Morning.
06.45am: The training ground pictures game is now an established Arsenal fan tradition. First up, you can see who is in them and who isn’t, perhaps giving us an insight into a player’s fitness if there’s some uncertainty. Then there’s the bib aspect as we try and work out if that gives us a clue as to the starting XI for a particular game.
Now there’s a new game: Media Day Pictures. Arsenal’s took place yesterday, with the head-shots and action shots of players in the new kit ahead of the new season, and one particular absence has caused some speculation. While there are pictures of Kieran Tierney and Reiss Nelson, for example, there don’t appear to be any of Eddie Nketiah.
What does it all mean? What is the subtle or not so subtle conclusion we can draw from his absence? I don’t know. Maybe we’re not posting any Eddie snaps because we think he’ll leave or he’s on the verge of leaving. Maybe Eddie had a cheeky Nandos and it was a dodgy Nandos and he’s ended up with a dose of the splats and couldn’t make it in for the photo-shoot. Or perhaps Stuart and Pricey were called away on an emergency to take pictures of Edu’s BBQ after he reverse-seared a tomahawk steak to perfection and needed professional pics to capture the moment for all eternity. Your guess is as good as mine.
07.30am Update: I’ve just seen pictures of Eddie. Drama over. I’m glad he didn’t have a dodgy cheeky Nandos, nobody needs that.
I am curious as to what’s going to happen with Tierney, by the way. There hasn’t really been an update on his fitness, mostly because Arsenal seem replete with left-back options, including the emergence of a young talent in Myles Lewis-Skelly who everyone is very excited about. There are still a couple of weeks to go in the window, but it’s hard to envisage any club coming in with an offer to take him on a permanent basis. After witnessing him suffer that injury on the European stage, you would be somewhat cautious about spending on him, and I think the best case scenario is that he finds a loan move before the window shuts.
Whether that’s within the Premier League, or abroad, who can say? It wouldn’t at all surprise me if, as things went down the wire, we had a call from Celtic about him. That’s based on no info, by the way, just a gut feeling, but it seems clear that he – like others in the squad – will have to go elsewhere to play on a regular basis. The best case scenario is another PL team where he can play well and stay fit for enough of the season that they might come in with a permanent bid next summer.
Meanwhile, as Brooke Norton-Cuffy finalises his move to Genoa, I wonder what is going to happen with Charlie Patino. He’s had loans at Swansea and Blackpool where he has played quite a bit, but not really shown enough to make you think he can lay claim to a first team place at Arsenal. The fact that he wasn’t involved at all in pre-season with a very young squad tells you something about his prospects, and Ethan Nwaneri’s arrival onto the scene has pretty much put paid to any slim chances he might have had.
At 20, he’s still got it all ahead of him, and sometimes a player has to take a step-back to go forward. I think he’s probably in the same bracket as Norton-Cuffy and Mika Biereth, young players who aren’t quite at the level we need, but who we’ll let go for something in the region of £3m-£5m – with sell-on clauses included so if they do make real progress we’ll stand to benefit down the line. Let’s see where he ends up.
Elsewhere, Arsenal have reportedly rejected a loan move from Ajax for Aaron Ramsdale, preferring a sale. I just don’t know who is the market for a number 1 goalkeeper in the Premier League, because what Arsenal apparently want in terms of a fee makes it a fairly prohibitive deal for most clubs outside England. Another one where things might come down to the wire a bit.
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Just ahead of the new season, I want to give our Patreon a bit of a plug, and to show you what you get if you decide to subscribe. This is our starting line-up for the 2024-25 season.
- Ad-free Arsecast, Arsecast Extra, and Arsenal Women Arsecast.
- A Preview Podcast for every Premier League and European games, and some big cup games too – with Lewis Ambrose
- The 30: Our weekly Premier League round-up podcast with Phil Costa
- New player podcasts: Whenever we make a signing, we’ll get on the mics to give you the insight about the player and the deal.
- Andrew Allen’s Weekly Round-up of Arsenal Bits: Every week Andrew will publish a newsletter exclusive to Patreon, bringing you the most interesting Arsenal related stories and content from around the web.
- Waffle: The podcast (usually an Interlull favourite) in which Andrew and James talk about anything and everything except Arsenal.
- Poorly Drawn Stuff: As ever we’ll be teaming up with our friend Poorly Drawn Arsenal to bring you pics, animations, and other fun stuff.
- Discord access: A chat server containing multiple channels/topics, including a way for you to submit questions for the Arsecast Extra.
- Fantasy Football: The new season is live, with a top prize of €1000, but you must register BEFORE FRIDAY AUGUST 16th at 6pm (GMT).
- Patreon members will get advance notice for live events and tickets, giving you the chance to purchase before they go on general sale.
- Your support on Patreon allows us to reinvest in the site in general, and this season the Arsenal Women Arsecast with Tim Stillman will be taking on a more regular post-game schedule, and a slightly updated format with a section for listener questions. This, along with other recent developments, underlines our commitment to providing the highest quality coverage of Arsenal Women anywhere.
- We have also added an annual subscription option, which any existing members can move to if you want – it gives you a 10% discount over the course of the 12 months.
- NOTE: Due to changes made by Apple, as outlined here – https://news.patreon.com/articles/understanding-apple-requirements-for-patreon – we strongly recommend that you do NOT use the iOS app to subscribe as you will be forced to pay more. This is completely out of our hands. Sign up via the web, then use the iOS app as normal.
- We know the Arseblog apps on iOS and Android need a little love and updating, so please rest assured that’s in hand, and hopefully we’ll be in a position to launch the new versions soon.
So, you get all that, plus instant access to all the archives etc, for just $6 a month + VAT in applicable jurisdictions. If that tickles your fancy, you can sign up at patreon.com/arseblog – your support is welcome and appreciated, and hopefully we give you plenty of value for it throughout the season and beyond.
Righto, let’s leave it there for now. Have a good Wednesday, folks.
