With Sam Allardyce’s exit now a distant and happy memory – the fans were calling for his head for months – West Ham appear to be planning for what they hope will be a bright future.
Premier League safety has been established, money is coming into the club under stable off-field management and a move to the Olympic Stadium is looming, so all looks rosy for the Irons.
However, the right successor for ‘Big Sam’ will be needed, and it appears that Sevilla’s Unai Emery is a candidate.
Reports have revealed that ‘talks’ with the Europa League winning coach are scheduled for this week, and here are FIVE reasons why West Ham must persuade him to head to West London…
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Proven top level boss
Aside from a relatively poor adventure to Russia with Spartak Moscow, Emery has enjoyed a fine managerial career so far, working well under the crippling financial constraints at Valencia between 2008–2012 and winning two Europa League trophies at Sevilla along with claiming Champions League qualification.
Although the questionable spell in Moscow may be a worry regarding his ability outside of his native Spain, such a good record with some top clubs in La Liga suggests that he knows a thing or two when it comes to coaching, while an early retirement from paying the game, he bowed out at the age of 32, is perhaps a big factor in his obvious tactical nous.
Plays attractive football
Anyone who watched Sevilla romp to Europa League success will vouch for the quality of football deployed by Emery.
With the energetic Carlos Bacca leading the line, the 43-year-old built a high tempo side with a genuine focus on recycling the ball and operating well in transition.
Pretty much any change will be seen as an upgrade on Sam Allardyce’s direct philosophy, which could once again bring a feel-good factor to East London.
Proven in the Europa League
With an excellent fair play record having opened a back door to the Europa League, West Ham are set for a continental adventure.
A long campaign awaits and with seeding set to leave the Hammers with a difficult group if they can make it through three tricky rounds of qualifying, strong management and experience will be needed, especially with very few Irons players possessing the know-how.
As far as knowledge of the competition goes, very few can compete with Emery, who has lifted the trophy twice in the last two seasons with the tournament’s most successful ever club.
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Could tempt La Liga stars to Upton Park
Emery’s reputation in Spanish football is a good one, and with the financial clout managing a secure Premier League football club brings, there’s no reason he couldn’t return to his homeland to lure top quality additions across to Upton Park.
With a more ‘easy on the eye’ approach being called for, perhaps some La Liga imports could be an option, with, on the whole, the level of technical prowess higher in Spain’s top tier than in the Premier League.
The fans are on board
Although Napoli are lurking with intent, the feeling of positivity surrounding the potential luring of Emery to West Ham is high. Fans of the Irons are, to a degree understandably, fed up with the football they’ve been watching, so the promise of a top-quality manager with a different approach is enticing.
Norwich’s record signing is surely one of their worst signings. One goal – a decent header right at the start of the campaign – all year in a relegation season kind of says it all. As Norwich bounced back up, Ricky Van Wolfswinkel took refuge at French club St Etienne where again he was disappointing.A short period just before Christmas where Van Wolfswinkel scored a few goals was really all he delivered at Sainté in a disappointing spell. In fact, just after he signed I thought it was a wonderful move. One where he’d go there and prove that he was a good striker after a disappointing year.He was playing in a team that did well this season, they finished 5th in the French league, but almost pipped Marseille and Monaco to their third and final Champions League spot, they pushed the bigger teams all the way.Christophe Galtier’s men even had an option to buy RvW from Norwich, but are reportedly looking at other leads instead of signing the Dutchman. And that probably tells you what you need to know about his future at Carrow Road, too. He did better last season than he did this time around, but that’s really not saying much, and Norwich would presumably prefer to trust the players that did so well last season – the likes of Cameron Jerome – or bring in someone more prolific in the Premier League.So what happens now? St Etienne don’t want him and nor do Norwich?It’s so strange that a player who did so well at Sporting Lisbon and sealed a move to a Premier League club for a club-record fee should just disappear after two seasons. Even if he