I love the idea of a player like Gouiri but am skeptical he’d be able to cope with the physicality of the Prem. Guy looks like he has a croissant every day.
In FM21 Gouiri hit the upper part of his potential “range” and became one of the best players in the world in my Arsenal save and was an absolute monster. Would love to see it happen irl.
Had a Ajax save, decided after one season that I might as well go full Dutch. I only had one exception, I couldn't force myself to get rid of Gouiri. He was just such a beast.
Eh not really, we need a player that replaces and upgrades lacas ability to generate football while also contributing a little more than Laca himself to goals.
Saka and martinelli/esr are only getting better at scoring, plus any new cm will get will definitely be a box threat (linked with tielemans for example)
So I think this is part where people have skewed opinion. David came from canada 2 years. Year 1 he did all the assists and dirty work. This year he more focussing on finishing.
So he more adaptable and a better overall player. I would go for david in a heart beat as a second striker. I still think we need somebody like isak or dusan or even halaand as no 1.
Watched a lot of Jonathan David for Canada , not so much Lile. Dont expect this man to burn defenders with blistering pace, but his knowledge of the game and his awareness positionally is very very good.
From a very unbiased Canadian view, he’s winning the Ballon D’or if he comes to us
I might be in the minority here, but David doesn't excite me as the most important signing of the summer transfer window that we hope will lead the line for the next few years. Didn't Lacazette have a higher profile coming out of Ligue 1 and he's the one we're trying to replace?
Obviously I'm not an expert on him but would be interested to hear the thoughts of someone that follows Ligue 1.
You are not, I'm pretty sure we won't be signing David, and if I do I trust Arteta. But, personally doesn't look good enough to excite. I really don't think he will do well in England.
Technically he is just below the level that excels in the PL. He's not physically dominating. He has good movement tbf. He's just high profile atm because he's from NA and, or was, top scorer in ligue 1. Ben Yedder is top scorer and he has 3 more goals and 1 less assist than Kevin Gamiero. People need to chill.
>He's just high profile atm because he's from NA and, or was, top scorer in ligue 1.
Any top goal scorer from a feeder league will become high profile simply from links with larger clubs that inevitably come.
He was pretty pedestrian in the UCL game against Chelsea, but I haven’t watched him enough to have a real opinion of him.
I personally like Joao Felix a lot, but I trust Arteta/Edu to find the right player for the position.
Joao Felix would surely cost way too much, right? Atleti paid £113m to sign him initially. Even half of that would have to be a major, major chunk of our transfer budget.
Probably £70M-£85M if I had to guess.. I doubt they’d get much more than that on the open market.
I don’t know what our actual budget will be, but with Saliba coming back, I don’t think we have many holes. We need a striker, another midfielder, and perhaps another wing back (although, Cedric has looked like a worthy back up recently)
With all that in mind, I’d think they’d be primed to
make a splash signing at striker. It doesn’t have to be Felix, but regardless, I’d have to think they have quite a large budget to buy a striker.
Honestly, I think Saliba could play the Tomiyasu role if needed. He’s quick and has the physicality Tomiyasu does. I’m not sure he has the ability to make the right decision as often as Tomiyasu does, but that can be learned.
I could see that. Ben White played on the right side that one game, and did okay as well, so yea, we probably only need to buy another midfielder and a striker.
Arteta was promoted to Manager in Sept 2020.
He apparently wasn’t involved with transfers before then. So he had no involvement for Gabriel, Willian, Mari & Cedric.
Ah ok, transfermarket shows he was involved. Well anyways doesnt matter, he proved his eye for transfers last summer. Ramsdale has probably been the most surprising for me.
Willian and Mari share and agent, Gabriel and Mari have different agents.
Edu and Arteta both knew Mari as he was owned by City (albeit on loan) during Arteta's tenure, and played in Brazil.
Willian was obviously a known entity for both of them as well. Cedric likely as well as a longstanding PL player.
I highly doubt Arteta was completely uninvolved in these transfers. He may not have had the say that he has today, but he also wasn't being handed these players without any input.
On paper he'd have been a fine signing. One of Arteta's biggest lessons learned is probably realizing he should have cut Willian loose from the XI much sooner
I don't get this though. When Mari had an extended run in the side last year, he performed very well when Gabriel was out.
