I’m surprised that the Havertz bid happened before the one for Rice. we were told multiple times Rice was the number one priority.
Also, seems odd that we would help Chelsea with their books given we are competing with them for Caicedo.
awesome, you’ve convinced me
He would totally disrupt the changing room, wage structure, team togetherness.
primadona
what evidence do you have of this?
say what you want about our season last year, but it was clear we lacked a winner’s mentality. we crashed out of every domestic cup, laid an egg at home in the Europa League, and couldn’t keep it together when City upped their game second half of the season.
I guess I don’t want long term sustained success for the club.
Obviously the terms on which he comes here matter (purchase price, wages, etc.) but you cannot tell me that Mbappe would immediately elevate this club. Edu/Arteta have a vision for this club, yes? There are now multiple reports saying that our interest in Havertz is real. Are you telling me that Edu/Arteta would say no to Mbappe but yes to Havertz?
There is no perfect player. Perhaps the one flaw Mbappe has is that he doesn’t track back well. But how do you know that his instructions aren’t to hang out at the half-way line and spring the quick counter?
Also, this idea of “long-term sustained success” is a myth. Sports are nothing if not cyclical. There are windows in which to win championships, and you need to seize on them. And last I’ve checked, the last 15 or so years of this club we haven’t won the league once, nor have we made it to the quarters of the Champions League. During those 15 years, we have never had a player of the level of Mbappe - a player who is unquestionably world class and arguably best in the world. And now you would turn him down? The last time we won the league, we had arguably the best player in the world.
I don’t like his association with this club, but it would be very difficult to lose Xhaka, Partey, and potentially Jorginho in one summer
Fab’s most recent tweet on Rice one hour ago suggests Arsenal still working on the bid.
https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1668641855091666948?s=46&t=aRd3pj3W-swoeTFckb50Rg
not to contradict, just pointing it out
so would I. from Madrid’s perspective, I’d imagine he would be third choice behind Mbappe and Kane though, right?
yeah, agree the inflated price is the big catch. i think the angle we’re shooting for is that Chelsea have to sell, and there aren’t a lot of clubs whose offers we couldn’t match. no one in Germany/France/Spain is paying 50m for him, so that leaves United (maybe?), City (no way), Newcastle (maybe?), Spurs (lol), and Liverpool (no way) as realistic competitors for the purchase.
fair enough, but tracking back is probably like the one area where Martinelli is better than Mbappe. in every other area (pace, dribbling at pace, finishing, decision-making) Mbappe is world class, if not best in the world.
in the end we’re disagreeing over something that will probably never happen, but there’s no way Edu/Arteta would say no to Mbappe joining the club if it were realistically possible.
think I’m in the minority here, but I rate Havertz. he’s technically gifted, quick, and has some height which we lack up top.
of course there are questions about his attitude, but it would be hard not to be affected playing in that mess of a Chelsea squad.
it depends on the price we can get him for, but if Edu/Arteta want him then let’s get it done.
hard disagree. with mbappe on the left, teams wouldn’t be able to double mark saka on the right. and with odegaard feeding them both…
i love what martinelli brings, but mbappe is two tiers above him as a player
what does it mean for a journalist to get an ‘exclusive’ on an emotion? how exactly does that work?
he’s the best player in the world atm. no way you would say no to that, even if the fit isn’t ideal at first
does anybody know how reliable this source is?
agree about Sancho (and Havertz to a lesser extent), but Grealish has been pretty great this year. The situation he found himself in is obviously better than the one Pepe was in, but it’s hard to call him a flop.
The contents of the article do not match the click-baity title. There’s a reason why the initial reaction to reports of our interest in Castagne have been lukewarm - no one who’s consistently watched the PL this year would say that Castagne is a better player than White, much less “oust” him from our XI.
That being said, we need more depth, and if Edu/Arteta think they can incorporate him, then I’m all for it.
he can play anywhere across the front three, and would be genuine cover for Saka at RW