wasn’t cut out for England, you’d think that his goalscoring prowess would have been good enough to do more damage in France.That’s not quite RvW’s game, to be fair. He’s big and strong and looks to bring others into play too, he’s not a pure goalscorer, more of a target man. But that doesn’t help in these situations. A striker who scores six league goals in two seasons is never going to command a big money move – and that’s what St Etienne would be doing if they signed him, £7m is a lot of money for a flop, especially when you’re a French club that isn’t PSG or Monaco.In fact, Sainté let Franck Tabanou go to Swansea for something reported to be over £3m. It’s not a lot of cash for one of your best players in this day and age.So it looks like Norwich will either have to sell for much less than what the French club agreed upon last summer or face a season with a big earner warming the bench, because it doesn’t look like another club will be found in a hurry – especially not for £7m.The trouble is, whichever club he ends up at come the start of September, Van Wolfswinkel will find it hard to shine.His goals in France this season seemed to come in spates. He’s clearly a confidence player, and some of the times last season when he was through on goal he seemed to want to take another touch or square it to a teammate rather than go it alone. That smacks of a player low on confidence, and you could see it was bothering him.The fact that neither his parent club or former loan club seem to want him will do nothing for his confidence and that’s sad. For a player who came to England with a bit of a fanfare and for such a big fee it’s quite a disappointment.I don’t know what’s next for Van Wolfswinkel, but I do know that in order to be a success he needs to find confidence again. If he does stay at Carrow Road, it’ll be up to Alex Neil to give him that confidence again. He’s clearly a player with some class about him, and an on-form Van Wolfswinkel could be an asset, especially for a promoted club with ambition. But an off-form Van Wolfswinkel is not even worthy of a place on the bench. It’s a big season for him wherever he ends up.I hope he finds some confidence though, because when he does he’s fun to watch.[ad_pod id=’ricco’ align=’center’]
There’s a contradictory paradox surrounding Raheem Sterling’s £49m move to Manchester City.
For the most part, the 20-year-old has been condemned as the spoiled kid of English football, accused of kicking his toys out the pram and conducting daily temper tantrums – probably doing that arm-flailing-seizure-type ploy you’ll see from toddlers in shopping centres – to force his way out of Liverpool.
Has Sterling gone about the situation in the wrong way? Probably. That interview with the BBC wasn’t a particularly bright idea; neither was letting agent Aidy Ward tell the Evening Standard that he wouldn’t sign a £900k per-week contract at Anfield; and neither was pulling a sickie for the first two days of pre-season training. The England international’s PR team have done him few favours over the last four months.
Then again, criticism of Sterling’s hesitance to extend his Reds contract past 2017 started way before the BBC interview in April, and there weren’t too many complaining about Gareth Bale taking an unsanctioned leave of absence before he headed off to Real Madrid in the summer of 2013. In fact, why would Liverpool or Spurs even want such players in training just days before selling them for sizable fortunes? Nobody’s going to smash the world-record transfer fee on someone with a broken leg.
Likewise, the Merseysiders have hardly come out of the situation embarrassed; they’ve made £48,400,000 on a £600k signing that a) didn’t want to play for them anymore and b) had publicly refused to sign a new contract. City paid Liverpool almost the same amount Chelsea did for World Cup winning striker Fernando Torres in January 2011, for a player with less than 100 league appearances under his belt who might well have already reached the limits of his footballing powers. What’s there really to complain about?
Most hypocritical, however, is the general consensus amongst English pundits of Sterling being ungrateful and disloyal to Liverpool; from the same pundits who continually harp on about the dearth of home-grown talent and how young English players aren’t given the same opportunities at major clubs anymore.
Let’s face it. Liverpool aren’t exactly a winning ticket at the moment. They’ve won two major trophies in the last decade, qualified for the Champions League just once in six seasons and haven’t lifted a league title since 1990. They’re a crumbling empire who have been forced to sell all their talismanic entities to Europe’s top clubs spanning back to Steve McManaman and Michael Owen. Even the last bastion of Liverpudlian loyalty, Steven Gerrard, was once just a car ride away from joining Chelsea.