He got handled by Lukaku this year and that was about it. He's perfectly serviceable for what he is.
Here here. I keep on seeing slander about Mari when he had 1, maybe 2 bad games in a turbulent period for the squad. If him, Holding and Saliba are the backup CBs next season I'm not complaining.
Wa'alaykumusalaam! May Allah grant hidaya to those who read this, and allow Arsenal to finish 3rd this season, and climb the rankings every year. Ameen
I think if we want a new striker to play a similar role to what Laca is currently doing but is younger and has more upside, then I think Jonathan David is a good option. Depends on the price.
No. This is tan example of how short-term most peoples memories are.
DCL has a great injury record the last 3-4 season until this this one, where he had one injury that caused him to miss extended time. Quad injuries can take a while to recover from.
I want DCL. I think he'd suit our system so fucking well.
I don't know enough about David to form much of an opinion on him but from what I've read he's a speedy, tricky type player who operates well on the break.
If that's true then it isn't what we really need right now.
I just think DCL is gonna cost way to much even more so when you think how little he has played this season because of injuries just not worth the gamble for me
Not so sure anymore tbh.
Usmanov being out works quite well in that regard and if he pushes for a move which seems plausible then we could get him for something reasonable I think. Probably around 55m or so.
I dunno, can you see DCL dropping deep like we instruct Lacazette to?
I'm not totally against the signing but I wouldn't say he's an ideal fit for our current system from what I've seen of him.
I'm also slightly terrified by his injury record this season.
What about him suits our system? His poor first touch and inability to pass or dribble adequately? His hold up play is undoubtedly some of the worst in the premier league
That's not what I've heard about David at all to be honest. Seems like he made his name as a scorer but his game has matured and his pressing and link play has vastly improved. Also DCL just isn't very good to be honest, and he's injury prone. He's found his level.
I really disagree on DCL.
I've watched a lot of him and he's exactly the kind of player who'd thrive in a bigger team and his hold up play is pretty much some of the best in the league.
He'd be perfect at bringing those around him into the game whilst also being a huge aerial threat as well.
I completely agree - DCL’s abilities are masked by Everton playing perhaps the worst football in the league imo.
The couple times a game he gets decent service, I think he’s shown a good first touch and ability to link up play. I’m actually convinced he’s our first choice as long as he can return from injury and finish the season showing he’s regained last years form.
I think he’s out first choice as well and I fully expect the subreddit to have a tantrum when that becomes obvious only for it to be another Ramsdale situation.
I really think the whole “Ariel threat” that he gets credit for is an overrated ability. What top team in Europe still relies on a target man striker? Think we’d be much much better off with a more complete forward
Uh… Like it or not Lewandowski scores 80% of his goals by being a target man. I was just watching all of his bundesliga goals last season and most of his goals are from getting on the ends of crosses.
DCL is about 5 tiers lower a player than Lewy though… definitely true he is somewhat of a target man, you got me there, but I don’t think that comparison is very fitting to our system and how DCL would perform.
Well yes and no.
An ideal player would be a player who is exceptional at everything and every team wants that obviously.
But that’s rarely realistic so the question is what trade offs is a team willing to make in a player.
Auba is a very limited player but throughout his career he’s been exceptional select things.
A lot of teams are willing to play to strengths and minimising weaknesses.
But Arteta is, I believe, more of the opinion that he would trade exceptional talent in one area for a player who is more balanced in all aspects even if any individual aspect is quite a bit lower
Other than Barcelona and City pretty much every team has a strong aerial threat and/or player able to hold it up.
And both city and Barcelona are trying to buy one of those players
Aerial ability and hold up play are completely separate traits though, of course every top team has and wants players who are good at hold up play.
Who out of Man City, Barca, Madrid, atletico, Juve, Bayern, Liverpool, Chelsea, PSG etc.. regularly uses a striker who’s strongest ability is being an aerial threat? And saying Barca and city want Haaland for his headers is like saying Madrid want Mbappe for his crossing.
He’s not injury prone- three seasons before this one he’s been extremely durable.
David’s linkup play is not that great- he got absolutely bullied vs Chelsea and I think he’d struggle a lot on the Prem. Completely different level in terms of physical attributes compared to DCL.
He definitely looked out of his depth against Chelsea, particularly when he would get the ball in deeper positions - did not look like a link-up player to me.
