Morning all.
A simple question today, can Arsenal get through the next few months with Eddie Nketiah as our only out and out striker? If it wasn’t for the Europa League fixtures as well as the FA Cup, I’d say yes because when we needed him last season, he stepped up.
Gabriel Jesus, who I wish a speedy and complete recovery, went under the knife yesterday so we’re talking months rather than weeks before we see him again. Admittedly, his conversation rate for goals isn’t the best in the league and Nketiah’s might even be better, but it’s his all round game, personality and pressing which the team will miss in my opinion. Can Eddie, will Eddie match that? The answer is, we don’t know until he starts his first Premier League game of the season.
Personally, I don’t think Edu and Mikel Arteta will hit the ‘panic signing’ button in January because I don’t think that’s the way they operate. But, if the plan is to sign another striker in the summer, they might bring that plan forward. Or they might just try and secure a loan deal. I’m guessing of course, it’s all we can do but considering many of our goals have come from players other than Jesus, I can’t see a prolific striker joining the club in January. I’d love to see one arrive as I’m sure we all would but I just can’t see it happening.
A midfielder and/or a winger perhaps, but I can see Mikel Arteta shuffling his pack until Gabriel Jesus returns.
See you in the comments.
I read earlier that we have a recall written into Balogun’s loan deal. That’s an option which I would not be surprised to see.
A lot will depend on Smith-Rowe’s situation . If he is fit to start then we can shuffle the pack and change things as we go ,but if we depend solely on Eddie then we are one injury away from disaster.
No Balogun and no Smith-Rowe , then we need to buy . if they are both available then probably we will go with that but I still feel that it may be a bit light.
I think we could do with Balogun, even if Jesus comes back fully fit and early. Not fair on him if he’s not going to be used but Eddie can’t play every game until March, and that’s assuming Jesus has the perfect recovery. Martinelli central is perhaps an option but his play on the left has been equally as important as Jesus imo.
I don’t think ESR is even back training yet.
Seems that he is with the squad in Dubai though . “”quote”” Smith Rowe is part of a 27-man squad named by Arteta as senior players such has Kieran Tierney, Gabriel Magalhaes, captain Martin Odegaard, Eddie Nketiah, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira all make the trip.
Good day Rico and all, however soon Jesus comes back we need a central striker. Arteta’s mentor and tutor, Guardiola, bought just such a striker in the summer and we all know how well that has turned out. If it’s good enough for Pep then it should be good enough for Mikel.
I’m not talking about a Jesus replacement, but a bustling number nine would present a different option up front. Eddie is not that player, Balogun might prove to be though.
That’s positive then, hopefully.
Hi Cicero, we do but I doubt the plan is for Jan, if we can secure Champions League football, the more money we’ll have.
Buying a striker in January would help with gaining CL football for next season. Chicken and Egg?.😉
Afternoon Rico and all
Yes we do need a striker, no matter when Jesus comes back as he was not scoring and we can’t rely on just scoring one goal. Winning is good but goal difference could be a factor to were we finish on the ladder as well
Bukayo Saka and his unlikely pen pal – Teddy, aged 8
Amy Lawrence
When Bukayo Saka scored for England at the World Cup in Doha, one little boy on the Isle of Wight might just have felt more euphoric than anyone else.
Teddy, eight years old, is Saka’s pen pal. He had sent him a message ahead of the World Cup, telling him: “Just think of victory and it will come to you.” At the sight of Saka’s goal, Teddy exploded, leaping around the living room, jumping on his grandad who had just had a knee replacement. There were some tears – and not about the knee. These were happy tears.
Teddy was one of the many thousands who felt moved to write to Saka in the aftermath of the Euros held in the summer of 2021. That saved penalty kick in the final, and the racism which scarred the aftermath, inspired a lot of people to contact Saka offering support and understanding to a teenager trying to process an awful lot of deep emotion. Arsenal received so much mail they decided to make them into an exhibition to show their boy how much people cared.
A wall of letters from fans to Bukayo Saka, at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (Photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Teddy’s letter went straight to the heart: “I hope you are not sad anymore. If you was here with me I would buy you an ice cream from the ice cream van with my pocket money and then we would play football in the park and I would let you win.” Teddy put his pocket money into the envelope for Saka to treat himself.
Saka was blown away. It was the start of an unlikely friendship.
Teddy never imagined in his craziest dreams that there would be any follow-up when he came home from school one day, disappointed with the letter that he had produced in class as part of a writing task. It was bothering him that he felt what he penned was, in his own words, “rubbish”. He wanted to try to put that right because he idolised Saka. His mother, Lizzie, was astounded when Teddy walked through the door and asked to do some writing. This was a first.
“Teddy hates school work,” confesses Lizzie. “He wants to be outside all the time. He’s a typical boy. The whole island knows he is mad about football. It was weird. I nearly died when he said: ‘Can I write another letter?’ I said, ‘Go on mate, you know where the paper is.’ He went ahead and wrote it. I told him to go on the iPad and get the address up. I posted it and thought nothing of it. That was that.”
