ozil does.

I think any interest Bayern would have had in Ozil sailed two or three seasons ago.

Edit: I could be wrong, but I don't know that I am. I'll have to talk to my family there and see what they think. Maybe a Bayern supporter could give a better estimation.
 

Chimaera

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I think you're just throwing out big clubs names. I mean, he could fit in City's side, but do they need him? Do they want to put him in the side to maybe get 20 matches? Doesn't he do a lot of what they already have?
 

bleedblue1223

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If City wanted a player like Ozil, why wouldn't they just sign a younger player with potential that can stay there longer. It's not like they are going to pull a Chelsea and think signing a guy like Higuain is a good idea.
 

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