Q&AFC Fan Question Friday – August 20th, 2021

Each week the writers at DailyAFC will take a shot at answering your questions in a new post series called Q&AFC. It’s a chance for you to ask questions to knowledgable football writers – transfers, analysis, opinions, everything is fair game. Here are the questions for our first week!

1. If you could only sign one of the players Arsenal has been linked with, who would it be?

@noahknowsfooty: If we’re talking realistically, then the imminent signing of Martin Odegaard excites me the most. The price we’re getting him at (around £30 million reportedly) is brilliant for a 22-year-old with so much potential and experience at the top level already. He slotted in perfectly during his loan spell, and I’m sure he can do the same once he has signed permanently.

If we’re talking unrealistically, then it gets fun! The player that would have the most impact on the team would have to be a striker. And the striker links I have been most excited by are Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Obviously, these rumours are all from ITKs and the chances of this deal happening are tiny, but he would be a perfect fit for our system. He would get on the end of so many Tierney crosses, and could lead the line for the next 10 years.

@dopegooner: If I could bring in any one player that we’ve been linked with, it would be Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Definitely DCL. The Everton man is probably the most dangerous aerial threat in the Premier League, and that’s exactly what we need. Artetaball involves putting a lot of crosses into the box from the wings, and as a physically imposing forward who can compete with the domineering center-backs in the English top flight, he would suit that style of play perfectly. Tierney would absolutely feast, too. I also feel he’s a more realistic target than others might think; Everton appear to be an even bigger mess than we are right now, and Calvert-Lewin might be an Arsenal fan. So there’s hope…

@adam_schultz15: Well it seems that the Odegaard deal is basically complete but for me either Houseem Aouar or Dominic Calvin Lewin. I would prefer Aouar as he would come considerably cheaper than what DCL would be.

He would take the No.8 shirt and having him in the midfield with Thomas Partey and Odegaard would be something special. The fact that signing him would not break the bank either is certainly a plus in any potential deal. Aouar would offer so much to the side going forward. When talking about DCL, his aerial prowess would be something that Arsenal could definitely could exploit especially with Kieran Tierney and his crossing ability.

2. Why not go in for Ivan Toney? His record speaks for itself and he seems to be the type of profile we need up top if we’re going to keep playing this system?

@noahknowsfooty: I had to do a quick stats check on this, because I didn’t associate Toney with being good in the air. He has scored 29 headers from his 125 career goals, which isn’t a bad record. So you’re right, he would get on the end of many Tierney crosses and I’d love to see him play for Arsenal. However, we know that Arsenal won’t go in for a striker unless Lacazette leaves. And Lacazette’s departure looks unlikely at the moment. Furthermore, he is obviously very happy at Brentford, and is now in the Premier League, so he would not actively want to leave Brentford. This means the fee would be very high, and after last Friday’s result, I wouldn’t be surprised if he rejected us!

@dopegooner: I think Toney is actually pretty close to the kind of profile we’re after up top, but narrowly misses out compared to our actual targets. The Brentford striker is 5’10” and 25 years old. Now juxtapose that against some of the players we’ve been linked with: Tammy Abraham (6’3” and 23 years old), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (6’2” and 24 years old), and Dusan Vlahovic (6’3” and 21 years old). Outside of Lautaro Martinez, we seem to be intently pursuing tall, robust strikers aged 23 and under. Toney unfortunately falls just outside of those parameters. 

@adam_schultz15: Personally I do not know that much about Toney, however seeing what he was able to do on Friday night against Arsenal’s backline, he could prove some worth. While not registering a shot on target against the Gunners, his physicality certainly worried our backline. 

However if there was a choice of strikers that Arsenal were looking at, Toney would probably be down the list and for me, there are several others that are considerably better at this stage. Plus, Brentford would demand a king’s ransom for him too.

3. How much did the board give to Mikel Arteta for this summer?

@noahknowsfooty: It seems like Mikel Areta was backed more than normal this summer. Including Odegaard’s deal, Arsenal will have spent just over £100 million and we expect there is more to come. This has happened despite only making £25 million in sales, from Joe Willock’s departure. It finally looks like Arsenal are coming to the point where sales will have to be made before players can be brought in. So my guess is that Arteta was given around £70 – 80 million to spend before making any sales, a huge amount.

@dopegooner: That’s quite tough to ascertain. A few months ago, 90min reported that Arsenal were prepared to back Arteta with approximately £250 million this summer. Considering that as of the Ødegaard and Ramsdale signings we have a net spend of  about £100 million, and the fact that only two of the five players we’ve spent that on are automatic starters, a quarter of a billion doesn’t sound wildly incorrect. However, I’d like to note that I am completely speculating right now. But here’s hoping 90min’s reported transfer budget is our reality and that the next £150 million is spent in a much more exciting way.

@adam_schultz15: In short, more than last season. Having already spent over £70million on Ben White, Nuno Tavares and Albert Lokonga, it looks like the spending will continue with Odegaard coming in shortly for around £30 million or so. That would take the spending to over £100 million and that is before you add in any potential money used for Ramsdale too.

