Well, obviously Neves belongs in a real league. But what’s Arsenal’s motivation?
Partey is out for quite a while, possibly until summer. Arsenal’s signature problem at the moment is that they don’t have a #10 / left-sided #8 after the departure of Xhaka. They thought that Havertz was going to be able to fill this hole but he hasn’t, for the obvious reason that he’s a forward, probably a right winger, and not a midfielder.
Now, Neves isn’t a left-sided #8. But what he is, is a solid holding midfielder. This would allow Arsenal to do what is probably the optimal thing at the moment, which is push Declan Rice into that role, without having to have the reanimated corpse of Jorginho trying to manage the game from the back. Whether that’s a long-term solution or not is up for debate, but Rice has played the left-sided 8 a few times this season and is obviously Arsenal’s best option for that role at the moment, probably through the end of the season.
Why would the Saudis allow it to happen? I’m not sure they view Newcastle and Arsenal as potential rivals in the same way that most fans would. They’re trying to (a) make money and (b) get notoriety from their association with the Magpies. The real key to both of those is to be playing European football on a year-in, year-out basis, on TV all over the world, etc. Their competition for that, at the moment, is more like Manchester United, Chelsea, Spurs, Villa. Heck, it may even be to their advantage if Arsenal beats a bunch of their rivals for that 4th/5th slot that will get them into the Champions’ League. Whether Arsenal beats Liverpool is of no moment to them.
Plus, Arsenal’s American sugar daddy may well be willing to pay a bazillion pounds for Neves at the end of any such loan. And who can say no to that?
Well, obviously Neves belongs in a real league. But what’s Arsenal’s motivation?
Partey is out for quite a while, possibly until summer. Arsenal’s signature problem at the moment is that they don’t have a #10 / left-sided #8 after the departure of Xhaka. They thought that Havertz was going to be able to fill this hole but he hasn’t, for the obvious reason that he’s a forward, probably a right winger, and not a midfielder.
Now, Neves isn’t a left-sided #8. But what he is, is a solid holding midfielder. This would allow Arsenal to do what is probably the optimal thing at the moment, which is push Declan Rice into that role, without having to have the reanimated corpse of Jorginho trying to manage the game from the back. Whether that’s a long-term solution or not is up for debate, but Rice has played the left-sided 8 a few times this season and is obviously Arsenal’s best option for that role at the moment, probably through the end of the season.
Why would the Saudis allow it to happen? I’m not sure they view Newcastle and Arsenal as potential rivals in the same way that most fans would. They’re trying to (a) make money and (b) get notoriety from their association with the Magpies. The real key to both of those is to be playing European football on a year-in, year-out basis, on TV all over the world, etc. Their competition for that, at the moment, is more like Manchester United, Chelsea, Spurs, Villa. Heck, it may even be to their advantage if Arsenal beats a bunch of their rivals for that 4th/5th slot that will get them into the Champions’ League. Whether Arsenal beats Liverpool is of no moment to them.
Plus, Arsenal’s American sugar daddy may well be willing to pay a bazillion pounds for Neves at the end of any such loan. And who can say no to that?