I believe most Gooners would agree that Nico Williams is the fantasy Arsenal winger signing this summer — he has won our hearts over the last few weeks while watching the Euros. But, as much as we want him, that deal is one of the most difficult. The Gunners must deal with his £47 million release clause, persuade him with a fantastic wage package, and explain why moving to Barcelona (who also want him) is not preferable to joining Arteta’s project.
It goes without saying that the Williams race is not in Arsenal’s hands; in fact, they should consider alternatives. Speaking of alternatives, Barcelona has offered the Gunners a transfer opportunity.
Barcelona wants Williams, and as they pursue that trade, star winger Raphinha is reportedly considering a move. If Williams joins and Lamine Yamal maintains his progression, the Brazilian’s game time may be an issue, so after weighing his options, he wants to leave Barcelona for the Premier League, according to HITC.
It is believed he has spoken with Arsenal (plus Chelsea and Newcastle United) about joining this summer. The Gunners were hoping to add him to their squad in 2022, but that did not materialise. It would be intriguing to watch if they pass on that transfer opportunity.
We’ve talked about giving Bukayo Saka his own Leandro Trossard, as Gabriel Martinelli can rely on the Belgian to fill in for him, and we’ve also heard from CBS that the Gunners are aiming to acquire more experienced players like Jorginho, which is precisely what Raphinha is.
Raphinha has proven himself in the Premier League, and his time with Barcelona has also been great; his signing could catapult Arsenal to unprecedented heights.
daniel O
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Oh dear God please no…
There is no shortage of excellent right wingers who are younger and cheaper.
P.S. I cannot believe we stood by and let Villa sign Jaden Philogene
We already have Jesus; hopefully he can produce on the wing because he failed to produce as a striker; at City, Arsenal, and Brazil national team.
We need a midfielder and striker to rotate far more than a new winger to sit on the bench.
Any RW behind Saka will get very little game time, so why spend when we have an in house solution on the bench with Jesus?
Agreed Durand! We are spending 40-50 on the Italian LB. Did we really need him. We need a striker and midfielder and that’s where our money should have went. Why F with the best defence in the league when it was a lack of scoring in certain games that lost us the title last season. Sometimes I just don’t understand. By the best midfielder and striker we can with the money we have. Minus the large amount going to LB. Smh
We’re signing him, because the LB position was the weakness in our defence and why, in my opinion, Martinelli wasn’t the player he was the season before.
Timber is an unknown quality AND will he return to the level before his injury?
As for Raphinha, he turned us down for Barca and Durand gives the reason why we shouldn’t entertain him anyway – mind you, I bet if it was Nico Williams we were talking about, Durand, you might be tempted?!
We have tomy, timber Tierney zinny kiwior for the left back. Who do we have for midfield as cover? Striker as cover?
Tierney is not wanted by MA it seems and none of the others are LB’s.
Midfield and striker cover? That’s a different discussion and I probably would agree with you.
I would love to have Tomi as a regular at left back but lo and behold the poor guy is injured again.
Tempted Ken perhaps.
But would Williams sign as a backup player? Saka will not be benched, and I question if Williams would agree.
I would agrue coach up players rather than continuing spending money and rearranging deck chairs.
There is a train of thought, Durand, that we need to start winning trophies again, before promoting young players and, after two near misses for the PL title, I agree with that sentiment.
Hopefully this season will see us having better results in the two domestic cups, as this is where MA will have the opportunity to use said younger players.
I’m not sure that Williams would be seen as a back up player though – we have the CL, PL and the domestic cups to play for and that’s one hell of a lot of games.
At this moment in time, we haven’t strengthened the first team squad at all, despite all the rumours flying about, so could it be that your wishes may be granted?
But we always had a problem at LB…with Tomi Zinchenko and Kiwior alternating….
What if we get Kimmich and Goyteres and at least a young versatile player who can play at either wing RW or LW
Nooooo
There was/is very little chance of Williams joining Arsenal or any PL club come to that. It’s likely he’ll either stay put (after all) or go to Barcelona.
Barcelona, like Arsenal, need to offload several players this summer and, like Arsenal, they are equally poor sellers. According to my Spanish friends, Raphinha’s name usually comes up in such discussions but, apparently, he has always said he wants to stay at Barcelona where he’s on a very good salary. Unless he changes his mind, he’ll remain in Spain.
Every time Raphinha’s name gets mentioned with Arsenal, it gives a feeling that we aren’t exactly sure what it is we really need. The man had his chance and that ship’s gone and we don’t want it back.
We buy a good striker and then reserve Jesus for the Nico/Raphinha role.
As for Nico Williams, with weekly wages of >400k for his level of experience, this should be the last time he’s mentioned in connection with us.
We need a sticker not just
He chose Barcelona over Arsenal;we can’t be the ones helping Barca sort out their mess!
Story of Arsenal basically…
Bailing out other clubs from their financial troubles
We basically funded 4 Chelsea signings last season by taking Havertz off their books
I am Arsenal fans,Niko Williams is 100% to me. NO NEED
don’t want Raphina