The Arnie situation - one thread to rule them all...

Cuz1

I agree with you there hamstew and makes you realise how lucky we really are in life

OldCastleSwift

Hamstew said:

My mother in law suffered from depression before I met my wife

Same here. Although in my mother-in-law's case it was after I met my wife... ;hmm

TheMadcapLaughs

Get rid, and I`d take the 35 million if no-one comes up with anything better. I wouldn`t even look to replace this month. Don`t get me wrong, I think Arnie is about a good a centre forward as we could wish for, but we have Pea, Carroll, Perez, Antonio and most notably Silva. I also think Yarmolenko has a touch of The Arnies about him, we have him back in the summer. If Arnie is off then I would give Silva a run of games, looked more than capable against Brum. Young, fit and hungry. But that`s enough about me.................... ;scarf

SuzanneClaret

Hamstew said:

Lots of talk on twitter saying Arnie has a gambling problem and the owners have already paid off some debt before and won't be doing it again.

Did he come with gambling debts? or did he pick them up in London.

It surprises me, the owners dealt with Etherington and his gambling problems and debts. In the end they had to sell him so Etherington could get a change of scene.

Why would they get involved again.

OldCastleSwift

If he has got a gambling problem, is China really the best place for him?!

SuzanneClaret

I would think not.

Bazshuayi

Is it simply a case of Wǒ chī tǔ le, yīn cǐ wú fǎ fù yuē le?

Which, as we all know, means "I am bankrupted, so I can’t hang out with you"

#Peking into finances

;run

ASLEFshrugged

Suze - Etherington left on 8 Jan 2009 while we were still owned by the Icelandics.

SuzanneClaret

TheMadcapLaughs

Increased offer apparently of £45 million. Snap their hand off.

SuzanneClaret

Still not enough if we want to replace him.

IronHerb

I'd be very surprised if we spend £45m on a replacement, and I don't necessarily think we should.

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes

I don't think we should until the summer.

Pearces_Left_Foot

He has been a good player for a 2nd half of least season and half this season so 1 year of decent play. If we sell him we need to take our time and get the right player and if that means waiting to the summer then so be it . I would hate to end up with an overpriced stop gap by buying in January. Any decent striker is not going to be sold cheaply in Jan the best we could maybe do is buy a champions leagues teams back up striker. I would like us to get a mid striker in their mid 20's who will be around for a few years hopefully

Yeoldhammer

50m+ reckon we could squeeze that out before the end of the window

Yeoldhammer

even then i would value arnie at 70m for our team.

TheMadcapLaughs

I think we have plenty to see us through until summer, with Lanzini and Yarmolenko also due back, we still have a pretty potent attacking line up. Pelle and his team may also unearth another Diop, but the striker variety. £45 million for a thirty year old with injury issues and an "attitude" seems fair to me.

Lukerz

We’d need a striker this window if we sell him, whether that is the main man who we are looking to fill his void is another matter, but we need one now as otherwise it leaves us with Hernandez as the only out & out striker who fits our style of play with Andy as a back-up. Perez seems to be available for loan & in any case he has not settled here.

I want us to finish 7th & win the FA Cup. That should be our ambition between now & May. ‘Making do’ until the summer will make those aims unlikely, IMO.

IronHerb

I am surprised at the number of "well he's not that good anyway" posts. He's the best striker we've had for years and has made a huge difference. He will be missed, by me anyway.

Pearces_Left_Foot

He will definitely be missed I hope Pellegrini contacts will come up trumps in finding a replacement if he leaves. I think people just don't want another Payet situation where it drags on and overshadows everything else. It helps we have plenty of other quality players now in Anderson/Nasri etc I think if we get a decent striker in they will get plenty of decent service.

OldCastleSwift

Lukerz ;ok

At some point we have to push on. We're a point off 7th and have a decent draw in the cup with a few PL v PL fixtures elsewhere. Despite the start to the season we had, we actually have a really good chance of making Europe next season, but Arnie was a big part of that. If we are serious about going for it, we need to replace him in this window, IMO.

grey_til_I_dye

I can see why people think we would need a replacement this window, though I don't agree, but the issue, it seems to me, is that finding and signing decent strikers is a huge problem under ordinary circumstances, and in the Jan window is almost impossible.

I'd be happy to see Silva get games; let's see if he has what it takes.

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes

I'd like us to finish 7th but I'd be concerned if that meant Europa qualification.

I don't think we're ready for it. I like the foundations Pelle is laying. It's hard to think of a side who has been able to juggle Europa and league form well in recent years (when it isn't one of the top sides like Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal etc).

On that basis, I wouldn't be disappointed if we hung on to the money and spent it more sensibly in the summer. January is a sellers' market.

We aren't going to be relegated, so I'd be quite happy to see us keep focusing on how we want to play and what our mentality is, irrespective of the individuals we have or the opponents we're facing.

steve

Lets just get this over with ,move him on get our 35-50 mil ,give stoke there cut wait until summer after all theres no way Arnie wants to be here can you imagine what he will be like if we forced him to stay .Other players might make the best of it but cant see Arnie doing that ,sorry will miss him but that's the sad state of football today .

TheMadcapLaughs

Arnie is a fantastic player and the best centre forward we have had for years, but, our best form,our best run of victories since 1847, (I may be wrong) came recently without Arnie. I will miss him, but if the chap wants away he wants away. Ideally we would replace him the very next day with someone equally as talented, but I don`t think it`s imperative. We`ll finish 7th and win the cup this year with or without Arnie. In Pelle we trust.


Still think we should have kept Moyes...........mumble mumble, grumble, mumble, grumble...........


;scarf

Adam

Belotti (25 years old) is supposedly available from Torino. He’s a more than decent player. There’s rumours Roma want him, with a fee being quoted as €50m.

He would be my choice. But you never know how players will adapt.

OldCastleSwift

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes said:

I'd like us to finish 7th but I'd be concerned if that meant Europa qualification.

I don't think we're ready for it. I like the foundations Pelle is laying. It's hard to think of a side who has been able to juggle Europa and league form well in recent years (when it isn't one of the top sides like Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal etc).

On that basis, I wouldn't be disappointed if we hung on to the money and spent it more sensibly in the summer. January is a sellers' market.

We aren't going to be relegated, so I'd be quite happy to see us keep focusing on how we want to play and what our mentality is, irrespective of the individuals we have or the opponents we're facing.

It's Catch 22 though. To be able to juggle European and domestic competitions you need better players throughout the squad, but better players generally want to be competing in European competitions.

I know we've managed to sign the likes of Arnautovic, Anderson and Diop without being in Europe, but are we going to be able to keep them if we continue to knock about in mid-table for the next two or three seasons and not offer them European football?

And at what point will we be ready? And by then, will other clubs be more ready and our chances of finishing in the top seven even less than they will be this season?

I just think that if we have an opportunity to go all out for 7th place and a chance at some silverware in the cup, we should invest (if we can) in a replacement for our No1 forward.

Pearces_Left_Foot

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/westham/west-ham-to-buy-striker-now-with-callum-wilson-on-shortlist-if-marko-arnautovic-seals-50m-china-a4038086.html

MrsGrey

So, Bournemouth have valued Wilson at £75m, and Chelsea want him.

I rate our chances of getting him as 0, if those stories are true.

Expat_Hammer

I'd quite like to see Batshui-man in our squad. Think he'd get a few with the service out midfield could offer him.

And it would make our Baz ecstatic ;lol