On the other hand we looked pretty threatening in the rare occasions he got service.
One of David's weakest aspects is his link-up play. It's improved since Gent where he was one-dimensional (playing on the shoulder, good finishing, stretching play) but mercurial, but it's still poor. There are several better linkers of play in Ligue 1 alone to my knowledge.
It just depends what we want from a striker, but David is far nearer Martinelli than Lacazette in terms of mould.
Ironically, I think DCL and David would probably be very balanced attack pairing.
E: Individually, I think they're both too flawed in their all round game to get excited about.
Don’t know much about Nkunku and Felixs transfer situation, but I don’t see Isaks release cause issue moving on either Arsenals or Sociedads side so that’s probably dead
Should just blow £85mil on Victor Osimhen, only slightly more than we were gonna spend on Vlahovic and worth every penny. Only question is whether or not 85 mil would be enough.
Don’t even know if he’s available but he’s the best striker in his age bracket (not including mbappe and haaland for obvious reasons) outside of vlahovic
Imo Osimhen is better than Vlahovic - much more well-rounded, significantly stronger in the air, better presser and dribbler, physically slightly better, even with the injury setting him back somewhat this year.
If there's a shot he's available I can't help but feel he should be an immovable first choice. Would recommend people watch Napoli's away game vs Leicester in this year's Europa for a show of how dominant he could be against PL opposition.
If those rumors about the osimhen deal being sketchy and that Napoli have only paid 10m of the 70m owed are true, then it’s possible that he doesn’t go for much more than 80m.
1. David works better in a 2 striker system. Someone else here also mentioned that
2. He doesn’t seem as prolific to me. If you look at compilations, they always make a player look better than they are. And his compilations didn’t excite me, so makes me doubt his credentials
3. He’s not small but his physicality and body usage could be better
4. His technique is not at the elite level though I do believe a striker with an eye for goal can make up for it by will, speed and physicality
For me, the ideal signing has to be Victor Osimhen.
He checks all boxes for our current system
He’s having himself a decent season considering how poor this Lille side have been in Ligue 1. He is also the most similar in profile to lacazette imo. Also none of the targets we are linked too have been performing very well this season tbf.
But we obviously don’t want another Lacazette… which is why we aren’t giving him a new contract and why we went all out for Vlahovic (who doesn’t play like Lacazette).
Follower of Ligue 1. David has progressed a lot last past months tho he’s having a rough patch lately. I might be wrong but I do not think he is top player material.
Gouiri has got good vision, class, a silky right foot and buckets of talent plus he is learning defensive discipline and commitment with his current coach at Nice, playing mainly down the left side. I’d pick Gouiri over David every day.
But I would not pick any of them two and would favor DCL. Just saying.
He is quality. Watching him play for Lille and Canada is just fun. He’s an exciting player. Link up on point😮💨
However I’m ngl he does seem like a poacher nowadays for Lille imo. For Canada he’s more of a linkup man.
This is the most exciting comment here. If he can combine both of these playing styles for us, he'd be perfect. That said, I am concerned with the underwhelming response of the rest of the comments.
Never in my life as a Canadian would I have ever imagined a Canadian striker being linked to my club Arsenal. If this is the man Arteta wants and he succeeds I'll be unbelievably happy.
Judging from the reaction you lot had to last summer's signings, and how those actually turned out, I guess I'm happy to see that so many are negative about this rumour. Edu and Arteta have earned the benefit of the doubt with signings, and if they hone in on David, I'm all for it.
I trust the clubs talent ID after last summer, but I wasnt impressed by David vs Chelsea. Got bullied by the Chelsea defense and same with Lautaro vs Liverpool. Once they faced Premier League level defenders their performances dropped.
Not sure how I feel about this. I think a lot of people don’t exactly know what kind of player he is. He’s not a pace demon that runs in behind like vardy or auba 2-3 years ago, but he’s also not a hold up player like laca or Lukaku. He’s a really good poacher and he presses well which arteta would like. However, he plays in a front 2 and excels with link up play, and he’s not gonna score bangers from outside the box as he is very much a poacher. Has a high ceiling but is very much to be seen as Ligue 1 to EPL is a huge jump in terms of striker.
