The transfer window is finally picking up some speed. We have made an enquiry for a Italian defender, gave green light to Lokonga’s departure and made our no. 1 goal keeper a permanent and we are going to get some free money.
Most exciting of them all is our pursuit of Riccardo Calafiori. Mikel has approved the transfer, the club has present their long term proposal to the player and he is open to join. But there are couple of complications! Bologna wants a hefty 43m GBP (50m euros). Riccardo is on the younger side (22years of age) and that’s a lot of money for a defender who will sit behind Gabriel and Saliba. He has played only one season of top flight football at Bologna, before which he was at Basel for couple of season. You get a very mature, proven defender for that amount. The other complication is that the player had, in the past, shown interest to join West Ham or Chelsea in the future, and the later is interested in the player as well. I mean, Chelsea are interested in every player being sold in the whole world, but they get what they want even after the Russian left. Mudryk is the case in point.
The positives about the players is that he is on the younger side. He joins a pack who has matured in last 2 seasons and he will learn and adapt like Gabriel and Saliba did. He had a very good season at Bologna, helping them qualify for Champions League after 60 years and was one of the best players in the league. He has played really well in the ongoing Euros and played all the games in group stages. Playing in the Italian team at the Euros level is a confirmation in itself that player is good enough.
Verdict? I think it’s only about the money. I feel we would be paying more for a CB defender who have Gabriel and Saliba ahead of him in pecking order; but, then we had shelled 50 odd millions for a CB earlier who plays at the right back, so yeah.
Sambi never looked promising enough to break into the team. He did get a few games to prove himself and even played couple of good games but that isn’t enough for a team that is fighting and going to fight for the title. He had to leave, Sevilla was interested for which the player gave a green light and the clubs are negotiating on the fees. If Sevilla has a bag full of 15m, take that and run.
This one isn’t particularly exciting, not anymore. Everyone knew David Raya’s loan move would be made permanent, and we have done that finally. We have activated the buy option and Brentford are going to receive 27m GBP.
The club hasn’t announced it yet officially but it’s a done deal. Raya has proved his worth, he kept the most clean sheets in the league even when it was the Ramsdale who played the initial few games for the club. This is just going to make life difficult for the Englishman.
Remember we sold Omari Hutchinson coule years back to Chelsea? Well, they are selling him to Ipswich Town for 22m and we had a sell-on clause in that deal. We would get about 4m from there.
Frankly, I have no idea how Chelsea can sell a player who played half a game for them in 2022-23 season and was on loan for the previous one. On the other hand, we will get half that money for Tavares and Lokonga if we are lucky.
Right, so 27m outgoing for 4m incoming as things stand. If we win the race for Riccardo, we would have to go on a sell spree because we still need to address the midfield and the striker situation. A RB back up as well.
Short one today, let me know in the comments what you think about these.
Southgate, Deschamps, Martinez = murders row of boring as fuck managers
somehow Deschamps can make the French side even more boring without the bang average Rabiot off the pitch
Bruno Fernandes was a revelation when he first arrived at United, but since that time his play has got progressively worse
those two French midfielders at Real, who received plenty of hype while at Monaco, are totally overrated, unless you’re a fan of sideways passing negative football…it’s quite a sad statement when Kante is your most advanced midifielder
on NOT off the pitch
finally a football match has broken out here…unfortunately many of the wrong players have been given the best chances
“Southgate, Deschamps, Martinez = murders row of boring as fuck managers”
Absolutely bang on – how can so many really good players be made to look so ordinary.
Marc—if that was a match where the first to score 3 goals wins, it might not have finished before the semis…let’s hope that the Swiss and Turkey both score first so that the English and Dutch are forced to open things up
TRVL
If that was a match with first to score 3 goals they wouldn’t have finished before the 2028 Euro’s kicked off.
