Morning all.
Bukayo Saka has been voted Arsenal’s player of the season on the official website for the second year running to become the first Arsenal player to retain the award since Thierry Henry in 2004. He also joins a short list of players who have won the trophy back to back with the others being Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and Liam Brady. Martin Odegaard came second with Aaron Ramsdale in third place.
Does he like the song the Arsenal fans sing about him?
Definitely!” It sounds funny but it has always been one of my dreams to have my own song – when I was growing up and coming to the stadiums there were lots of special songs and I always wanted to have my own. It’s nice when I hear fans sing my name and it definitely gives me that boost to play even better. I obviously share the chant with Emile but I don’t mind that – it’s nice to share it with someone who’s come up with me from Hale End. The fans support us both and we just want to give our all for the team. (Arsenal.com from 25th April)
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Bukayo Saka is still just 20 years old with his best footballing days yet to come. For Arsenal I hope. Same goes for Emile Smith Rowe. I’m a big fan of Flo Balogun too which I know will surprise you. Lol
Right after helping the England Under 21 qualify for next years Euros, Talk Sport reportedly asked him about his future:
When I get back to Arsenal I will like to sit down with the manager and see what he thinks and we will decide what is best. I know that everyone will like to know what I will do next but I would like to speak to him first and we can come to a conclusion.
Somehow, that’s been translated into him failing to commit his future to the club. I know, it’s hard to believe isn’t it but I clapped my eyes on that very headline on NewsNow and no, I didn’t click on article. Just a year ago, Balogun signed a new contract at Arsenal and I think it’s fair to suggest that he and Mikel Arteta would have had a long chat about the player’s future before the contract was signed. If Balogun didn’t think his future was at Arsenal, I’m sure he’d have walked out of the club there and then because his contract had just weeks to run. I’d imagine the only thing which needs deciding this summer is whether or not he’d benefit from another loan. As said yesterday though, I think he’ll stay and be part of the first team squad. He’ll be 21 years old in a couple of weeks time and in my opinion, it’s far too early to write him off.
In the transfer rumours, journalist Graeme Bailey has had his say on Youri Tielemans:
We’ve done a piece and we’ve managed to get hold of a source close to the club who confirms that intent, the club are pushing ahead with this, they are very confident of getting him. We’ve spoken to the player’s camp at length, Leicester accept that the player is going now, he has a lot of interest from around the world, but he fancies a move to London, he’s ready for this and he’s long had Arsenal in his sights.
I know what you’re thinking, who on earth is Graeme Bailey? He’s red hot on transfer gossip apparently and I know that because I read it on Twitter. Not only does he think Arsenal are serious about Youri Tielemans but Gianluca Scamacca too. It’s a shame Darwin Nunez is heading to Liverpool as we might be signing him too.
When does the transfer window close?
Catch up in the comments.
Shock horror, Lacazette has signed for Lyon..
Good morning Rico.
I read this morning that Arsenal are facing stiff competition in the race to sign Jesus from Man City. The stiffer the better as far as I’m concerned. Apparently he has been offered to the Spuds.
While talking about Saka, Guardiola has denied that he has any intention of trying to sign our Player of the Year.
I would like to see Balogun given a chance in the first team, if it doesn’t work out he could go out on loan for the second half of the season.
He looks, to me, like a different style of player to our other strikers and would open up different options for Arteta.
A lovely warm and sunny day here, I hope the grass dries out quickly after yesterday’s heavy rain and last night’s thunder storm, it urgently needs cutting.
Morning Cicero, I’m not fussed over Jesus either but whoever the club sign will get my support, at least for a while. Lol
Ditto re Balogun, loan him out in January if needed but until then, we have three cups to contend with.
Gabriel Jesus? Still not a fan, despite the amount of guff I read about him being the best striker since Henry. He’s not really a striker either.
Lacazette overall was a disappointment. He downed tools a number of times, which was pretty easy to spot. Never made the impact we were hoping and was generally lazy. Remind you of any other ‘stars’ we signed in the past?
Scaramanga – absolutely no idea about him, but a great name.
Hi Pete, he certainly did. Under Arsene and again Unai Emery..
Morning Rico and all
Rico I am with you on Balogun, Just because a player wants to sit down and discuss his future with the manager does not mean he want out. There is a big difference from just wanting out to wanting to plan for the future I hope he does stay but I don’t want him to go out on loan at around 21 it’s time to take that next step and push for senior game time with us
I am a bit surprised Saka won our player of year, I thought Odegaard and Ramsdale had a more consistent year and helped us win more matches than Saka did but well done to Saka his future is looking bright.
