Morning all.
After a weekend of announcements, things will likely settle down this week. In terms of incoming business, I have a feeling we’ll do something else before the end, but not until later in window. You don’t need to be an expert to think the focus will now turn to some departures, and there are definitely some players surplus to requirements. I wish Edu and his team the very best of luck with that.
Meanwhile, the travelling squad for the US Tour was announced yesterday, and it shows that the serious work of pre-season begins now. As much as we enjoyed seeing Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly last week, there’s only one ‘Academy’ player in the group, 18 year old Amario Cozier-Duberry. He’s a player who has been likened to Bukayo Saka in the past, and with Reiss Nelson missing out due to injury, he might well be seen as cover for our star man.
Emile Smith Rowe is set to follow later in the week after his small post-European Championships break, and Thomas Partey will be another late arrival. Whether that’s linked to a rumoured move to Saudi Arabia or something else, I don’t know. Other notable absentees are Nicolas Pepe, who as far as we know hasn’t even come back to London this summer; Albert Sambi Lokonga is listed as injured but we think he’ll be looking for a new club; Nuno Tavares, on holidays but not in the plans for the season ahead; and Cedric Soares whose absence makes complete sense if your plan is to put in hard work with the players who you’re counting on.
Even by the standards of early pre-season he was woeful last week in Germany, clearly frustrating Mikel Arteta on the sideline at various points. There wasn’t even a seat for him at the training ground when the manager introduced Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber the other day, so they’re not wasting any money on a plane ticket. He, and some of the others I mentioned, are the ones that Edu has to work hard to move on, and it’s not going to easy with a couple of them. That said, if we score a goal against MLS All-Stars during the week, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a small Portuguese man emerge from the crowd, in full kit, to join in the celebrations … immediately followed by Arteta chasing him off with a broom like Cedric was a mouse in a country kitchen.
There have been rumours about Kieran Tierney and Celtic, and I have to say I enjoyed this from Brendan Rodgers who is now back in Glasgow after ditching them to join Leicester. Speaking about a possible return for the left-back, he said:
When I spoke to him down the road in the Premier League, every time we met up all we talked about was Celtic. He’s a Celtic man but he’s at a fantastic club in Arsenal. You can just never say never in football. Who knows what might happen?
We wouldn’t be able to buy Kieran for £25m-£30m, that’s for sure, or the figures I see bandied about. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to pay the huge salary he’s on. However, one can never tell.
Er, if you need a helping hand on this one, Brendan, I can tell. Doesn’t it just sum up how ludicrous football is that he’s basically saying we can’t afford the transfer fee or his wages, but maybe we’ll somehow still bring him in?! You can’t really operate like that in any other aspect of life.
“I wouldn’t be able to buy this mansion for the vast price it would take, nor could I afford the upkeep of the grounds, the swimming pool, the stables, the helipad and all the rest. However, one can never tell.”
YES YOU CAN. YOU CAN TELL!
Tierney back to Celtic confirmed then. You heard it here first. Right, let’s leave it there for this morning. James and I will be recording an Arsecast Extra for you a little later on this morning. Keep an eye out for the call for questions on Twitter @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re on Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
For now, have a good one.
