Arsenal have a lot to thank Man City for.

Morning all.

Sky Sports report that Arsenal in talks with Torino over the sale of midfielder Lucas Torreira. The deal under discussion would see Torreira join on loan ahead of making it permanent next summer. The total fee is over £22m with Torino paying in two equal instalments. Fiorentina are also interested. Arsenal are open to selling to fund other targets. Torreira joined Arsenal from Sampdoria in July 2018 for £26m. Torino appointed Marco Giampaolo as their head coach last month – he was Torreira’s coach at Sampdoria.

There’s a lot to be said for who a club appoints as their manager. Arsenal fans know that more than most from back in the early Arsene Wenger days. Our most successful manager may not have signed Dennis Bergkamp but his arrival was the difference between the great Dutchman staying and going. We’ll never know if the French players who signed for the club would have done so had Rioch stayed put but I doubt it, partly because I’m not sure the club were looking at French players back then. Arsene knew of them though and we fans were privileged to have seen the likes of Petit, Vieira, Pires, Henry, Wiltord, Anelka, Sagna and Diaby to name just a few. Not all his French signings were a success, not all his signings were a success full stop but that’s life in the game.

Regardless of how Mourinho behaved towards Arsene, other managers too with their derogatory comments about how soft the Arsenal team was, Arsene Wenger remains a well respected figure in the game today. In his prime, I doubt there are many players around the world who’d have turned down the opportunity to play in his team. Even towards the end of his days, Ozil, Aubameyang and Lacazette felt Arsenal was the place to go. I know money plays it’s part but footballers have to be happy too. Take away happiness from a footballer and their performance drops. When a large group of players lose faith in what’s going on, the team flunks. That happened during Arsene Wenger latter years and probably most of Unai Emery’s. To be fair to him though, he was the head coach and had little if any input into who Arsenal signed. Raul did that.

Now though, the club has almost gone back in time. David Dein and Arsene Wenger worked so well together. Look what happened when Dein left. Now we have Edu and Mikel Arteta who together, work as well as well as the fore mentioned duo. Whereas Wenger was the huge attraction, Dein got the deals done. Arteta of course is new to this managerial game but I think he already has pulling power but not necessarily because of who he is but because of who he learned from. Pep Guardiola. Mikel Arteta made the right decision by going to Manchester City after he called time on his playing days. Even though it felt like he was turning his back on Arsenal at the time, he clearly knew what he was doing. Learn from the best or learn from someone who used to be the best? An easy decision really.

Edu the invincible and Mikel Arteta, (Guardiola MK11) is certainly a more attractive prospect than what it might have been had Arteta stayed at Arsenal. Both can sell the football and both can certainly sell the club. I’m sure that’s why Willian didn’t hesitate to cross London, why Gabriel turned down offers of a bigger salary to join Arsenal and why we can be optimistic that the better players will again want to sign for the club. Not all I know because not every player puts football ahead of his salary but Arsenal are an attractive club again but now it’s more likely to be because of the direction the club are going in and because of Mikel Arteta.

Thank goodness Pep offered him a job. Thank goodness he said yes.

See you in the comments guys.