(1) congrats to Saka for his late-game heroics and for the way in which he exercised his past demons from the spot…it’s clear that in order for Saka to be most effective you have to either find a way to punish teams for continually double-teaming him out wide and/or devise ways in which you can provide him with considerably more 1 v. 1 opportunities…this will require a considerable amount of tactical flexibility, which certainly isn’t MA’s forte
(2) still a very overpromise/underdeliver tactical performance by Southgate, which surely can’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s had to endure their last handful of matches…I can’t help but reiterate the fact that he reminds me of Arteta, especially when it comes his incessant need to talk a big game in the build-up, yet when the day finally arrives his balls have considerably shrivelled…the greater the stakes, the more shrivelled the balls
strangely enough, the football has been so dire under Gareth that I can actually envision a scenario where, even if they win it all, he gets summarily axed…of course, the headlines will suggest that it was his idea not theirs, like when Wenger was ousted, but their attempt to deceive will almost assuredly backfire…Southgate will get his bag, at some high profile address, then proceed to bore the living shit out of everyone involved until they pay him gobs of money to get him the fuck out….whereas, the curse, that generally accompanies the firing of a manager immediately following a long sought-after championship, will see England fail to repeat this accomplishment for another half-century or more
(3) much as I had wished, both the Swiss and Turkey scored first, so at least there was a sense of urgency injected into both of today’s affairs…here’s hoping that Spain pot a goal or two early on so as to force Deschamps into growing a fucking pair, otherwise he might finally be put out to pasture…thank fucking God, is what all the highly skilled French players will say in unison
(4) just watched Uruguay defeat Brazil in a penalty shootout…what a choppy, disjointed affair…under Bielsa’s direction Uruaguay actually committed 28 fouls in that match, which seems akin to watching a Smash Up Derby involving F1 vehicles…not a good watch…hopefully the semis will buck this shitty trend
Elvis Costello has re-written one of his songs ‘ I dont want to go to Arsenal’.
Our summer of discontent continues with news of ESR’s pending exit, rumours swirling about the possibility of signing the likes of Yaser Asprilla, the Watford winger with a 9M MV, and the 30 year old Wolve’s Keeper, Daniel Bentley, who with his 2M MV and pedestrian CV seems like a counteruntuitive hire from a title-winning depth perspective, and talk about how MA might shoehorn Calafiori out wide left, even though that’s not why he’s on everyone’s radar
first things first, it appears as if ESR might finally be on his way out, for good this time…looks like he will land at Craven Cottage, one of my favourite venues in Europe, if the rumours are to be believed…if so, good for him, as he was never going to be a regular contributor so long as MA is at the helm…hopefully he will figure things out and find a way to stay on the pitch, albeit I’m of the mind that a lot of his issues were much more MA-related than injury-based, as we were led to believe…I guess only time will tell…I kind of worry that Marts will be the next victim of MA’s campaign against a more direct brand of football…if only ESR was given the plethora of chances that MA afforded his bang average besties, as I think he might have really excelled alongside Ode and Rice, especially if we ever employed a Striker with goals in his boots
as for Asprilla and Bentley. the former is a young Columbian who has performed well in the Championship, but I very much doubt he’s the kind of piece this project requires…as per usual there’s plenty of online articles preaching his brilliance and unlimited ceiling, yet his MV would strongly suggets otherwise…nowadays 20 is the new 22 or even 23, especially when it comes to forwards, so it’s giving me coin toss Vieira-like vibes, which is far from encouraging…regarding the latter, what can I say but I’m very underwhelmed by the possibility…I know he has historical ties to our supposed Keeper whisperer, but I’m of the belief that this has far more to do with the fact that Raya and Arteta are so fragile that neither can stand the possibility of having a real competitor sitting on the bench again…if so, that’s some gutless and short-sighted shit, which could be our undoing should Raya struggle mightily or go down for any length of time
as for our Bologna-based defensive pursuits, there has been some chatter regarding the possibility that MA plans to use Calafiori much in the same manner as Pep has deployed Stones, which, in theory, could make more sense than playing him at LB…I get it, I guess, except that likely means we’re splitting up the best CB partnership in the PL simply so our poor man’s Pep can pay homage, once again, to his former boss…at what point will our little project manager finally realize that it’s incredibly difficult to beat the master at his own game and either come up with some ideas of his own or, better still, look towards those who have performed best against Pep and try to emulate the blueprint they’ve provided…I apologize to anyone who might be offended by such a rational notion, so feel free to continue down the same blind allegiance path that has enabled our still wet behind the ears manager to use our club as his personal plaything until just such a time as he’s wooed away by a club that’s actually on his managerial wishlist
rant over…Cheers
TRVL
ESR’s fate was sealed when he admitted taking extra training from Ozil. He did have injury problems but they were addressed some time ago. Saka will be sorry to see him go as they are best mates. When they meet up after ESR has departed they can continue to take the piss out of El B.