Two names keep cropping up, Arthur Melo and Youri Tielemans. Both are no more than average players who will be demanding long and expensive contracts as well as costing far too much in transfer fees. Neither will have much of a sell on value so we could end up with two more players sitting out their contracts.
NOT good business.
Hi Geoff.
Have we signed Melo and Tielemans then Cicero?
Afternoon ITK’s, shaken not stirred Pete.
Our lads are our future, I love it when they come through and become top quality and play for us for many years. What’s better than joining a club as a schoolboy, working your way through the different levels until you reach the 1st team and then go onto win trophies with your mates, maybe even play with them for England etc
Rico, I’m not a bit surprised on your take on Balogun.
And I fully agree – contrary to washed-out pundits I think it would be enough to sign a class striker this window, but a really efficient one. (We could still buy a winger to replace Pepe and challenge the Saka-Martinelli-ESR triumvirate, so Gakpo could be still on the table.)
Geoff, I fully agree on Saka. I think Odegaard and Gabriel (Magalhães) were more consistent, albeit Ramsdale hardly had a good game since mid-March (Leicester)…
Pbarany, if we sign just a striker, we’re doomed from the off imo.
Evening Rico. That’s the thing isn’t it? Arteta has spent a couple of seasons stabilising the ship and trimming it for the road ahead.. But, seriously, if Stan doesn’t back him properly right now then he may as well find another job because Arsenal won’t go anywhere soon unless they increase the quality of the squad.
Kroenke simply must back him.
Evening Adam, agree because what’s the point in trimming the squad if those who’ve gone aren’t replaced?
Rico, if Eddie stays we don’t need a second striker. Jesus/Morata/Nunez/Gouiri and Nketiah plus Balogun would cover for the entire season.
In fact there are several problems with signing 2 high profile strikers.
First and foremost, it didn’t work out for Wenger, Emery or Arteta. One of the main reasons behind the failure of the past years is that nobody could integrate 2 strikers in the same team. Auba was a decent left winger, but did not provide the quality he could as the lone striker, and Lacazette was less effective as an attacking midfielder or secondary striker.
And if we stick to the 4-2-3-1 (which is the most probable scenario; even Liverpool’s or Real Madrid’s 4-3-3 and Chelse’s 3-4-3 there is only 1 place for a striker) we cannot accommodate both attackers in the same team. I know that many of you won’t mind that, but the players approached would. Who will be the back-up striker for the cup games? Will Toney join if we sign Jesus? Would Nunez play second fiddle behind Morata? Or would even Jesus join in the first place unless being promised to start all of the PL games and the high profile cup games ahead of the winter World Cup? That’s not motivating for Abraham to leave his cemented first team place in Rome at all…
I seriously doubt that we could find any player matching these 2 criteria: a clear and undisputed quality improvement over Nketiah AND willingness to accept becoming the secondary striker, irrespective from the asking price. Scamacca could be a nobody in England, but would not switch the popularity and visibility in Italy for 1000 minutes and a bigger salary in London – which we don’t really want to offer, as I fully agree with Kevin that Arsenal shouldn’t start a wage war.
So I don’t see a better scenario then to resort to academy players. They don’t cost that much, they won’t find EL games degrading, the have loyalty imprinted in the Arsenal DNA, and they are damn good players – or could be in a few years with proper coaching, mentoring and opportunities.
Of course it is possible that Arteta and Edu will find a different scenario. An unknown Brazilian, an aging Vardy, a humble DCL or an redemption-seeking Rashford could theoretically accept the role of the back-up striker, albeit unlikely. But let’s not forget, this duo signed Willian a couple of years ago, so if they cook up something unexpected, there is always a chance to backfire.
Pbarany, I thought you were suggesting we only needed to sign a striker this summer, whereas I think we need the kind of numbers we saw last summer.
I’m sure I remember Arsene Wenger having 4 strikers in Dennis Bergkamp, Nwankwu Kanu, Davor Suker and Thierry Henry to choose from around 2000 and 2001 and when Suker left he brought in Sylvain Wiltord and we seemed to do ok.
I’m not sure the problem is in having or signing two strikers I think it’s more in terms of signing players who complement each other and the team.