So if you’re Roy Hodgson or an England fan, you should be rejoicing right now. Instead of propping up a side who appear doomed to the Europa League, Sterling will be involved in Premier League title races and the Champions League for the best part of the next decade with virtual guarantee. It can only improve him as an international player, with regular exposure to high-pressure, extremely technical games, large pitches and paramount quality of opposition, so once again, what the heck is everybody moaning about?
In my opinion, it’s no different to Manchester United prising Wayne Rooney away from Everton back in summer 2004. The future England skipper hadn’t gone public with his desires to leave Goodison Park, but did hand in a formal transfer request after rejecting a £50k per-week contract.
I don’t remember too many pitchfork mobs turning up at Rooney manor eleven years ago; I don’t remember too many journalists painting him out as some spoiled brat who didn’t know he was born, despite joining United when he was younger than Sterling, after fewer top flight appearances, and actually being a Mersey-born, boyhood Everton fan. Sterling, on the other hand, grew up in London and was poached from QPR’s academy in 2010.
So what’s the difference? Primarily, the idea that Everton are a small club and Liverpool are a big one, that Manchester United are an irrefusable club but their noisy neighbours, despite winning two Premier League titles in the last four years, still aren’t. In other words, snobbery – powered by the weight of history, prestige and reputation whilst ignoring what the future most likely holds.
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Sterling may have played the game a little to ensure he’d leave Anfield this summer, but what footballer hasn’t? Rooney handed in two transfer requests in three years at United before becoming club captain and the best-paid player in Premier League history. That’s not a coincidence.
In my opinion, the only true outrage is the size of his transfer fee. At this point, he clearly doesn’t deserve to be the most expensive Englishman in the history of football, the third-most expensive Premier League transfer of all time or for that matter, probably not even City’s club-record signing. But in a capitalist society you’re worth whatever somebody’s willing to pay, and whether it will prove shrewd or stupid, City were prepared to break records to bring him to the Etihad.
Over the course of the last month, managers of the so-called top six sides in the Premier League – Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur – have all been guilty of criticising and moaning at the tactics deployed by some of the teams they have been playing against.
While it may be getting towards the stressful and busy festive period, their comments certainly won’t have painted them in a good light to the bosses and fans of the other 14 teams that make up the English top flight.
Southampton travelled to leaders Manchester City at the end of November on the back of an impressive 4-1 win at home to Everton at St Mary’s, but with Pep Guardiola’s men looking almost invincible and winning 12 of their 13 Premier League fixtures – drawing the other – Mauricio Pellegrino decided to set up with a defensive 5-3-2 system at the Etihad Stadium.
The hosts also had a goal difference of +34 at that time, so it was no surprise that the Argentine boss decided to ultimately keep things tight at the back and then try and use the pace of Nathan Redmond and Shane Long up top on the counter.
Soccer Football – Premier League – Manchester City vs Southampton – Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain – November 29, 2017 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts as Southampton’s Nathan Redmond prepares to restart play Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/play
Saints came so close to a point before Raheem Sterling’s cruel 96th minute winner, but the final whistle was followed by an unsavoury looking incident where Guardiola was right in Redmond’s face and appearing to shout at him after what would have been a bitterly disappointing end to the game for the forward.
The Spaniard – and the winger – confirmed afterwards that they were just chatting about why Southampton had played quite defensively and been happy to play for a point considering the attacking players they have, but Guardiola did not come over well in the incident.
He has no right to tell any of his counterparts how they should play against him – especially when he has a free-scoring team put together with the biggest budget for transfers and wages in the division – and it showed a complete disrespect to Pellegrino.
Arsene Wenger had a similar moan against the south coast outfit in the Gunners’ 1-1 draw at St Mary’s earlier this month, when he accused them of time-wasting before Olivier Giroud scored an 87th minute equaliser.
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As reported by the Daily Mail, the Frenchman said: “The waste of time is becoming a real problem in England in the last two seasons. First, it has to be in the head of the players to respect the game and to play.”
