LDN Blue

To be honest, I'm not sure what Mikel has to offer anywhere else lmao. He has a ton of experience, which is the only reason I see clubs really taking a punt on him.

LOL. Reminds me of when Dalglish wanted shirt sponsors over points

I'm seeing people are upset over the reported fee of £10.9m, but come on guys were you expecting £20m? Yeah you can argue that 33 is relatively young for a GK, but no-one's paying over the odds for a player that age. The fee is irrelevant anyway, it's instantly downgraded when the player wants to leave. The club doesn't hold the bargaining power. I don't think we're getting anything out of this deal, from Arsenal's side. It's a fallacy to think Wenger is about to do something as stupid as give away Oxlade, as I've read, considering how vital these players are becoming. After the whole Lampard affair, I can't be bothered to care about Cech going to Arsenal to be honest. I probably won't be 'cheering' him every time as some fans will, I support the club.

I don't know if it's just me, but I think Sterling's ceiling of ability is sky high. I truly think, under the right mentor, he can become one of the world's best players. It's not out of a misplaced sense of loyalty because he's English either. I think being an English player is a double edged sword. Sometimes it makes you overhyped and sometimes, like in this case, it's a deterrent for people to rate them accurately. I think if Sterling wasn't English, he'd have a lot more admirers than current. One of the main reasons people aren't keen right now is because of how he's acting to leave Liverpool, but hey wouldn't you? That being said, I think Chelsea's stance is great. He hasn't shown enough to justify £50m, though I think one day he will. I hope Raheem chooses us over City, but the lure of City's money can be too much for these kids sometimes.

Ospina is no Cech. Let's not underestimate this signing, Terry hit the nail on the head with his TalkSport interview.. Arsenal have bought themselves a good 15 points with Cech in goal. Reliable, confident & experienced, he won't make the same rookie mistakes at Ospina & Szcz-..

I'll take Guzan if they want Begovic that badly. The American isn't bad at all, he's a great shot stopper from what I remember.

Oh mad, didn't know that. I hope they play at Wembley, just down the road (almost) from me!

What's this 50k loophole you speak of..?

God I hope not..

Yeah isn't it the case in Italian football that they don't really have club legends aside from the ones who actually end their careers with them?

Well let's not forget Butland's age, he was around 19/20 back then? Even now, he's only 22 so he's got time to live up to the potential he seems to show. But yeah, for us it would've been a case of loan & sell.

Ah yes, the infamous Ross Turnbull now I've definitely got shivers down my spine! You know thinking about it, we've been incredibly lucky with the calibre of goalkeepers we've been blessed with. Where United & Arsenal struggled with life post Schmeichel & Seaman respectively, we've had it relatively easy. Bonetti, Beasant, de Goey, Cudicini, Cech, Courtois. In between that there was Schwarzer too! We've not been shy go after others either. Iirc, this isn't our first approach for Begovic (I believe Carlo went for him?) and it wasn't too long ago we wanted Butland, before he settled on Stoke.

I know this might be obvious, but that opinion was...?

I feel sorry for Cech.. With Wenger as his manager, he's never going to beat us

Yeah, it's strange isn't it? But the GK position is one where I guess a goalkeeper doesn't mind being second fiddle at a big club because they will get a good amount of exposure, knowing a single keeper won't play the entire season and it's only really a 2-man position in the overall matchday squad. And definitely agree to the latter. Years of having Hilario have been bad enough, I still continue to remember his howlers especially against Man City

That's exactly why I don't think he should come here. He's actually a great goal keeper and I think there's many places, even in Europe, where he'd go and be their #1. But if he wants to come, it would be a great line up of Thibaut-Asmir as #1-#2

Agreed, Arsenal's squad on the whole looks full of depth and quality. There's an argument that Cech could be the final piece of the puzzle, though I think they're about 3 WC signings away from that. I still think that Wenger will continue to be Arsenal's downfall, him and their atrocious luck with injuries/their lack of an outstanding medical department. Jose's no fool though, he's going to see Arsenal's ambition & actions in this window and reciprocate them (I HOPE). Last summer Chelsea clearly were the winners in astute, quality, timely signings as well as appropriate loan recalls. The window is technically still closed and we can only really hope that deals are being done in the background that the media is being shunned out of, it's not past Chelsea to carry out business like this.

Meh, I don't really care now. I just hope this club pulls of some extraordinary signings between now and September that means Arsenal can sign whoever the f*ck they want, but still won't challenge.

£5m is nothing. Astute business.

Much obliged everyone! :tophat:

Me neither and I made that point in reply to someone in the general transfers thread. He may not, but we don't want to help him strengthen that team and do the improbable.

What's underestimated by a lot of people is this current Arsenal team. I mentioned it in another post, but at the rate they're going (making big name signings) they're not far off from being title rivals. Giving them Cech on a platter is just filling another position they desperately require filling. After that they need a few players here and there, a half decent medical team and next thing you know they're pushing us for the title.

Agreed. While this may be an unpopular opinion, I stand by it. We should do everything to keep Cech away from Arsenal, even if that means he sees out his contract.

Meh, fuck the monarchy.

Atrocious. As much of a legend he is, the club should've said no.