‘Defence was not particularly an area which Arsenal will have gone into the summer feeling big changes are going to be needed. Charles Watts shared,“It’s certainly an interesting move from Arsenal. I have to admit I wasn’t expecting the first significant deal of the transfer window to involve a defender…It was always an area that they were looking to strengthen, but I was expecting them to strengthen in the forward areas first”‘
Watt, like myself, can understand why there might be considerable interest in this particular player, especially if he’s deployed in his best position and MA tweaks his tactics accordingly, but that could be a bridge too far for our shoehorn-loving one trick pony of a manager…to further complicate matters, it appears as if we’ve been sniffing around both both Kadioglu and Guehi, which begs the question, why are we exhausting so much energy on the defensive side of things when there are considerably bigger fish to fry…simply put, it would be a crying shame if we overspent in one area, which seemed to be sorted, especially with the return of Timber, then tried to address our more pressing needs on the cheap
I would suspect that MA might be sulking a bit as of late, after all his ego has taken a bit of a beating considering that his supposed first choice hires, Sesko and Zubimendi, both said thanks, but no fucking thanks…all that said, I think it’s important to reiterate that even though I’m rather intrigue by Calafiori, as of yet I haven’t seen anything to suggest that MA knows what the fuck to do with a marauding defender-type…in fact, quite the contrary, considering the dumb-down roles our CBs have been given in the opposition’s half, minus maybe the odd time Sideshow Bob strolled up top
sadly, I can actually imagine a scenario where we brought in a couple defenders, a DM, to free up Rice, rightly or wrongly, and a shit Keeper, then kept our underwhelming Striker trio and only spent a pittance of what was required on some front-side depth…as always, I hope I’m completely off base
Personally I actually hope Arteta does copy Pep’s tactic of having a CB stepping into CM.
Quite simply because it will be obvious that his only trick is to copy what Pep does. If that means losing one of the current CB’s – that will just turn the fans on him even quicker.
Marc-I get your line of thinking, as we’re both on the same page regarding his managerial fraudulency, but I still want things to be left in relatively good order for the next man up…Cheers
OK whomever is fucking with me I’m coming for you – 3 goals in the semi and I’ve managed to walk into the kitchen to check on dinner for all 3 and missed them.
Yamal would be picking splinters from his arse if he played for Arsenal – life on the bench is about as far as he would get under El B but I doubt he would get that far.
NORG
That or playing like David Batty so he kept a place in the team!
Marc-seems like Deschamps decided to put his big boy pants on today…unfortunately his players are a little rusty when it comes to being in a match with actually goals being scored…Morata is like a better version of Havertz, which isn’t necessarily a compliment for either player
TRVL
France are still capable of hurting anyone – I will say this should England end up facing Spain in the final Spain will tear England a new one, it could be embarrassing.
Rodri is such a savvy player that I don’t even think I’ve ever seen him running at full speed, yet he always seems to be at the right place at the right time
Marc-I totally agree…in fact, it should be considered an embarassing outcome if France can’t find a way to win, considering their far more experienced lineup…France’s real problem is their glaring lack of creativity in their midfield
Spain deserve it more simply for being the only consistently positive upper crust side…bye-bye Deschump
“Arsenal may have to sell before they can land Riccardo Calafiori – with some leading lights at the Emirates questioning whether the Bologna man is worth the £45m he will cost”
“Gunners are expected to splash the cash this summer, but their overhaul has been put on pause as there is a desire to offload players before welcoming new arrivals”
“North London club have made an “opening offer” for Bentley. It is suggested that the offer was “well below” the West Midlands outfit’s valuation of Bentley. It has been revealed that the offer was worth just £50,000.This makes it look like we’re poor and we don’t have money”
So either this is simply a smokescreen to justify our snail-like movement in this window or our absentee landlord and his Bond villian son are getting fed up with MA’s chequebook managerial ways, which have led to a bloated roster, a whole host of devalued players and no silverware of any note to speak of
TRVL
I think you have hit the nail on the head. Nobody wants our cast offs because of the wage deal the players are on – both Eddie and Reiss are on super star wages – much higher than any of the lessor teams can afford. If loan deals happen with AFC paying part of the wage then El B with have less money to play with.
You’ll like this one Marc.
Your new friend Keir Starmer is off to Washington (one of my old stomping grounds) for a NATO conference and will hold a bilateral meeting with Biden.
He’s bought Joe a gift – a personalised Arsenal jersey. Means he’s bound to come second in November!
