Why would the Saudis get a player then loan him out to a rival?
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Because it’s international break and fake news is the only thing that can spark interest
Who’d have thought that a young top player in his prime would get bored of a pensioner league after 3 months, even if he is being paid gazillions to turn up?
Player and his team are probably pushing for it.
Great point, this is possible, but it makes Neves look like a moron. Could be worried about his Portugal place.
Answer to the title: Arsenal will be without Thomas Partey in January since he’ll be out on international duty for Ghana in the upcoming AFCON tournament. This also means no Mohamed Elneny who’ll be with Egypt in the tournament. So basically, we’ll be losing two of our DM options, and with Jorginho potentially leaving at the end of the season, I think it’s obvious that a DM will be prioritised in January.
Answer to the text below the title: Not a fucking clue mate.
Last I read Partey’s done for the season.
Because they want him to play for them.
He’s young proven it’s obvious
Teams all over the world get players and then loan them out all the time. What makes Saudi teams any different? Its not out of the ordinary to do 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?
Partey (30), Elneny (31), Jorginho (31). Injuries and AFCON. Why wouldn’t Arsenal be interested?
As for the Saudis, there’s only so many foreign players they can register, and only so many a PL team can register in a squad. Would losing Neves make sense if it means they could weaken a “rival” (Liverpool with Salah, for example?)