Starting XI - if we have £50million to spend in the summer

You think Carra is a problem we have to go out and spend money on another CB? We need a RB!

yeah, that's why i included santon in the mix. i'm just saying. this is my ideal team. carra is obviously still a powerhouse for the team but he has been making a lot of mistakes as of late. some of which were pretty costly. and kjaer seems like a good sub who can make it into the 1st team coz carra won't be the same in teh near future. i honestly would like to see someone to replace maxi. i just don't really know who we could put in there. not too much of a lennon fan. i like the prospect of developing hazard from lille or sotiris ninis fro panathinaikos (not sure if that's the right spelling). i think they would make great additions to the team. also, pjanic would be a very good addition to our squad

I think Mata or silva are a must

I'd fooking love to see David Villa at liverpool.. but just cant see it, wasnt rafa given the chance to sign him last summer, but turned it down?

i honestly would much prefer us spending our money on young talent. villa is great and all, but i see luis suarez or dzeko making more of an impact for us. plus, i always thought that villa overshadowed torres in the spanish squad. that pairing, although said to be a very great one, never really impressed me "pair-wise" (if you get what i mean). i can see dzeko or luis suarez doing better. and i don't necessarily think that mata and silva are a must. would be great to have them on our team, but only for the right price. i'd like to see youann gourcouff, miralem pjanic, or even robben play wing for us. all proven to produce in the champions league.

The first team is pretty much sorted we just need to add a left-back but its where the squad comes in that theres a problem because if our key players are not playing then the difference to the players covering is too vast we need to spend 50-60 million on probably 2-4 players that way we are buying quality rather than having 60m and buying 6/7 average players. We need a class left-back for definite anyone else is a bonus. Turan, Silva or Dzeko would be awesome to complete our attack.

there is a lot of mention of turan. and while i do agree that he is a good player, i would prefer juan mata over him. i dunno. i also like the idea of having hatem ben arfa on our side.

Forgetting the possibility that Rafa might have a few quid to spend this summer, there's a gem of an experienced striker available on a free this summer....Kevin Kuranyi. I'd much rather him upfront with Torres or on the bench instead of Ngog (who is way out of his depth in the premier league). After doing a bit of research, it seems that Kuranyi is german-brazillian, speaks english and amusingly has the middle name of "Dennis"!! Snap him up Rafa.

yeah, i like kuranyi. would be a real good deal if we could snap him up for free.

I think Mata or silva are a must

I'd fooking love to see David Villa at liverpool.. but just cant see it, wasnt rafa given the chance to sign him last summer, but turned it down?

Not sure if it was last summer or the summer before but Rafa stopped any sort of deal because Valencia were trying to create a bidding war when the negotiations were meant to be kept quiet or something.

Maybe with the right owners we will have a lot more than this to spend.

Anyone know how much Balotelli would be worth? Since Mourinho is at odds with him?

What a bunch of F***ing bullshit. Wenger spots all that talent does he? I personally think Wenger is over-rated with all this youth crap. How long has he been building his youth without a trophy now? Signing a player like Ramsey was not Wenger spotting him - i remember watching the lad for Cardiff before he signed for Arsenal and they were already raving about him. Players like Walcott still have not shown their full potential yet IMO, and then someone like Fabregas was a Barca product. Wenger just gets in on the hard work of other academies! The fact their last trophy win was a week or so before Rafa's first says a lot about that youth program. In reality, his greatest success was when he could get in stars like Henry, Ljungberg, Bergkamp etc, not with the fabled "Wenger Youth"

And before Rafa wrested control of the academy just a year ago, it produced what? Those players all came through over a decade ago FFS! Do some god-damned research.

, i wasn't going to say it such a condescending manner, but i think you have covered what i was going to say about our academy and Rafa.

How is wenger over rated? He has managed to keep Arsenal competitive on a shoe string budget. They have never failed to finish out side the top four while Benitez has been in charge either. I'm not saying he has spotted all the talent, but he does have an eye for spotting players. Where do you think our youth players come from, if not other clubs academys. Their not plucked from the street.