On the same night that Guardiola spoke to Redmond, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte was sent to the stands during his team’s 1-0 win against Swansea City at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian shouted in the face of fourth official Lee Mason and referee Neil Swarbrick after Swans goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was accused of taking too long over a goal kick.
As reported by The Independent, Conte said: “I hope also the referee will learn something about this, because Swansea were wasting time. In this situation the referee has to protect the team that wants to play football, to try to win the game.”
Soccer Football – Premier League – Chelsea vs Swansea City – Stamford Bridge, London, Britain – November 29, 2017 Referee Neil Swarbrick send Chelsea manager Antonio Conte to the stands Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact you
The club that has perhaps got it most in the neck in the last few weeks is undoubtedly West Bromwich Albion though.
It all started against Tottenham at Wembley last month when they came into the game managerless and on the back of four successive Premier League losses.
The Baggies were slipping ever closer to the relegation zone and they managed to secure a 1-1 draw in the capital, but Mauricio Pochettino and his players weren’t impressed with the tactics of the visitors.
As reported by The Sun, Spurs’ Eric Dier said: “If you watch the game from the first minute and add up the amount of time wasted by their keeper [Ben Foster], it would be a big number.”
Soccer Football – Premier League – Tottenham Hotspur vs West Bromwich Albion – Wembley Stadium, London, Britain – November 25, 2017 West Bromwich Albion’s Ben Foster is shown a yellow card by referee Mike Jones Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publicatio
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was similarly unimpressed by the west Midlands outfit as they picked up a goalless draw at Anfield last week, and according to Sky Sports the German said: “I told the ref after the game, three minutes [added on] in a game like this where there are six changes, time played from the first second from the opponent, and he said it was right.”
According to ESPN FC, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was concerned about the Baggies’ time-wasting ahead of their clash at the Hawthorns on Sunday, although he had little to worry about afterwards as they ran out 2-1 winners.
At the end of the day though, West Brom haven’t won a Premier League match since August, so why shouldn’t they go to the likes of Wembley and Anfield and play tactically to pick up what could prove to be a crucial point come the end of the season.
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The reality is that staying in the top flight is arguably more important and lucrative than it has ever been, and the managers of those clubs fighting to stay in the division know what they have to do – even if it means setting up not to lose rather than trying to win.
If they want to waste a bit of time here and there then it should be accepted – the top six clubs would do exactly the same in the Champions League or if they were winning by a one-goal margin against one of their Premier League rivals.
With the money he has spent on his squad and the fact that his team had been so prolific in front of goal, Guardiola had no right to call out Pellegrino on his tactics at the Etihad – ones that almost got his team a point.
If Southampton had have attacked up there, they probably would have lost 4-0 or 5-0, and it would have been the same for West Brom and Swansea too.
The budget and the quality of players available to the top six managers means that they have no right to moan and whinge for something that is part and parcel of the modern game, and they should perhaps concentrate on why their teams are struggling or failing to beat the sides towards the bottom of the league instead.
According to reports in The Times, Arsenal are ready to steal a march on a number of their Premier League rivals in the race to sign £45m-rated Bordeaux winger Malcom, who has scored seven goals in 18 Ligue 1 appearances this season.
What’s the word, then?
The Times reports that Gunners representatives met the agent of the 20-year-old starlet on Wednesday in an attempt to bring the wide-man to the Emirates before the transfer window slams shut at the end of the month, with any deal likely to pave the way for Alexis Sanchez’s exit.
The Times says that Arsenal’s arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur have also been monitoring the Brazilian, while French media outlet Mercato 365 claimed in November that Manchester United and Chelsea are also keen.
How has Malcom done this season?
He has been brilliant.
The left-footed winger has often played on the opposite flank and he has caused havoc by cutting inside, with seven goals and a further four assists in 21 appearances in all competitions for the Ligue 1 outfit this term.
