Jase

Just got around to listening to the podcast where Matt Law said that. He actually said Rice has only rejected two contract offers so far (in line with what was reported recently) and he would reject it again if West Ham were to offer another one. And with Rice only have 3 years left on his contract, West Ham would be keen to sell him as early as possible because his value will obviously drop each year. They would consider 60 million+ offer for him. Other bits that Matt Law also said: - Broja could well go out on loan. - On Haaland, nothing new. Nothing is happening. Both clubs' position is clear. We want him but no inclination from Dortmund that they would sell Haaland this summer. All depends on how long we want to drag out the interest this summer before going for alternatives (if we haven't already). - Club tried to have another go at Kane but it won't happen for obvious reasons. Tuchel doesn't care about the whole rivalry thing but the club know it's impossible to get a deal done. - On Lukaku, there are still talks behind the scenes, despite his public declaration that he'll stay. - Between Haaland, Lukaku and Kane, a deal for Lukaku is more doable because Inter still need money, even though they have said otherwise. That could change if Dortmund suddenly budge and maybe lower their asking price. - Club in a tricky situation over the ST situation. They don't want to commit to a big deal without knowing someone will buy Abraham and they also don't want to sell Abraham without knowing that they will sign a ST. The latter situation would put the club in an unfavorable position because others would know we would be desperate for a ST. It's not clear cut which ST we will get and it's not clear cut that we will end up signing a new one. Not beyond the realm of possibility that we'll go into the season with Werner, Havertz and Abraham as the three ST options. - Club would listen to offers for Ziyech but not sure where the offer will come from because the club would want the money back, if not more. (Saw a report yesterday that Milan are still interested in Ziyech but unlikely to make a move for him)

Well, if they want Abraham...

Not sure if Traore is high on the priority list given we still got James, Azpi and even CHO for the RWB spot. Think the club and Tuchel both want Rice and if we can't get him, we might then turn to Tchouameni.

Apologies. Not sure how that became your post.

How much do you think those 3 players will improve Arsenal? They signed players like Pablo Mari, Soares, Willian, Partey last year and went nowhere with those lot. Their brightest players were their left back in Tierney as well as Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, two players from their academy. By that, I assuming you mean the likes of Haaland? If so, then you can't really complain we're going after targets that their clubs don't want to sell and turn around to say that we can't close out deals (doesn't seem like we've started any deals either). Less spectacular names like? A big name striker aside, there's still time to sign the others. Think the club will sign a midfielder and may make their move on Rice.

But they also allowed Lewandowski to go to Bayern for free instead of the taking some kind of money from them. Could also maybe throw in Dembele, who they didn't want to sell but ended up having to because he forced the move. And on hindsight, one could say they made the right decision to not budge last year and kept Sancho for another season because he was the big reason why they managed to finish in the Top 4 and win the DFB Pokal. Yes but guess that's the longer term plan anyway. Apparently Marco Rose made a promise to not go after any Gladbach players this summer. So think Plea is out of the question although I saw that they might go for Thuram next year. Kalajdzic only has one year of experience in the Bundesliga while Weghorst may be decent in that league, it's a different matter altogether whether Dortmund think he suits them, their playing style etc. None of the notable clubs have gone after Weghorst.

At this point, I don't know if people just want us to sign someone or sign a quality player.

As I've said before, I wouldn't say that's a guarantee. They have a history in this situation and am sure they are also not stupid to realize that there is no real top striker available right now. Who can they get that will guarantee them goals and make sure they don't go bust under a new manager next season? I know some suggested Vlahovic previously but last season was his breakout(?) season, he's still young and I don't think Dortmund have forgotten what happened the last time they signed a notable striker from Serie A. On a similar note, we should also remember that we also kept Hazard for one more season in 2018 even though we could have sold him earlier for more money.

I know The Athletic namechecked Lukaku very recently but unless Matt Law knows something that the others (like the Italian media) don't, it feels like he's the only one pushing this story? Plus, spending over 100 million on a 28-year-old, who isn't even Messi or Ronaldo, is insanity. Better off just throwing the bank at Haaland at that point. But unlike Sancho last year, Dortmund haven't exactly made public what it would take to get Haaland this summer, have they? All this talk of a big bid have come from journalists, who may or may not be making things up and the same ones that have also said Dortmund won't sell him this year.

You mentioned Arsenal's transfer business like you wouldn't go mad if we suddenly bought Tavares, Lokonga and White. Also no guarantee that United and Leicester will immediately be better because of who they have signed. We should know this better than most considering our experience last season. If anything, we might have the advantage given the players we bought have had another (or a) year of PL experience under their belt, are settled and have a proper manager now to get more out of the players. Plus, let's not forget that City haven't signed anyone - no guarantee they will sign Kane and/or Grealish either - and Liverpool haven't done anything after announcing Konate what seemed like ages now. Yes, one could say they have proven players etc but their squads are also arguably, perhaps a tad stale by now. For all the focus on Liverpool's (for example) defensive injury problems last season, they also struggled at the other end (remember their horrendous home form?) and only got into the Top 4 because of a late winning run towards the end of the season, which they benefited from Leicester's collapse.

Ha! It'll be the Arsenal-Suarez situation all over again.

Trade 2 players for 1 without any cash involved? Or 21 million + Abraham + Barkley as a free gift? 🤣

Define "over 60 million". 🤨 Does that mean we'll have to pay only 21 million if we offer cash plus Abraham for Rice?

Seems like all or most of the players have been given longer than the 3-week break that was mentioned, if Kovacic's latest social media is anything to go by... Assuming Kante, Kovacic and the German lads will be back next week.

Yes, till the point another outlet like Goal published this yesterday... https://www.goal.com/en/news/why-is-christian-pulisic-called-captain-america-usmnt-stars/15i2b4qqmton1kznplkm7uez4

I believe they quoted from The Sun, which was the original source of the rumor.

A tad convenient to just link him with us. And/But, no thanks...

Again, nothing new then. Same thing as The Athletic reported.

Isn't it only close to 50 million? EDIT: Never mind. Forgot 1-2 others.

Would just like to say that there's no guarantee that Sancho would be an immediate success for United, despite his excellence in the Bundesliga. Am sure we were sitting here last year going gaga over Werner and Havertz when we got them, only to see them struggle for various reasons across the season. If people want to go down the if route by saying things like "Liverpool defence being back could add a extra 10 points for them", then why can't they do the same regarding our attackers? Yes, we struggled for goals last season but that was largely down to our attackers facing different problems. Some had injuries, some had confidence issues, some struggled for consistency. But what's to say with the last season over, a good summer break and another year of experience under belt, they won't do better? Not sure the specific loss of Giroud makes much of a difference considering Tuchel barely used him in the end or after the Atletico Madrid game in February. And would like to think that we will sign a midfielder. Every team will need some luck along the way to achieve something. Liverpool, for example, got it aplenty during the run-in despite their winning run. For all the talk of the lack of goals, part of the reason why we finished in the Top 4 by a narrow margin was because we flopped almost all the six-pointers against teams around us under Lampard. Things improved dramatically when we got a manager who actually instilled a tactical plan and cohesion.

So in other words, nothing has happened aka as we were etc...