This rings true:
The Short Fuse
@TheShortFuse
Thomas Lemar on the verge to Liverpool, and if so Wenger either sucks at transfers or lied to everyone. Or both
The deal to Chelsea isn't final. After yesterday, I'm not sure I'd take him if I were Klopp. Give me Lemar and VVD and sell Coutinho.
Ox to LFC. Origi is probably going on loan to Wolfsburg. LFC is reportedly battling Barca for Lemar and they still want to bring in VVD. The end of the summer transfer window is always interesting.
That would be awesome.
It appears Drinkwater is heading to West London.
I'm more keen on Llorente at this point, he'd be perfect depth up front.
If Chelsea close with Llorente and Drinkwater, Although the same can be argued with Drinkwater, he's going to lose playing time in this switch, so not sure what the motivation is, but maybe he wants to be on the pitch to win the FA Cup or get the occasional injury/suspension start in the PL. Either way, I'll take it.
Alrighty then, Drinkwater it is.
Oxlade-Chamberlain owns 2.5% of the agency company representing himself.
Transfer News Live
@DeadlineDayLive
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be paid £125,000-a-week by Liverpool. Turned down a £180,000-a-week new Arsenal contract. (Source: @SkyKaveh)
Player and agent lied all spring and summer intention to sign new deal.
Arsenal offer highest wage on the books...? yeah... shit or get off the pot mate.
Chelsea rumored to offer 200k/week...? yeah... shit or get off the pot mate.
Ox needs to play in a WC year and hasn't convinced for his starting role at Arsenal.
Arsene-al now caught in spiral they've narrowly avoided for too long.
Time to move on for both parties.
6 years at Arsenal
154 games MISSED through injury
132 played
9 goals
14 assists
23 chances
Looks like Sanchez is headed to City (which is the only sensible move for the Gooners). You can't turn down £60 million for a player you are going to lose for nothing next season. Not that Arsenal fans will look at it rationally.
"Money Can't Buy Me Love" vs. "Money Changes Everything".
For either Chelsea or LFC.
He's not going to start at either place. He's squad depth for both. I don't think he'll be happy with his role at either club (but he'll get UCL football in West London and Anfield).
1. He'll be needed to cover for injuries, which always seem to plague Liverpool.
2. He'll be needed for those Tuesday/Wednesday games as Liverpool moves into the knockout rounds (exuding unwarranted confidence).
its a directional sprinting/attacking based approach.
Ox is not a creative fielder, he will beat a defense on the dribble. He would be a great super sub for tired legs to run at the opposition after 65+ minutes or an ideal replacement for an injury to a guy like Salah.
Lord knows Jurgen's achilles is depleting a squad through a season (pun definitely intended).
I'm exaggerating, but not really. The locker room must be an awful place right now. Wenger is clearly winding down his tenure. Ozil, Sanchez and Ox all want out. The years of simply treading water are catching up. And Arsenal still doesn't show signs of playing with the big boys in the transfer market.
Until yesterday, it's not like Liverpool showed signs of that either. But as you say they did offer UCL and a manager that has a vision for the long term. And it's not Ox at wing back. Ox will most certainly get regular playing time as a backup to either winger and challenging for a CM spot with Gini and Can (and either Coutinho or Lemar).
Liverpool still need options at wing. Imagine an injury to Mane or Salah. Suddenly the squad looks incredibly thin again.
Klopp or Conte could develop him in ways Wenger wouldn't or couldn't.
If he goes to Chelsea along with Barkley, how do they help? I like Barkley, but neither are "splash" signings.
They need squad depth.
And they are focusing on English players because they are a bit out of whack with the FA (or I should say they are up against the limits of homegrown players).
It's why they are going after Ox, Barkley and Drinkwater.
None of them are expected to start, but Chelsea has 7 matches in September and are alarmingly thin (red cards and injuries have exposed this early).
The starting 11 is fine
Morata
Hazard-Willian
Kante-Fabregas
Alonso-Moses
Cahill-Luiz-Azpilicueta
Courtois
It's the depth behind them that his the problem:
Batshuayi
Pedro-Kenedy-Musonda
Bakayoko
Rudiger-Christensen
Caballero-Eduardo
They need more cover other than Batshuayi. It's why they are still making offers being linked to
Belotti and Llorente
Ox, Drinkwater and Mahrez
We shall see what the coming days bring, but I don't expect big name starting XI type players to head to Stamford Bridge. They need squad depth.
Otherwise that squad looks pretty deep to me other than at forward.
Chelsea seems to be in on lots of players at the end here too. I expect they'll be fine.
But all indications are another season on loan. I included him because he hasn't actually been loaned out as of yet (Newcastle is the latest rumor).
It's not uncommon to buy a player and loan him back to the club. Perhaps that is happening here with Keita. Or perhaps it is a new twist. With such large investment, it may be a way to mitigate risk if he is injured during the season. Who knows.
With FSG, I can certainly see them caving on the Coutinho situation and actually letting them leave this summer. Especially if they can get a guy like Lemar.
Selling Coutinho this summer certainly let's them splash extra money to try and get the Keita, Lemar and VVD deals over the line.