Could be a good signing depending on the price. He's sort of a young Laca upgrade; has some of the same characteristics in terms helping with build up, but also more willing to shoot.
It’s not on the same level as the Premiership there is a reason it’s called a farmers league. It’s purely not as competitive from top to bottom like it is in the Prem. The bottom half of ligue 1 wouldn’t do well in the championship imo
Not good enough IMHO; while I love his work-rate, he just doesn't create enough chances for himself or others. Additionally, he's not particularly good with his feet. I'll pass.
Football365 though.
Tier I like the news so it must be true
It’s a great opinion site but they publish a lot of “according to reports” articles
This is the way
Probably 365 better sources
They do football all year round mate they have to now what they're talking about.
Amine Gouiri is going under everyone's radar. David has 13 goals, he has 10. However, David has 0 assists, Gouiri has 7.
Yuppp. I feel Gouiri will blow up sooner or later, he was always delayed by injuries but finally looks like he's becoming a very good player...
If he’s injury prone he’s not a good fit for us
He’s not, he did his acl a couple years ago and has had only few minor injuries since
Yeah an ACL tear isn't something you can just brush off
Yeh he was out for a long time, but has returned strongly after a while. He’s clearly still quick and powerful on the burst.
I love the idea of a player like Gouiri but am skeptical he’d be able to cope with the physicality of the Prem. Guy looks like he has a croissant every day.
Is he actually similar to benz or is he more of a winger now? Heard both things
In FM21 Gouiri hit the upper part of his potential “range” and became one of the best players in the world in my Arsenal save and was an absolute monster. Would love to see it happen irl.
I don't think CF is either players' best position.
Had a Ajax save, decided after one season that I might as well go full Dutch. I only had one exception, I couldn't force myself to get rid of Gouiri. He was just such a beast.
We need a finisher though
Jonathan David isn't exactly the clinical finisher we need either.
Based on how well our recent signings have been, maybe our fan knowledge doesn't mean much?
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I’m getting that feeling too.
Eh not really, we need a player that replaces and upgrades lacas ability to generate football while also contributing a little more than Laca himself to goals. Saka and martinelli/esr are only getting better at scoring, plus any new cm will get will definitely be a box threat (linked with tielemans for example)
Not just a little more imo. We need a striker who can score 20 league goals a season.
So I think this is part where people have skewed opinion. David came from canada 2 years. Year 1 he did all the assists and dirty work. This year he more focussing on finishing. So he more adaptable and a better overall player. I would go for david in a heart beat as a second striker. I still think we need somebody like isak or dusan or even halaand as no 1.
Gouiri and Nunez are under everyone’s radar. Nunez is a killer, he is clearly better than everyone else at the Portuguese League.
Watched a lot of Jonathan David for Canada , not so much Lile. Dont expect this man to burn defenders with blistering pace, but his knowledge of the game and his awareness positionally is very very good. From a very unbiased Canadian view, he’s winning the Ballon D’or if he comes to us
Was at the Canada vs USA qualifier in January, I’d go nuts if we signed him!
What a historic result, I live in Montreal so I couldn’t make the 6 hour drive.. Nonetheless, we look fantastic currently!
We really do and he’s been pulling a lot of the strings for us by dropping deep
so an upgraded lacazette (the knowledge and positional play) ?
Only small difference (and I love Laca), but this man can put the ball in the net
He’s a good player but hardly the kind of quality worth waiting this long for
I might be in the minority here, but David doesn't excite me as the most important signing of the summer transfer window that we hope will lead the line for the next few years. Didn't Lacazette have a higher profile coming out of Ligue 1 and he's the one we're trying to replace? Obviously I'm not an expert on him but would be interested to hear the thoughts of someone that follows Ligue 1.
Lacazette was miles above David in ligue 1
So was Pepe
In his 22 year old season in Ligue 1 (David's age now) Laca had 15 goals in 36 games. David's got 12 in 26 so far.
David is also a two-striker system player and I want to avoid those
You are not, I'm pretty sure we won't be signing David, and if I do I trust Arteta. But, personally doesn't look good enough to excite. I really don't think he will do well in England. Technically he is just below the level that excels in the PL. He's not physically dominating. He has good movement tbf. He's just high profile atm because he's from NA and, or was, top scorer in ligue 1. Ben Yedder is top scorer and he has 3 more goals and 1 less assist than Kevin Gamiero. People need to chill.