^ Saying Wenger is good at spotting young kids is like saying I'm a genius for seeing Victor Moses' potential. Kids like Fabregas, Ramsey, Walcott etc. were all being raved about before he signed them. Its like saying Rafa plucked Torres from nowhere. Everyone in the footballing world could see these players were very good all he has done is given them a chance

Before anybody else. What does that tell you?

"Since 2004–05, the FA Premier Academy League has consisted of only a single section for Under-18s, although an Under-16 section is played with no league table being recorded. Arsenal U18s have twice won their division group (Group A), in 2007–08 and 2008–09, and went on to win the academy play-off semi-final and final in 2008–09 to become FA Premier Academy League champions. Their most recent success is winning the 2008–09 FA Youth Cup, having beaten Liverpool 6–2 on aggregate in the final."

I agree, he sounds over-rated too. Hardly spends a penny and keeps the 1st team competitive. 'Definately over-rated'.

, I wasn't going to say it such a condescending manner, but I think you have covered what I was going to say about our academy and Rafa.

How is wenger over rated? He has managed to keep Arsenal competitive on a shoe string budget. They have never failed to finish out side the top four while Benitez has been in charge either. I'm not saying he has spotted all the talent, but he does have an eye for spotting players. Where do you think our youth players come from, if not other clubs academys. Their not plucked from the street.

For someone who once had a go at me once for twisting his words, you've done a good job at doing the same thing. I never said Wenger himself was over-rated, I said he was over-rated in regards to his youth and how much it is hyped up. I also never said anything about how great or anything our youth set-up is, or that they didn't come from other academies. Said nothing of the sort. I know full well that most of our promising youth has come from other places. Basically, im saying Wenger is doing nothing much more than we are, though they are having a better season. The whole youth of Wenger thing is what bothers me, as its been talked about for 4-5 years now - and what has it produced? Nothing. No trophies, and not much better league campaigns than us. Hell, if man shitty and Tottenham had made the runs they are making this season last year, Arsenal would have been out of the CL this year. They were lucky in their horrible season last season for long parts that they did not have the challenges we have faced this year.

Way of topic this is starting to get anyways, but thats all im saying. Wenger and his whole youth thing is nothing but a myth at the moment, as the youth he has has done nothing, and it was all picked from other academies after glowing reports about the players. Not a superb eye for talent that the media portrays it as, put it that way.

Did anyone see Wenger's comments on Fabregas going to Barca? I know there maybe a lot of hate toward Wenger, but he has hit the nail right on the head. When asked if Fabregas will leave he said, "You people act as if a contract means nothing, when a player signs a contract they intend to stay on for the remainder of the deal. What kind of world do we live in? No one puts a gun to your head when you sign." This shines my feelings on so much bullsh*t news stories from (ahem you know the one), talkloadofbull.com, the mirror, etc...

50 million +

Lucas 10 million
Kuyt 10 million
Riera 6.5 million
Babel 10 million
Yossi 6 million
Dossena 4.5 million
Voronin 1.8 million
N'Gog  2.5 million

= 100.3 million

Philipp Lahm 15 million
David Silva 25 million
Sergio Aguero 30 million
Arda Turan 15 million
Javi Martinez 13 million
Joe Cole free transfer
Jovanovich free transfer


                                   Reina/Cavalieri                                 
 
Johnson/Kelly   Carra/Sotis      Agger/Skrtel   Lahm/Insua

Maxi/Turan       Gerrard/Cole    Masch/Martinez  Silva/Cole/Turan

                         Torres/Nemeth   Aguero/Jovanovich/Pachecco

50 million +

Lucas 10 million
Kuyt 10 million
Riera 6.5 million
Babel 10 million
Yossi 6 million
Dossena 4.5 million
Voronin 1.8 million
N'Gog  2.5 million

= 100.3 million

Philipp Lahm 15 million
David Silva 25 million
Sergio Aguero 30 million
Arda Turan 15 million
Javi Martinez 13 million
Joe Cole free transfer
Jovanovich free transfer


                                   Reina/Cavalieri                                 
 
Johnson/Kelly   Carra/Sotis      Agger/Skrtel   Lahm/Insua

Maxi/Turan       Gerrard/Cole    Masch/Martinez  Silva/Cole/Turan

                         Torres/Nemeth   Aguero/Jovanovich/Pachecco

Great team, but i think the contracts of 2-3 of those players would be too much for us to afford.

