this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
81 points (91.8% liked)

Football (Soccer fútbol fußball 足球 )

5679 readers
54 users here now

Here for discussion of all things association football/soccer!

Rules

Other Football/Soccer Related Communities

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

#WHUFC have now accepted #AFC payment structure on record £100m + £5m fee. 24yo England midfielder given permission to do medical & finalise personal terms @TheAthleticFC https://theathletic.com/4648727/2023/07/04/declan-rice-arsenal-medical/

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It seems like they're going to be changing a decent amount if their starters in one window. With Xhaka and Partey potentially leaving presumably they need to sign another midfielder in addition to Rice?

Timber, Rice, Havertz minimum as new starters.

[–] ThePowerOfGeek 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Lokonga's almost certainly gone too.

As it stands, our starting central midfield will be:

Havertz - Rice - Odegaard

With backups being:

Smith Rowe - Jorginho / Elneny - Vieira

Probably still need at least one other midfielder. I know Lokonga wasn't playing last season so good departure should be a net zero loss. But we now have CL and need more able bodies. And of our backups, Smith Rowe has been struggling with injuries, Elneny is past his prime and not competing for a starting place, and Vieira still seems to be struggling with the pace of the game every other match.

[–] thegenesis 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

He wants to leave and I don't think Arsenal are going to stop him.

Juve and a Saudi Arabian club are the rumoured interested parties.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Can't say I really get Havertz playing deeper but Mikel obviously knows his stuff and sees potential there.

Its inevitably going to take a while for the midfield to gel though.