Italy celebrate after Bukayo Saka’s penalty miss in the Euro 2020 final (Photo: Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Except that wasn’t that.
Saka loved the letter and decided to invite Teddy to the Emirates to thank him personally. “Here was a kid who sent me his pocket money,” he says. “He was just talking about how sad he was for me and how he would love to play football with me in the park and have an ice cream with me. I never expected anything like that, especially for a young kid to give me his pocket money. That must mean a lot because I know when I was a kid that money means everything.”
He asked Lynne Chaney, who looks after players’ mail, to set the wheels in motion for a meeting. Lizzie was disbelieving. “I thought it was my sister winding me up. I thought it was a prank call. I think I told the voice down the line to shut up. Then it dawned on me that it was real.”
A plan was hatched. Teddy and his family headed to the Emirates for a tour of the stadium. While he was sitting in the dressing room for photos, Saka walked slowly into view for the big surprise. “Want an ice cream, Teddy? Chocolate or strawberry?”
“Strawberry,” replied Teddy, before he even had a moment to work out what was going on. “When I saw him, I thought it was someone who looked like him. I couldn’t believe it was actually him,” he recalls.
That day went like a dream. They had a good chat and then Saka went off in search of a ball for a kickabout on the Emirates pitch with his new little mate. Teddy is a fourth-generation Arsenal supporter. His family’s roots are in Islington, and his mum remembers how she would sit on the steps of her uncle’s house on Highbury Hill and watch the crowds go by on match days. Watching Teddy play football with Saka was too much for his grandad. “He never cried like that in his entire life!” Teddy giggles.
That was only the start of it, though. Teddy effectively became Saka’s modern-day pen pal. Instead of letters, he has moved on to video messages.
“We make videos to send to our fairy godmother Lynne to pass on,” says Lizzie. “The first one was to say thank you for Teddy’s special day and it just progressed. I didn’t want to overstep the mark, though, and drive him mad, to put pressure on Bukayo that he thinks he has to look at it or reply. He is a very busy person. But he does. He is such a genuine person. He is so gentle and humble. Lynne said he loves getting the messages.”
Bukayo Saka with Teddy, in the Emirates home dressing room (Photo: Stuart MacFarlane, Arsenal)
Teddy’s videos are sometimes to congratulate Saka for a goal or great performance, to wish him good luck or happy birthday, or to share how he is doing in his football and show him a medal or trophy. They often include a lot of laughs and always end with a big double thumbs-up. Saka always replies via Lynne. It is telling that when Teddy contemplates what his favourite thing is about his favourite player, he doesn’t come up with anything specific to football, instead saying, “He is kind.”
Teddy symbolises the goodwill of the many that helped Saka to draw a line under the experience of his missed penalty at the Euros. The capacity to continue his footballing excellence, with club and country, after suffering such a setback at a young age, is extraordinary.
To this day, a selection of the letters is displayed on Saka’s wall on the concourse at the Emirates Stadium. One small boy, with a big personality certainly, wrote a letter of note. In modern society, it is no bad thing to be reminded that kind words and deeds have the power to outweigh cruel ones.
(Top photo: Stuart MacFarlane / Arsenal)
That’s a heart warming story and could be something a certain former Man U No. 7 should take note of when thinking about how he should treat young supporters.
Great story, I think I’ve read about Teddy and Bukayo Saka before. It shows not all footballers are heartless money grabbing b******s…
Hi Geoff.
An important win for Arsenal in the women’s Champions League tonight one nil against Juventus. 🔔
Three points clear of Lyon, who we play next week, at the Emirates, and a better goal difference. One point means we finish top of the group.
Lovely, Saka really is one of the nicest people, and footballer!
3.30pm kick off in Dubai later today vs Lyon.
I
Well done, Saka sometimes the smallest of action speaks the loudest, not only will this young boy have memories for life but so will his family and you.
Arsenal 3 nil up, goals from Martinelli, Nketiah and Veira. There will be a penalty shootout after the match, regardless of the result, the winners get an extra point.
That’s how it finished , but second half was a youth team by the looks of things. I did not watch it but if anyone did were any of the young ones particularly stand out and how did Aouar play as we were apparently interested in him last window.
Correction, Not Martinelli Gabriel.
All over, Arsenal win 3 – 0. Arsenal also win the penalty shootout 2 – 1.
There is story claiming that Ben White is leaving the English squad and returning home after having a disagreement / argue with England’s assistant coach, I hope that is correct from a selfish point, that’s another player that will not get injured
Brazil out on penalties
Brazil lose the penalty shootout. Martinelli will be able to join up with the rest of the squad in Dubai earlier than expected.
Martinelli hitching a ride to Dubai
I’m bitterly disappointed, from when the quarter final match ups were decided the game I was hoping to see was between Brazil and Argentina. It could have been a classic.
Once again the big name players are failing to impress, Neymar in particular was very poor, his one class moment was the extra time goal but the pleasure in that was wiped out by his miss in the penalty shoot out.