KP—-god willing Biden will come to whatever senses he has left and step down during the convention in August or I fear your prediction could be spot on…I’ve been praying that Michelle Obama could somehow be convinced into running, but I fear that she’s not a fan of any such proposition…if that’s the case, there’s a handful of coin toss candidates, none of whom have the kind of national face/name recognition that’s typically required to rally the requisite amount of voters they’ll need to defeat Trump’s still rapid base
If you ever want to understand why some people will never be fans of football just watch Rodrigo De Paul’s performance against Canada last evening…he represents everything that’s wrong with the game, especially when you don’t have credible enough officiating to root such fradulent behaviour…now before you accuse me of laying it on a little thick, due to my seemingly obvious Canadian bias, think again, as I knew full-well that Argentina was going to eliminate my country of origin regardless of De Paul’s embarassing antics…for me Canada’s appearance in the semis was nothing more than an incredibly fortuitous opportunity for our relatively green squad to get some crucial experience before co-hosting the WC in 2026…that said, this fucker was flopping around on the pitch like a fish out of water, which seems to be his MO nowadays, as his level of play has vastly dropped off
this is by far the most enjoyable English performance…would have rather they scored from open play, instead of from a questionable penalty, but they’ve dominated the play and have been far more creative in the final third…minus Simon’s strike from distance, it’s been boys to men thus far
sadly it’s back to scared football after a nervous halftime chat by both managers
wish I could say I’m surprised that Southgate reverted back to his usual tactical self…why would you opt-out from a tactical approach that had you in such a dominate position, especially before you had scored a second tally…what a gutless fuck…he’s like MA’s big game tactical doppleganger
Saka got stymied by a fractional offside call, but late-game sub Watkins looks to have put England into the final with an exeptional strike from a difficult angle
the 3 Lions are heading to Berlin for the first final on foreign soil
I’ll give Southgate a modicum of credit for putting Watkins and Palmer on the pitch when he could have just kept Kane out there and tried to just hold on for extra time…we all know who wouldn’t have done likewise…maybe someone slipped a viagra into Gareth’s drink
The pressure on Michelle is overwhelming – she is better than her other half. She will swim over Trump.
I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest that, as Obama was a great man who’s time in office was greatly hampered by deeply-rooted racial issues and the rise of hardline partisan politics, but I agree that Michelle would win in a landslide…the momentum her candidacy would generate, especially so close to election day, could have a massive impact on voter turnout…I don’t think she can be goaded into the job, which worries me greatly, as I don’t think any other option has the juice required to motivate the electorate
sounds like Merino has informed Sociedad that he wants to leave this summer…he only has one year left on his contract, which makes him an attractive option for bargain bin shoppers( a bit tongue in cheek)…after all, we’re talking about someone who’s not even our first choice MD target at his present club, as he’s the MD partner of Zumbimendi, who btw already told MA to kick rocks…as such, he’s hardly an inspiring acquisition, minus the fact that he headed in a crucial goal at the Euros in his usual late match substitute role for Spain…recency bias aside, his passing accuracy numbers are at best pedestrian, which simply doesn’t make sense in our pass-heavy system, regardless if he’s playing in front of Rice or as a deeper-lying pivot…I could be wrong, but this seems like another Havertz-like settling acquisition, which doesn’t help us whatsoever when it comes to adding someone who can unlock defences and/or clinically finish…who knows, maybe his good fortune at the Euros will help lift his game to another level, but as of right now the juice isn’t worth the squeeze
I think we’re having the wool pulled over our eyes with all this Merino talk. 🐑🐑🐑
Edu is bound to get fleeced….
KP—-I think Barca, like us, wants Zubimendi and they saw how MA went gaga over Havertz when fake rumours appeared about their supposed interest, so they fed their media sources stories about their interest in Merino in the hopes that MA would fall for it again…lo and behold, 2 days after the first article I read about Barca’s interest, stories started to appear about MA’s love of Merino…today I actually saw an article in a pro-Arteta “rag” which stated that Merino was somehow one of the best midfielders in all of Europe, even though no one knew him from squat beforehand, unless you were a Newcastle fan…he’s only on the national side because of his connection to their current manager, who was a longtime coach of their “junior” national program…he’s just a late-game cover piece because he’s so familiar with the coach’s preferred tactics
btw excellent wool-related puns… sorry about not acknowledging that before my mini rant
Hi Vieira
Nice one. I see Zirkzee is off to Manure to become their understudy big forward to that spotty Danish kid (an ersatz Harland if ever there was one).
Oh, and old horse-face Van Nistelrooy back as a coach, presumably to mis-manage their now duo of big lads up top. I wonder how ten Hag will pan out if results don’t improve this autumn.