Those seven goals have included a number of strikes from outside the penalty area to show the goal threat that the 20-year-old would bring to Arsenal.
According to WhoScored.com, Malcom has averaged 2.3 shots per game in 18 French top flight outings this season, while he is also quick and has successfully completed 50 of the 72 dribbles he has attempted.
Will they get him this month?
It’s difficult to say.
It is unclear whether Arsenal’s interest in the Brazil U23 international depends on them selling Sanchez this month, or whether they will push ahead with a deal even if the Chilean stays in order to win the race for the in demand 21-year-old.
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With Sanchez looking to be on his way out and the future of Mesut Ozil still in doubt, the Gunners certainly need to start making some statements in the transfer market to convince their current players – and potential new additions – they are ambitious, and bringing Malcom to the Emirates before the window slams shut on January 31 would certainly do that.
While £45m may seem like a lot of money, it is the going rate for a good player these days and the young Brazilian certainly looks to be one with a big future ahead of him.
According to reports in the Liverpool Echo, Everton are currently weighing up whether to send out of favour winger Ademola Lookman out on loan for the rest of the season.
The 20-year-old has found first-team minutes hard to come by this term and he has failed to make the squad for four of the Toffees’ last six Premier League matches.
The arrival of Theo Walcott from Arsenal and the return of Yannick Bolasie from a long-term injury only look to have pushed the England U21 attacker further down the pecking order.
The report adds that while the Merseyside outfit are currently reluctant to let Lookman go, they have yet to make a definite decision on his short-term future.
Meanwhile, four Championship matches without a win – including last weekend’s crazy 4-3 defeat at home to Millwall – has seen Leeds United drop down to 10th in the table, although they are still only four points adrift of the play-off positions.
Manager Thomas Christiansen will be keen to freshen up and strengthen his squad before the January transfer window slams shut on Wednesday, and bringing Lookman to Elland Road for the remainder of the campaign could prove to be a shrewd move.
Here are three reasons Leeds must sign the Everton winger on loan before the end of the month…
Competition for places
While the likes of Ezgjan Alioski, Pablo Hernandez and Kemar Roofe have done relatively well in the wide positions for Leeds so far this season, they haven’t had the quality competition needed to perhaps push them that little bit little harder.
Bringing Lookman, who can play on either wing, as a second striker or even in the No 10 role behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation, in would certainly solve that issue for Thomas Christiansen and it would make his team more dangerous going forward.
His qualities
Lookman is quick, direct and loves to run at opposition defenders, and there is no doubt that he would cause headaches for Leeds’ Championship opponents.
While first-team opportunities have been few and far between for the 20-year-old this season, according to WhoScored.com he has successfully completed 23 of the 35 dribbles he has attempted in 10 appearances across the Premier League and Europa League this term.
The winger also showed his finishing abilities with a goal against Manchester City on his Premier League debut last year, while he scored an impressive brace against Apollon Limassol in Europe in December too.
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Point to prove
If Lookman is allowed to leave Everton on loan before the end of the month, he will certainly have a big point to prove to his parent club and Sam Allardyce.
Having enjoyed a successful breakthrough campaign in 2017 following his move from Charlton this time last year, the 20-year-old will want to show the Merseyside outfit that he deserves to be starting – or at least involved regularly – for them with some impressive and consistent performances.
That is something that will only benefit Leeds if they manage to bring him to Elland Road before Wednesday, and he could be a key figure in their promotion push in the last few months of the season.
The majority of Liverpool’s fanbase are more than happy with Jurgen Klopp as their manager, but some have been left scratching their heads over some recent news.
The German coach has been nominated for Premier League Manager of the Month for January.
Klopp joins Carlos Carvalhal, Eddie Howe, Pep Guardiola, David Moyes, Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho in the shortlist.
During the first month of 2018, the former Borussia Dortmund boss guided Liverpool to three wins and one defeat.
The club recorded victories over Burnley and Huddersfield Town, as well as a thrilling 4-3 triumph over league leaders Manchester City.