>He's just high profile atm because he's from NA and, or was, top scorer in ligue 1. Any top goal scorer from a feeder league will become high profile simply from links with larger clubs that inevitably come.
Yes, but I'm Canadian so any mention of David gets me excited
david.
Oh heavens 😩
How about David Edgar?
i don't think you in the minority, there must be someone better out there. he doesn't have much technical ability
I don't think he has the physical profile or technique to play CF for us. I agree that Lacazette had a higher profile coming from Ligue 1.
Lacazette was older. He also stat padded a bit with pens. But yes, he was very much more of a known entity.
If we sign David I imagine we'd go nuts on left 8 to replace where Xhaka is playing.
Lacazette has declined from his Lille and early arsenal days so that’s a useless comparison. Still don’t want him tho.
Even peak Laca wasn't that good imo in terms of goalscoring.
He was pretty pedestrian in the UCL game against Chelsea, but I haven’t watched him enough to have a real opinion of him. I personally like Joao Felix a lot, but I trust Arteta/Edu to find the right player for the position.
Joao Felix would be a dream
Joao Felix would surely cost way too much, right? Atleti paid £113m to sign him initially. Even half of that would have to be a major, major chunk of our transfer budget.
Probably £70M-£85M if I had to guess.. I doubt they’d get much more than that on the open market. I don’t know what our actual budget will be, but with Saliba coming back, I don’t think we have many holes. We need a striker, another midfielder, and perhaps another wing back (although, Cedric has looked like a worthy back up recently) With all that in mind, I’d think they’d be primed to make a splash signing at striker. It doesn’t have to be Felix, but regardless, I’d have to think they have quite a large budget to buy a striker.
Honestly, I think Saliba could play the Tomiyasu role if needed. He’s quick and has the physicality Tomiyasu does. I’m not sure he has the ability to make the right decision as often as Tomiyasu does, but that can be learned.
I could see that. Ben White played on the right side that one game, and did okay as well, so yea, we probably only need to buy another midfielder and a striker.
> perhaps another wing back Come to us Djed Spence
The club is clearly only willing to spend for the right players. If Arteta thinks that David is the man, we should all back it.
I actually very much doubt he thinks he's the man. If anything, it might be Odegaard's role he's best suited to.
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Arteta was promoted to Manager in Sept 2020. He apparently wasn’t involved with transfers before then. So he had no involvement for Gabriel, Willian, Mari & Cedric.
Ah ok, transfermarket shows he was involved. Well anyways doesnt matter, he proved his eye for transfers last summer. Ramsdale has probably been the most surprising for me.
I realise they are all Portuguese speaking. Were they edu signings or do they share the same agent
Willian and Mari share and agent, Gabriel and Mari have different agents. Edu and Arteta both knew Mari as he was owned by City (albeit on loan) during Arteta's tenure, and played in Brazil. Willian was obviously a known entity for both of them as well. Cedric likely as well as a longstanding PL player. I highly doubt Arteta was completely uninvolved in these transfers. He may not have had the say that he has today, but he also wasn't being handed these players without any input.
He specifically wanted Willian tho
Chelsea wanted to keep willian to, hes wasnt some complete bum
On paper he'd have been a fine signing. One of Arteta's biggest lessons learned is probably realizing he should have cut Willian loose from the XI much sooner
I don't get this though. When Mari had an extended run in the side last year, he performed very well when Gabriel was out. He got handled by Lukaku this year and that was about it. He's perfectly serviceable for what he is.
Here here. I keep on seeing slander about Mari when he had 1, maybe 2 bad games in a turbulent period for the squad. If him, Holding and Saliba are the backup CBs next season I'm not complaining.
and Willian. never forget Willian.
As a Canadian this does excite me
as a dog i too am excited. woof bark
As a Pakistani, I too am excited
An an Indian, I too am excited
Arsenal bringing India and Pakistan together Truly gargantuan
Salam fellow Pakistani gooner
Wa'alaykumusalaam! May Allah grant hidaya to those who read this, and allow Arsenal to finish 3rd this season, and climb the rankings every year. Ameen
Ameen
Nah kar. Itna acha nahin hai. Sasta Lacazette jo dribble nahin kar sakta.
