Good morning from a very windy Dublin. To my friends across the Irish Sea, buckle up – I presume this is heading your way. VIIIIIIIINNNNNDDSS!
There’s not a lot going on this morning, but Mikel Arteta will meet the press ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Wolves. We might get some team news, some non-committal answers on stories involving transfers, but it’s not even 48 hours since he did his post-game stuff after the win over Dinamo Zagreb so I don’t expect massive revelations.
Let’s start this morning with stories that say Kieran Tierney is close to agreeing a pre-contract to return to Celtic when his Arsenal deal expires in the summer. With less than 6 months to go, he’s free to talk to other clubs, and reportedly there has been interest/contact from Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla, Juventus and Everton, but it looks like he’s going ‘home’.
If that is the case, and despite the fact I’m sure Celtic will pay him well enough, it’s a decision that’s more emotional than anything else. Which isn’t to criticise it, if that’s what he wants then fair play, but he could play at a higher level and probably earn more money at any of the other clubs mentioned. Obviously though, he’s a Celtic fan, he grew up there, and the draw of that isn’t to be underestimated. We often bemoan the influence that money has on the game and on players, so to see a player decide to go with his heart – if that’s what ends up happening – is not a bad thing at all.
I’ve seen chat about how it could happen this month, but although we have plenty of left-backs available to us, I’d be inclined to hang onto him until the end of the season. With further reports about Oleksandr Zinchenko heading for Borussia Dortmund before the window closes, I think keeping Tierney makes sense. I love Myles Lewis-Skelly and his emergence has been a real positive from this season, but Riccardo Calafiori has yet to prove his durability in the Premier League. So as a back-up, and someone whose experience might be useful between now and the end of May, I hope he sticks around.
It would then leave room for Zinchenko to leave on loan with an obligation/option, allowing us to bank some money and perhaps loosen the purse strings this month knowing this will be hitting the accounts down the line. I thought he did pretty well the other night, but it was just his fifth start of the season, and he’s been shoved down the pecking order by Lewis-Skelly. I’ve never fully understood why, for such a technically good player with plenty of experience of playing higher up, Mikel Arteta has never really considered him for midfield minutes, but it seems clear that’s not in his thinking, so it would make sense to let Zinchenko go if the terms of the deal are right.
Elsewhere, there’s some chat that Ben White is back in training (on grass!), and could make his return soon. That would obviously be a big boost, we’ve struggled for numbers on the right of our defence, and it would – ideally – mean we don’t have play Thomas Partey there anymore. With William Saliba currently nursing a hamstring strain, Ben White’s availability would be very welcome, but let’s see if that’s something the manager references in his press conference this morning.
For those of you interested in the money stuff, the latest Deloitte Money League stuff is here. Part of me thinks this is a bit like TV ratings, where they just sort of make it up within reasonable parameters, and I think you find better analysis from our friend Swiss Ramble (not just on Arsenal, btw). Anyway, if there’s a takeaway it’s that we have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to our commercial revenue – might I be so bold as to suggest increasing the amount of Adidas merchandise? I feel like we’ve gone at least 6 hours without a new range.
Right, there’s an Arsecast from yesterday here if you haven’t had a chance to listen already. Later on we’ll be previewing the Wolves game over on Patreon, so please join us for that if you haven’t already become a member, and we’ll bring you all the press conference stories on Arseblog News.
For now, have a good one, stay safe from those winds!