Not only did the Merseyside outfit nab all three points, they inflicted the only defeat suffered by City in the top flight so far this season.
There was some disappointment in January, though, as the Reds followed up their clash against City with a 1-0 loss to Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.
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That blip on the record is why some fans have been left confused by the nomination of Klopp for the monthly gong.
Lewis Cook has had to wait to make an impression at Bournemouth, but the midfielder has just started to show his incredible potential.
Indeed, the 20-year-old was outstanding in Bournemouth’s 3-0 win over English champions Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
It was the midfielder’s 17th league appearance of the 2017-18 campaign, and it does appear that the Englishman has fully overcome the ankle injury that harmed his debut 2016-17 Premier League season.
Now in the team and playing regular football, Cook is demonstrating his immense talent.
There is a general feeling that the England Under-21 international was not fully appreciated during his time at Leeds United. He joined the Whites back in 2004, and made 85 appearances for the club before leaving at the end of the 2015-16 season.
It is thought that Bournemouth paid just £6m to sign Cook on a four-year contract in July 2016, and the Leeds fans are disappointed that they do not currently have a player of his class.
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A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Liverpool must sign a world-class goalkeeper this summer, even if Loris Karius continues his fine form.If there’s one thing that encapsulates modern football, it’s short-termism. That doesn’t just go for fans; it applies to media outlets, pundits, managers and even players.How many times has Paul Pogba been branded world class this season, only to be a “fraud†a week later? It is startling how quickly players are tarnished, revived, finished and revived again in today’s football world. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Liverpool’s goalkeeping situation.The reds have been strongly linked with a move for Roma’s Alisson, and there have even been murmurs of interest in Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak, but a return to form for Loris Karius has left some fans wondering if the German still has a future as Liverpool’s number one.https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/klopp-excuses.mp4After a few good performances, Karius is being prophesied as the saviour to Liverpool’s goalkeeping nightmare, just as quickly as he was written off after his poor start at the club.In the case of Karius, he seemed to be the victim of high fan expectations, as after years of Simon Mignolet fans were expecting the German to be perfect, only to lose patience with him almost immediately after a shaky start.This is not just a goalkeeping issue either; plenty of Reds’ fans have voiced their support for Dejan Lovren in recent weeks after some stellar performances, including a brilliant block against Porto when the score was 0-0.This is the same Dejan Lovren that was substituted at Wembley in October after the worst 31 minutes from a top-flight defender in quite some time.
Are we so biased towards the short term now that we base our opinions of players on their last three matches? Karius may well have a fantastic end to the season and could even earn himself a place in Germany’s World Cup squad.
If Liverpool are serious about competing for titles though, they must spend big on a replacement for the outgoing Mignolet this summer, regardless of how well Karius performs. Most big clubs have two top quality goalkeepers and it’s time the Reds followed suit.
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After years of frugal spending at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has been gradually loosening the purse-strings in recent years.
That has put the Gunners’ notoriously strict wage structure under threat and it was blown apart by their January spending.
Alexis Sanchez departed the Emirates after a protracted stand-off over his contract after the club refused to meet his elevated wage demands, to be replaced by Henrikh Mkhitaryan as part of a swap deal from Manchester United.
To appease Arsenal fans further, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came in from but that pair of deals to reunite the former Borussia Dortmund pair did not come cheap.
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According to the Times, some of the Arsenal players who earn less and who have been earning less for some time now are becoming disgruntled with the high-earning duo – who the report claims earn £200,000 and £180,000 respectively.
They feel that they are not doing well enough on the pitch to justify their increased salaries and with many contracts due for renewal – Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Nacho Monreal among them – that could become an even bigger problem.
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Arsenal have only won two in eight since the pair – valued at a combined £90m by transfermarkt.co.uk – joined and the initial excitement that greeted their arrival has already subsided.
They are under pressure to perform already from the club’s fans and if that spreads to the dressing room – where admittedly there aren’t many players pulling their weight right now, no matter what they’re earning – then it could deepen their issues.