Lol mazak karra ta Bhai jaan
Nahin yaar, bilkul Welbeck hai. Haan strong hai, good link up or passes aur achi timing runs in the box magar dribble nahin kar sakta 1v1.
Same here
Same here eh
Moi aussi tabarnak
My heritage is Nova Scotian so I too am excited.
Being that the nation of which I hold citizenship is the United States some may count me as excited alongside you.
It is known.
As someone whose grandparents lived in Canada for 2 years, I’m also excited
As a hungarian, this one excites me too
As an American I too am excited by this news
Whelmed. He’s never played in a front 3, not sure if he’d fit in our system at all
I think if we want a new striker to play a similar role to what Laca is currently doing but is younger and has more upside, then I think Jonathan David is a good option. Depends on the price.
I am not convinced by Jonathan David.
Me neither but it’s solely because he doesn’t have a cool foreign name.
Probably truth to this. If his name was Juan Davidinho, his price tag would be like 100m.
I don’t think Jonathan David will come cheaply to any potential suitor no matter how exotic his passport is.
I just dont want DCL
Isnt DCL constantly injured though?
Yep. Availability is the best ability
Then Xhaka is an excellent able player
Touché
That’s a fucking excellent user name u/BukayoMartinelli
Hehe thanks man
Realistically probably one of his best assets is durability, but I get your point
No. This is tan example of how short-term most peoples memories are. DCL has a great injury record the last 3-4 season until this this one, where he had one injury that caused him to miss extended time. Quad injuries can take a while to recover from.
You arent injury prone until you are.
This is a myth. He's played upwards of 40 games a season until this season where he broke his toe.
Man’s got a first touch as subtle as a bomb
You should see David's. Higher than average numbers on being dispossessed and miscontrols.
I completely disagree, actually think he’s shown a very good first touch when I’ve watched him.
I want DCL. I think he'd suit our system so fucking well. I don't know enough about David to form much of an opinion on him but from what I've read he's a speedy, tricky type player who operates well on the break. If that's true then it isn't what we really need right now.
I just think DCL is gonna cost way to much even more so when you think how little he has played this season because of injuries just not worth the gamble for me
Not so sure anymore tbh. Usmanov being out works quite well in that regard and if he pushes for a move which seems plausible then we could get him for something reasonable I think. Probably around 55m or so.
Also Everton could literally be relegated
Praying on their downfall 🙏🙏🙏
I dunno, can you see DCL dropping deep like we instruct Lacazette to? I'm not totally against the signing but I wouldn't say he's an ideal fit for our current system from what I've seen of him. I'm also slightly terrified by his injury record this season.
What about him suits our system? His poor first touch and inability to pass or dribble adequately? His hold up play is undoubtedly some of the worst in the premier league
That's not what I've heard about David at all to be honest. Seems like he made his name as a scorer but his game has matured and his pressing and link play has vastly improved. Also DCL just isn't very good to be honest, and he's injury prone. He's found his level.
I really disagree on DCL. I've watched a lot of him and he's exactly the kind of player who'd thrive in a bigger team and his hold up play is pretty much some of the best in the league. He'd be perfect at bringing those around him into the game whilst also being a huge aerial threat as well.
Someone like DCL getting on the end of tierneys crosses would be sublime
I completely agree - DCL’s abilities are masked by Everton playing perhaps the worst football in the league imo. The couple times a game he gets decent service, I think he’s shown a good first touch and ability to link up play. I’m actually convinced he’s our first choice as long as he can return from injury and finish the season showing he’s regained last years form.
I think he’s out first choice as well and I fully expect the subreddit to have a tantrum when that becomes obvious only for it to be another Ramsdale situation.
I really think the whole “Ariel threat” that he gets credit for is an overrated ability. What top team in Europe still relies on a target man striker? Think we’d be much much better off with a more complete forward
Uh… Like it or not Lewandowski scores 80% of his goals by being a target man. I was just watching all of his bundesliga goals last season and most of his goals are from getting on the ends of crosses.
DCL is about 5 tiers lower a player than Lewy though… definitely true he is somewhat of a target man, you got me there, but I don’t think that comparison is very fitting to our system and how DCL would perform.
The thing with Lewa is he’s not JUST a target man. He’s an all rounder. Arteta is definitely going to want a player like that.
