Well, it’s Friday and not a single signing made. We’ve moved another three players on though.
Seb Larsson and Fabrice Muamba have joined Birmingham City on season long loans while Ryan Smith has joined Derby for an undisclosed fee.
There’s a lot of talk in the papers this morning about the lack of Englishmen in our side and Arsene’s reluctance to pay over the odds for them. I used Jermaine Pennant as an example yesterday and there are countless more. Buying in England means paying inflated prices for players who may not have proven ability.
West Brom wanting £10m for Curtis Davies illustrates the point perfectly. Now, don’t get me wrong. I think we need signings if we really want to compete this season but I’ll wait until the end of next week to see what Arsene comes up before I start worrying too much. There’s plenty of time between now and the start of the season to make things happen.
The one thing I will say though is too much experience has left the club and although some of the players didn’t exactly contribute much last season to lose that many players without adequately replacing them would be close to negligent, no matter how good some of the kids are. Anyway, let’s wait and see.
11am GMT is an important time as we’ll find out who we play in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Possible opponents are listed here. The first leg will take place the week of August 8th/9th with the return legs two weeks later, and just a couple of days after the start of the Premiership season.
We’ll be without Jens Lehmann for the first game at least. I’m assuming his red card in the final in Paris merits only a one match ban. There’s no need to stress how important these games are. A season in the new stadium without European football would be a bit of a disaster.
Update: We drew Dynamo Zagreb.
Right, not much else happening. Maybe if we all closed our eyes and wished at the same time we’ll sign someone. How’s 4pm sound for you? Good. Pass it on.