Peter, I see absolutely no truth in the Morata links, for me it’s classic agent inspired rumours and Nunez I suspect won’t come to Arsenal and we probably can’t afford him anyway, the same applies to Martinez.
Abraham I like a lot but he’s gonna cost more than Nunez I imagine so that’s very unlikely as well which is why we could be after Scamacca, we need a centre forward type, someone who can put the frighteners on opposing centre backs and make them drop off, Jesus can play across the attack so he could complement a centre forward I reckon as well as play up front. Both Eddie and Balogun can also play that role.
As for Rashford – do me a favour…
Good Morning RIco and all
Kev….I think that Scamacca has sailed now. Its like Locatelli, Vlahovic to Juve. Scamacca wants Milan or Inter. So expect him to turn down any offer we can make even if we offer him three to four times the pay packet that the Milan clubs give him. Personally I would love it if Scamacca comes, Raspadori I like as well. However my personal favourite is Patrick Schick of Austria. He is similar to Lewandowski in style and awareness.
I still feel that Arteta will get Jesus though.
Morning Devil, all.
Transfer window is officially open today so I expect Jesus to be signed and sealed by 5pm. 🤣
Rico, I think the return from Eddie could have improved if we would have sold Arteta in the summer, not in the winter. I still don’t think that we need 4 strikers, when the formation accommodates only one. 3 were too much last season, but we didn’t have European football and we sucked in the FA Cup, too. So 3 will be plenty – especially having Martinelli to play CF in a worst case scenario. Maybe even the new winger (Gakpo, de Ketelaere) could do that, too.
If we (can) keep Folarin and Eddie, then 1 striker signing should happen. If we lose Nketiah, we might need 2 center forwards. But the question still remains: how can we find a player that is good enough and won’t mind playing second fiddle? (My other question would be that doing that wouldn’t betray Balogun, who signed his new contract last summer on the premise that he will have first team opportunities? Which will prove to be a big fat lie if we sign both Jesus and Abraham, but probably nobody cares…)
Kevin, sorry for the Morata/Rashford remarks, they weren’t referrals. 🙂
However your comparison with the Invincibles would only work if Arteta’s Arsenal would switch to a 2 striker formation. As Bergkamp played 5-3-2 with Wright, 4-4-2 with Anelka and Suker, but played secondary striker when both Henry (originally as LW) and Kanu/Wiltord were on the pitch.
Independent from the formation, we cannot have more than 4 attacking minded player on the pitch (not to mention Mikel is being pressured to play 3). As long as Saka and Odegaard are sure starters and Martinelli competes with ESR for the LW role we have only 1 vacancy. Or to put it differently: if we sign 2 players guaranteed to start that will banish both Gabi and Emile to the ‘lower competitions’. Which might become the right decision from hindsight, but let’s be aware of that from the start.
I still think we should appreciate Eddie and Folarin as they don’t demand a PL starting position, but we can disagree on that. But we shouldn’t disregard the sacrifices with “oversigning”.
I take it you meant Aubameyang Pbarany although I like the idea of selling Arteta last summer. 😆
I agree re Eddie, an earlier introduction might have helped but I’m not convinced many Arsenal fans would have thought going into last season with Eddie and Lacazette as our strikers was a good thing.
As much as you all witter on about forwards the elephant in the room is central midfield .Until that is solved we stand still
Absolutely agree, and left/right back Potter.
Imo, we need at five players this summer if we’re to compete in all four competitions.
With the Premier League due to announce the 2021/22 Retained and Free Transfer Lists for member clubs at 3pm (UK time) on Friday June 10, our thanks and best wishes go to the following players across our teams whose current contracts with us will have officially ended by June 30 2022 (May 31 2022 for Women’s First Team).
Read on to find out more:
Men’s and Women’s first team squads:
Lisa Evans
Tobin Heath
Alex Lacazette
Eddie Nketiah (contract offered, ongoing discussions)
Viktoria Schnaderbeck
Lydia Williams (ongoing discussions)
Men’s Under-18s and Under-23s squads
Jonathan Dinzeyi
Joel Lopez
Jordan McEneff
Please note, any further developments regarding players extending their contracts; joining/re-joining us; or leaving us will be officially communicated as soon as they are confirmed.
We thank all the above players for their contributions to the club during the periods of their permanent or loan contracts with us.
You will always be part of the Arsenal Family and we wish you all the best of health, happiness and success in your futures.
New post up now
Indeed, Rico, selling Arteta in the winter must have been a Freudian slip. 🙂