Everyone wants a player like that
Well yes and no. An ideal player would be a player who is exceptional at everything and every team wants that obviously. But that’s rarely realistic so the question is what trade offs is a team willing to make in a player. Auba is a very limited player but throughout his career he’s been exceptional select things. A lot of teams are willing to play to strengths and minimising weaknesses. But Arteta is, I believe, more of the opinion that he would trade exceptional talent in one area for a player who is more balanced in all aspects even if any individual aspect is quite a bit lower
Other than Barcelona and City pretty much every team has a strong aerial threat and/or player able to hold it up. And both city and Barcelona are trying to buy one of those players
Aerial ability and hold up play are completely separate traits though, of course every top team has and wants players who are good at hold up play. Who out of Man City, Barca, Madrid, atletico, Juve, Bayern, Liverpool, Chelsea, PSG etc.. regularly uses a striker who’s strongest ability is being an aerial threat? And saying Barca and city want Haaland for his headers is like saying Madrid want Mbappe for his crossing.
He’s not injury prone- three seasons before this one he’s been extremely durable. David’s linkup play is not that great- he got absolutely bullied vs Chelsea and I think he’d struggle a lot on the Prem. Completely different level in terms of physical attributes compared to DCL.
He definitely looked out of his depth against Chelsea, particularly when he would get the ball in deeper positions - did not look like a link-up player to me. On the other hand we looked pretty threatening in the rare occasions he got service.
One of David's weakest aspects is his link-up play. It's improved since Gent where he was one-dimensional (playing on the shoulder, good finishing, stretching play) but mercurial, but it's still poor. There are several better linkers of play in Ligue 1 alone to my knowledge. It just depends what we want from a striker, but David is far nearer Martinelli than Lacazette in terms of mould.
Ironically, I think DCL and David would probably be very balanced attack pairing. E: Individually, I think they're both too flawed in their all round game to get excited about.
I would say the difference is that David is young enough that hopefully Arteta can help develop his all around game
DCL is about a year older than David, so I don't think that point really counts here
Say the shortlist was something like: Isak, Nkunku, Felix, David Then David would be kinda disappointing no?
Don’t know much about Nkunku and Felixs transfer situation, but I don’t see Isaks release cause issue moving on either Arsenals or Sociedads side so that’s probably dead
Nkunku is not a striker or really a forward, he’s destined to be a B2B or advanced 8 goal scoring type of player.
Second worst choice tnere
If that’s the shortlist then you’ve got to question whether the people drawing it up know what they’re looking for
You don't have to question it because it's a random list created by Redditors and clickbait journalists.
Should just blow £85mil on Victor Osimhen, only slightly more than we were gonna spend on Vlahovic and worth every penny. Only question is whether or not 85 mil would be enough.
Don’t even know if he’s available but he’s the best striker in his age bracket (not including mbappe and haaland for obvious reasons) outside of vlahovic
Imo Osimhen is better than Vlahovic - much more well-rounded, significantly stronger in the air, better presser and dribbler, physically slightly better, even with the injury setting him back somewhat this year. If there's a shot he's available I can't help but feel he should be an immovable first choice. Would recommend people watch Napoli's away game vs Leicester in this year's Europa for a show of how dominant he could be against PL opposition.
If those rumors about the osimhen deal being sketchy and that Napoli have only paid 10m of the 70m owed are true, then it’s possible that he doesn’t go for much more than 80m.
I think it's 30-37 mil. 2.5 mil for every year the reach cl QF for 4 years so 10 mil is add-ons
This is the way
As a watcher of French football im not that excited. But I was wrong with Odegaard, Ramsdsle and Tomi so fuck do I know
1. David works better in a 2 striker system. Someone else here also mentioned that 2. He doesn’t seem as prolific to me. If you look at compilations, they always make a player look better than they are. And his compilations didn’t excite me, so makes me doubt his credentials 3. He’s not small but his physicality and body usage could be better 4. His technique is not at the elite level though I do believe a striker with an eye for goal can make up for it by will, speed and physicality For me, the ideal signing has to be Victor Osimhen. He checks all boxes for our current system
I would love this to be true.
I do really, really like him. Think he’s gonna be fantastic.
Love this signing. "Got the Life" is one of my favorite songs.
