Sideshow Luiz

I'll trust you since you've seen him. Reports suggest that he's a different kind of player though, and sounds like he would fit in a midfield 3 with Kante and Fabregas nicely: http://www.espnfc.us/blog/scouts-notebook/78/post/2254651/marcelo-brozovic-dubbed-croatian-xavi,-but-is-he-up-to-scratch-for-arsenal http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2600415-scouting-barcelona-transfer-target-marcelo-brozovic Probably won't go anywhere though. Wouldn't be shocked if it's just a ploy by his agent to get a raise.

His YouTube clip looks good. It was nice to see some defensive clips in there. His game looks Marchisio-esque. It was nice to see him do Koulibaly in the one clip. Unless, of course, we sign Koulibaly, in which case it was just a one off play and it was the fault of the midfielder in front who didn't protect properly.

Can we just merge this thread with the Stones one?

Forgot about that. Thanks for killing my hopes straight away instead of taking an entire summer to do it slowly.

It would be difficult indeed. The easier thing would be to find a player to play with Fabs and Kante instead of Matic. Someone who can play box to box and offer more than Kante does in the attacking 3rd, but helps to cover Fabs defensively. Nainggolan is the obvious name that comes to mind. But, that doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Koke would be great, but we're not going to convince him to leave AM for us. Sissoko? Lars Bender? Bazoer (for the FM/FIFA crowd)? I'd love to get Saul from AM, I'm sure he'd cost less than the James numbers that have been going around (if we could tempt him to leave).

I think he's a fantastic player, but I have to say, I'm not that excited about it. In fact, I don't really want it. I don't see where he fits. Assuming that there is a budget, and not just "60M for James and no one else", I'd much rather have someone like Koke or Saul to complement our midfield. Fabregas needs to start over Matic. With Kante and Fabs, the 3rd midfielder would ideally be a B2B all-rounder type to help cover for Fabs defensive liabilities, but can also provide some offensive spark that Kante can not.

This rumour seems to have died. After today's performance, it seems we need another physical presence in midfield that can contribute a bit offensively. If not Mario, then please, someone else? (I'm looking at you, also dead Bazoer thread).

This is what I've been saying in the Fabs thread. Replicate Conte's Juve midfield where Pirlo had 2 B2B midfielder's around him. Pirlo with 2 of Pogba/Vidal/Marchisio Cesc with Kante and someone else: Some sort of Nainggolan-Saul-Koke-esque type player.

If we're tossing around 50-60M for a CB, how about a midfielder like Koke? I know Koke's a pipe dream, but maybe we could see another CM in? Koke-lite?

Or a Pogba-esque player. Renato Sanchez would have been a good fit.

I can see recycled headlines: "Costa should not have been on the pitch......" Print it all year long as far as I care. 3 points. Let's go.

It's funny to see where everyone's streams are at. That was a spoiler alert situation for me, but there seem to be quite a few who are even later than I am.

Can't be worse than Matic fumbling with the ball.

Fabregas for Matic, please.

I'd still love to have him here. Conte's Juve midfield was pretty solid. Pirlo with 2 of Vidal/Marchisio/Pogba. Pirlo pulling the strings from deep. If we had Nainggolan we could do that with Cesc Nainggolan and Kante. Need another CB as it would mean 3 ATB. Christensen coming back next year though...

90M for Pogba doesn't sound so crazy anymore.

Yeah, he was the most advanced, but played deeper in general that we're used to seeing him. At least it seemed that way to me. I don't remember the Willian/Oscar debate. But, I'd agree with you. Willian isn't all that in the final 3rd. Oscar gets a lot of stick here. And I don't love him either. He has his moments, just never 3 in a row. But, if he was our #1 issue, we'd be real title contenders. Need half a back line first. I guess I stick up for him a lot because I see a lot of "pay team X to take him" and stuff of that nature. It's something I don't really like in football. Everyone wants the really good players to be loyal, but if they "aren't good enough", it's get rid of him, he's useless, etc. etc. If Madrid came for Hazard next summer and he said he wanted to go, everyone would be calling him Judas and that he's a mercenary. Then turn around and tell someone else to do one because they aren't good enough. Just don't like it.

I thought Oscar played well tonight. He wasn't amazing or a match winner, but he was Solid, I thought. A couple of cheeky passes, a couple that didn't come of either. But, I like his deeper role.

I'm okay with Cesc. http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/666766/Cesc-Fabregas-Accused-Sparking-Chelsea-Tottenham-Brawl-Guus-Hiddink-Premier-League-News As far as ability goes, I think he could be Pirlo-like if we surround him with 2 beasts live Juve did.

This seems like a measured, reasonable analysis. Where am I?

I don't think this is going to happen anymore. This season is going to be painful at the back again. But, when Christensen comes back next season, we'll have him and Zouma. That's the hope we'll have to live with if this doesn't happen.

I'd be keen on this move. Striker prices are getting ridiculous. Football inflation is going through the roof.

I don't think it's FFP. I think we stopped spending in order to fund the stadium re-development. We're doing an Arsenal ATM.

Sub the sub in a glorified friendly. Not great, but the history between the two makes it bad. I loved Mata when he was here and I still have a soft spot for him even though he was only with us for 2 seasons. Genuinely seems like a nice guy. Hope he goes back to Spain to a club where he can be happy and play his technical football without everyone complaining about what he doesn't do. Maybe a return to Valencia or something.

If we spend 50, should we just go for Stones? We get a HG player as well then, plus Stones is 3 years younger. I don't know Koulibaly well enough to know if he's better than Stones. I've seen him play a few times, but I'm by no means an expert on him.