Jase

Regarding this Kante-Inter rumors, worth mentioning that the Inter board reportedly told Conte (when they had their talks last week) that they won't be able to spend big money, the kind of money that they spent on Lukaku last year this summer.

I know and Inter must be taking the piss if they think Marina will sell Kante for 50-60 million. He still has 3 years left on his contract and earns 300k p/w wages.

Conte wants Kante? Sure, 100 million at the very least and we'll talk. Otherwise, F O!

Getting that kind of money would be good but on the other hand, I want us to be like Real Madrid or Barcelona, where players see us as the end goal, the best club there is to join and not just like a stepping stone to someone bigger.

Cech wasn't going to come out and say Kepa is shit and is up for sale in the public, was he?

Don't say I didn't warn you. It was reported that Havertz wanted to move to Real Madrid and Real Madrid were one of the clubs interested in him but couldn't buy him right now because of the pandemic. Put those together and we could be in for another Hazard situation down the road.

Don't get too attached though. He'll leave for Real Madrid in 2-3 years.

From the Spurs documentary, I think...

Let's not also forget - Sancho is English too. Bound to be a bigger hype if United get him.

There's more!

Because we got spoilt by our previous generation of players. Now, am not saying Azpi is like Terry, Lampard, Drogba etc. He isn't but because he supposedly isn't screaming or seen constantly organizing the defence, he becomes an easy stick to beat with when things go around, he gets blamed because of the defensive incompetency of others. He isn't quite as consistent and flawless as he was say 2-3 years ago but he's still by far our most reliable defender. He might even feel relieved that Silva has joined! As for the stuff Azpi does off the pitch, yeah. The club captain has lots of responsibilities off the pitch as well and if you read the news/stories, you'll notice that he does represent the club extremely well and is also well respected by the players as well as being thought highly by by our managers over the years. Only a few weeks ago, Lampard praised him at length after the Champions League game (or maybe the FA Cup final).

Finally? At last? Maybe??

Leverkusen have posted pics and videos of their players back for pre-season testing etc and Havertz isn't in any of them.

The Athletic also did the same thing and basically said Barcelona have a strong argument for their case.

That's the exit clause that allows Messi to walk away for free, which he needs to inform the club by the end of the season that he wants to activate it. He did that but there's argument/debate/confusion over what's actually stated in the contract, what's the exact wording for it etc. From a financial perspective, Barcelona would be crazy to let Messi walk away for nothing. They won't get 700 million euros but they could get say 200-300 million euros for him if someone is crazy enough to pay him and that would still be a lot of money. And given they have a huge financial problem as well, that money would go a long way to easing that problem.

Looks like we aren't the only ones spending money out there...

This is gonna be fun a legal battle ahead...

Most clubs are on the same boat. United and City haven't even started their pre-season yet. Don't really think it would be an issue for future signings to fit in immediately, especially the keeper and defenders. For instance, we signed Kepa 3 days before the start of the season 2 years ago and he immediately went into the XI in the first game. Silva, maybe, won't start the first game at most since he's in quarantine anyway. Havertz, if/when he does come, would probably have been slowly integrated as well.

Don't think clubs have much of a choice. Players will only return to their clubs on Sept 8-9 and the season starts on Sept 12. Only City and United have some space to play 1-2 pre-season games before their first league match.

TBF, Arsenal have won the FA Cup a number of times in the last 4-5 years anyway. Doesn't really make any difference.

This injury thing is starting to take the piss. Soon, we'll not only have to worry about getting the win but also the players not getting injured in matches!

Just saw it and I noticed that there's a hand praying emoji in the post...

They are obviously different strikers and at different age but the contrast was so stark when we saw Werner and then Giroud upfront.