Go For quality.

Sergio Aguera : would seriously cost.   

David Silva : for reasons already given over many months.


70 mill for the pair.
Broughton's promised funds and the sale of Riera Babel N Gog Yossi.


Still have Jojanovic Pacheco and Nemeth.

Crikey! Five strikers. Ow about that ' arry?

Go For quality.

Sergio Aguera : would seriously cost.   

David Silva : for reasons already given over many months.


70 mill for the pair.
Broughton's promised funds and the sale of Riera Babel N Gog Yossi.


Still have Jojanovic Pacheco and Nemeth.

Crikey! Five strikers. Ow about that ' arry?

I'd say 55 million will buy them both Silva 25 million Aguero 30 million, but sometimes quality is better than quantity. so I'm in agreement with you as to why they should be bought.

I'd say 55 million will buy them both Silva 25 million Aguero 30 million,

You're joking right?

Aguero is going to Chelsea....sadly. But that doesn't mean we can't buy Silva.

You're joking right?

Nope I'm being deadly serious.

We got Torres for 20 million, given the fluctuation in the market last summer by Man City and Real Madrid which is unsustainable as clubs would not be doing any business at all, I believe they are realistic figures for both players.

Maybe you're right with the figure for Silva but I can't see Aguero going for 30 million at all. Around £45m I'd say.

£50m won't get us two young quality players, it will get us one and then another good player. For example Silva and Lennon but not Silva and Aguero IMO.

I'd reckon someone like Podolski would be fantastic, he's at Cologne and his cost is probably really low now - about 8-10M. Everytime I watch the Germans play in any major tournament I always think he's the creme de la creme. Explosive, quick, physical - something like in the Torres mould.

Then I'll have another 40M to spend and I think it's about time we splashed out on a quality winger. I think Milner fits the bill because he's English and he's one of the best young players, if not the best in the EPL. He's really consistent and whips a good cross in all the while. I'll say he probably cost about 20-25M.

Say we have another 15M more to spend and I'll just splash it out on a really good left back, although I really do not have any names in my head. Lahm is one of the best going forward but him getting skinned by Torres in the Euro final just terrifies me as to his defensive capabilities. Think Bale is also another good shout.

And if we raise excess money from the sale of other players - Riera/Yossi/Kuyt then we could have another decent 25M to spend. Just think it's wise to splash out on another top class midfielder, either someone with an industrious nature or someone with creativity.

I'd reckon someone like Podolski would be fantastic, he's at Cologne and his cost is probably really low now - about 8-10M. Everytime I watch the Germans play in any major tournament I always think he's the creme de la creme. Explosive, quick, physical - something like in the Torres mould.

Then I'll have another 40M to spend and I think it's about time we splashed out on a quality winger. I think Milner fits the bill because he's English and he's one of the best young players, if not the best in the EPL. He's really consistent and whips a good cross in all the while. I'll say he probably cost about 20-25M.

Say we have another 15M more to spend and I'll just splash it out on a really good left back, although I really do not have any names in my head. Lahm is one of the best going forward but him getting skinned by Torres in the Euro final just terrifies me as to his defensive capabilities. Think Bale is also another good shout.

And if we raise excess money from the sale of other players - Riera/Yossi/Kuyt then we could have another decent 25M to spend. Just think it's wise to splash out on another top class midfielder, either someone with an industrious nature or someone with creativity.

No forward help for Torres? hmmm, not sure if I agree with that.

Lahm is one of the best going forward but him getting skinned by Torres in the Euro final just terrifies me as to his defensive capabilities.

Everyone gets skinned by Torres so

And Podolski only turns up in the big international tournaments. That's why he couldn't break into the team at Bayern and moved on.