So at face value, it seems that the owners have invested a decent amount but at this stage it doesn’t seem enough but overall the board has given Arteta some serious funds when all thought the club would be cast-strapped.

4. Will having fans back affect Arsenal negatively or positively this season?

@noahknowsfooty: For most clubs in the Premier League, the return of fans has been a huge positive. Although it is a small sample size, seven of the ten matches last weekend ended in a home win. You just have to look at Arsenal’s fixture against Brentford, to see what impact the crowd had on the performance of the home team. So I’m very excited for our game against Chelsea, because I know the crowd will cheer at every little thing, whether that is a nice Smith-Rowe flick, or even Ben White putting in a crunching tackle on Romelu Lukaku.

However, Arsenal are in a slightly different situation to most clubs. A lot of fans are unhappy with the manager, and pretty much all the fans are unhappy with the ownership of the club. So if we lose games, if we’re two or three goals behind Chelsea on the weekend, things could start to get ugly, and the fans could easily start to lose support and faith. The pressure put on the players in this scenario could impact the players in a negative way, so we have to hope this doesn’t happen. But in general, fans will have a positive impact on Arsenal.

@dopegooner: Negatively. Maybe extremely so. Apologies if I’m being down on the fanbase right now, but if the Emirates in any way reflects the attitudes we’ve seen on social media, the players are going to dread home matches very quickly. Between “Arteta Out” trending during preseason, players reacting to our interest in Ødegaard as if we were trying to bring back Andre Santos, and the abuse some “supporters” are already directing toward Ramsdale, I’m not at all optimistic about the atmosphere that fans in the stands will create this season. And unfortunately, Arsenal players these days don’t do well with that kind of pressure.

@adam_schultz15: Having fans back can only be a good thing for Arsenal, as long as they win. As we have seen over the last two or so years, the fan base can turn reasonably sour and quick. However most are genuinely excited at the prospect of cheering on the side against Chelsea.

But in saying that, should Arsenal succumb to Chelsea and Manchester City, then that would be a 0-3 start and should that happen, one can only imagine how much of the fans will be out for blood and rightly so. Overall, having fans back should only be a good thing for the Gunners.

5. What are the chances Houssem Aouar comes to Arsenal and what would he bring to the team?

@noahknowsfooty: It seems like Lyon are in a desperate situation and need to sell him. This means he could be available for as little as €25 million (£21.3 million). That’s a very reasonable price, and given that Arsenal opted for Odegaard over the more expensive Maddison, you’d expect Arsenal to have the money for this deal. It doesn’t seem very advanced at the moment, but it seems like he is definitely a target. My only concern is that the two positions he plays (either attacking midfielder or slightly deeper midfielder) have been partially addressed by Arsenal with Xhaka’s new contract and Odegaard’s arrival.

He would bring versatility, as he can play either of the two positions listed above. He is another creative outlet, something Arsenal need more of. He is in the 99th percentile for open play key passes among Ligue 1 midfielders, and is in the 98th percentile for progressive carries. Obviously, he’d be a wonderful addition to this Arsenal midfield, but unfortunately I don’t see it happening. Hopefully I’m wrong!

@dopegooner: I have no reason to feel this way, but I have a sneaky hunch we might go for Aouar before the window’s over. Lyon wants to sell him and it seems like it’s really just between us and Spurs to get him. Additionally, OL reportedly want only €25 million, and I’d expect Arsenal to be able to negotiate that down given how openly Les Gones want Aouar gone. And, well, we tried pretty hard to sign him last year, surely his agent can’t have turned us off that much? But we’ll see if it happens. In terms of what he’d bring, he’d obviously add to our chance creation and the Frenchman also sports solid end product. Aouar would be a great positional analog for Smith Rowe, and would likely be a more-than-serviceable stand-in should the Hale End product pick up an injury. There are things to be wary of, however. On the pitch, Aouar is a little suspect defensively. Off of it, he supposedly has an attitude problem and his entourage also might prove troublesome. It remains to be sign if Arsenal decide the talent is worth those downsides.

@adam_schultz15: Given the current state of Lyon’s financial situation, the club might be forced to sell and at a cut price too. Signing Aouar would only bring great things to the side. The fact that he could be available for as little as €25 million, that would be a superb piece of business.

As far as what he could bring to the team, versatility would be one. Should he sign, the No.8 role would suit, this despite Granit Xhaka’s new deal, Aouar should start over the Swiss EVERYDAY of the week. 

Aouar could very well be the player to drive Arsenal forward from midfield and would lighten the load on Partey in terms of being the orchestrator and instead the Ghanaian can focus on the defensive side of the game. While is seems highly unlikely that a move would materialise, having him in the heart of Arsenal’s midfield would mean only good things can happen.

That’s all for this week’s edition of Q&AFC! If you have a question you’d like to see answered next week, comment on this post or look out for our next Q&AFC Tweet on @DailyAFC on Twitter.