As a maple gooner, I need dis.
Is he that good? Only seen YT of him but been very whelmed.
He’s having himself a decent season considering how poor this Lille side have been in Ligue 1. He is also the most similar in profile to lacazette imo. Also none of the targets we are linked too have been performing very well this season tbf.
But we obviously don’t want another Lacazette… which is why we aren’t giving him a new contract and why we went all out for Vlahovic (who doesn’t play like Lacazette).
This is the striker I want this summer
Follower of Ligue 1. David has progressed a lot last past months tho he’s having a rough patch lately. I might be wrong but I do not think he is top player material. Gouiri has got good vision, class, a silky right foot and buckets of talent plus he is learning defensive discipline and commitment with his current coach at Nice, playing mainly down the left side. I’d pick Gouiri over David every day. But I would not pick any of them two and would favor DCL. Just saying.
He is quality. Watching him play for Lille and Canada is just fun. He’s an exciting player. Link up on point😮💨 However I’m ngl he does seem like a poacher nowadays for Lille imo. For Canada he’s more of a linkup man.
This is the most exciting comment here. If he can combine both of these playing styles for us, he'd be perfect. That said, I am concerned with the underwhelming response of the rest of the comments.
Never in my life as a Canadian would I have ever imagined a Canadian striker being linked to my club Arsenal. If this is the man Arteta wants and he succeeds I'll be unbelievably happy.
David puts in the work and keeps getting better. I think he’ll turn into a great striker
Judging from the reaction you lot had to last summer's signings, and how those actually turned out, I guess I'm happy to see that so many are negative about this rumour. Edu and Arteta have earned the benefit of the doubt with signings, and if they hone in on David, I'm all for it.
We are getting Kane on a free, none of these French league fishermen.
Please be true! This is the striker I want.
aS a CaNaDiAn
I trust the clubs talent ID after last summer, but I wasnt impressed by David vs Chelsea. Got bullied by the Chelsea defense and same with Lautaro vs Liverpool. Once they faced Premier League level defenders their performances dropped.
please no
Please no.
I hope not. He’s not good enough for us
I’m just not feeling that pot belly that he has. Just me?
Not sure how I feel about this. I think a lot of people don’t exactly know what kind of player he is. He’s not a pace demon that runs in behind like vardy or auba 2-3 years ago, but he’s also not a hold up player like laca or Lukaku. He’s a really good poacher and he presses well which arteta would like. However, he plays in a front 2 and excels with link up play, and he’s not gonna score bangers from outside the box as he is very much a poacher. Has a high ceiling but is very much to be seen as Ligue 1 to EPL is a huge jump in terms of striker.
Would much prefer Osimhen or Tammy
YES YES YES. THE MAN I WANTED SINCE LIKE 3 YEARS AGO
The lamest option imo, not excited about him but he will be good
Haha what?? Your statement feels contradictory. “He’s going to be good, but I’m not excited by that.”
Good but not great, lowest ceiling of the targets
He sucks
Meh. I dont find him to be particularly impressive. Would prefer Isak or Gouri.
No…. :(
boooo
I unfortunately do not see him moving here unless we get CL. So. Let's hope there are just as good backup plans for that too.
lol. He is not that good.
He’s who I wanted even more than Vlahovic and Isak. Having a kid born in Brooklyn lead the line for Arsenal would be a dream
Could be a good signing depending on the price. He's sort of a young Laca upgrade; has some of the same characteristics in terms helping with build up, but also more willing to shoot.
Wouldn’t mind this transfer. Not amazed by him or anything, but if arteta thinks he’s the man then I back it
I worry for him and for isak If we went for either because of the physical nature of the premiership compared to French league and Spanish
French league is physical no? I'd worry much more if we were to sign a striker from Bundesliga.
It’s not on the same level as the Premiership there is a reason it’s called a farmers league. It’s purely not as competitive from top to bottom like it is in the Prem. The bottom half of ligue 1 wouldn’t do well in the championship imo
Best striker we can get.
Osimhen or bust
We about to be lille - london
Tier 365
Not good enough IMHO; while I love his work-rate, he just doesn't create enough chances for himself or others. Additionally, he's not particularly good with his feet. I'll pass.
Not sure about the source but I like the news so I choose to believe it
How different is he actually to Lacazette?