Morning all.
As Eberechi Eze cooly wandered down the tunnel at The Emirates last Saturday evening, like every other Arsenal fan I’m sure, I thought he must be the last signing of the summer. Seven is one transfer window is the kind numbers Chelsea deal in, not Arsenal. Yet signing number eight seems imminent. Piero Hincapie, a left sided defender is set to become an Arsenal player but the downside is, Jakub Kiwior is leaving for Porto. Premier League clubs wanted him according to reports but he opted for a move abroad. Porto are getting a very good defender in my opinion but then apparently, so are we in his place.
South American football expert Tim Vickery on Sky Sports News’ Transfer Talk:
Hincapie is a left-footed defender, he’s a centre-back who can also play at left-back as well. He’s not a flyer-up-the-wing kind of left-back. He likes to bring the ball out of the defence.
I remember the first time I saw him in Ecuador, they threw him in as a teenager, and I had had my doubts. I thought too spindly, maybe, and he’s got mistakes in him. It’s been great to be proved wrong, because he’s grown and grown and really is a terrific defender.
My little doubt here is, why would Arsenal want to spend so much for a player in this position when they have both Gabriel Magalhaes and [Riccardo] Calafiori? So you’ve got cover there in both the positions that Hincapie offers. It’s a little bit of a surprise to me why it’s Arsenal, and based on what we’ve seen so far in the season, you would have thought that this is a player Liverpool could really do with.
Hincapie played his part in Bayer Leverkusen’s fantastic 2023/24 season in which they won their first ever Bundesliga title, going unbeaten in the process. Alonso has since left, as has a number of players. Hincapie looks like he’s going to be another.
The Athletic report that this deal is a season-long loan including an option to buy for a total package of €52million — plus a 10 per cent sell-on clause. Personal terms are in place for the 23-year-old Ecuador international to transfer permanently next summer on a five-year contract.
Ismeal Kabia has left Arsenal for the season as he’s joined Shrewsbury Town on loan. He has not long signed his second professional contract with the club. Hopefully he’ll get plenty of playing time and toughen up after ten months of League Two football.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico and everyone..
Best transfer window I’ve witnessed as a Gunner and it’s awesome to watch.
All things being equal we should win the league, but let’s see how it goes.
I feel it would be easier for us to win the Champions League though.
I really do hope this is our year to win it all 🤣🤣🤣
Morning Mexzy, I think we all hope that..
At least now we have a strong and deep squad to cope..
Rico from the last post, there is a suggestion that the intensity of training could be a factor in the number of injuries suffered. We only ever see photos of our players laughing and having a bit of fun during training, but never what actually happens when the cameras are turned off.
Cicero, I wondered that too but surely Arteta wouldn’t put his players through more than other managers do or indeed more than he went through as a player? It’s likely he learned from Pep.
Arteta is going for the grand slam, with 2 very good sides in the squad
Agree Billy and without a drop in quality between the two.
It can be something as simple as stretching in the warm ups . I wonder if players still use the old remedies of massaging in white horse oils , wintergreen before they start. We do seem prone to hamstrings being tight. Our physio said to have a hot bath about an hour before playing and put on the oils to soften the muscles up. Can’t remember pulling thighs and hamstrings in my playing time .
Mind you the dressing room smelled enough to get you high on it , and it wasn’t the “Great smell of Brut.”
Rico if the average injuries reported by the other 19 teams in the league is 54 that plus our 75 equates to 1101 since the start of the 2023-4 season. That number just seems unsustainable.
Potter, many of the injuries to hamstrings, Saka’s latest for instance, occur well into the game so unlikely to be anything to do with warming up. Could it be that the players are being over trained and are reaching the natural limits of their muscles, tendons and bones.
I agree with Cicero there – our players definitely look overcoached at times,it’s a fine line because our coaching is also our strength.
I’m watching the Chelsea- Fulham game,the ref is so biased towards Chelsea it’s a joke.
Not the first time the big VAR decision goes their way.
Favouritism from the officials for the benefit of Chelsea, surely not, who would have thought it?
Didn’t Madueke comment recently that he’s never trained so hard since his move to Arsenal?
It’s certainly an avenue to investigate, but surely if there was an issue of being overworked in training that the medical staff would flag it up.
I think that last season was just a case of not having enough ‘quality’ players with some of the squad clearly not being up to the mark (which might explain why we have so much difficulty selling them for decent fees) and that the regulars just broke down from not having enough rest.
This season we’ve seen Odegaard fall over onto his shoulder (unlucky) then Saka extended his leg in making a pass and pulled a muscle (unlucky again), Havertz must have carrying that issue from pre-season, possibly from before and the club tried to manage it to avoid an operation (mismanagement or unlucky?). It’s interesting that quite a few going down with knocks were also those suffering from niggling injuries last season, sometimes I guess the issues carry over from one season to the next, that’s why we have to be careful with Timber!
Jesus was just unlucky, as he has been since he joined, it’s happens and we should know: Diaby, Wilshere, Rosicky to name a few.
Was Nordgaard overworked or just really unlucky?
The season before last we didn’t have hardly any injuries, same coach, same training, Jesus was the only long term injury…
Tomiyasu? Kev
Arsenal currently have 6 injuries, the same as Man City (I don’t see Pep questioned), Sunderland and Palace have 7, Tottenham have 8 (but their manager is flavour of the month so nothing to see)
There’s a few with 5 injuries, but last season United and Tottenham had a load of injuries if I recall, but again, no debate regarding the manager, of course not…
True Cicero, I forgot about him, but we’ve been having injury issues for years this isn’t a recent thing.
The players under Wenger probably had less stressful training in Arsene’s Emirates years but then we never beat any of the top teams.
Tottenham are not enjoying their day at the seaside, Bournemouth 1 – 0 up.
It is unsustainable Cicero but I’m not convinced the training contributes to our injuries. More likely it’s down to too many games in a season and players not warming up properly. IMO of course
Totts won’t be going the season unbeaten then. Phew. Lol
From the sports clinic online
While almost anyone can injure a hamstring muscle, some people are at greater risk than others. The risk factors for hamstring injuries include:
Previous hamstring injury. People who have suffered a hamstring injury in the past are at the greatest risk of future hamstring injuries.
Muscle weakness and fatigue. If a muscle is weak or fatigued it can alter a person’s biomechanics and may increase risk of injury.
Lack of flexibility. A muscle that is less pliable may be more likely to be injured.
Inadequate warm-up. Muscles that have been warmed up will be more flexible and possibly less likely to be injured.
Muscle imbalance between the hamstrings and quadriceps. The hamstring (back of thigh) and quadriceps (front of thigh) muscle groups must work together. The risk of injury is increased if one muscle group is weaker than the other.
Dehydration. When someone is dehydrated, the muscles can be more prone to cramping and therefore more prone to injury.
Existing lower limb injury. If the body is compensating for another lower-limb injury, it can increase the chances of another injury somewhere else in the same or opposite limb.
https://x.com/kaihavertz29/status/1961361713162559608
Good evening lady and gentlemen.
I found this on FB……….Getting Leverkusen to accept their prized €52m asset to go on loan with an option to buy [Not obligation] is really really nasty work from Andrea Berta. Btw the option to buy is 43m euros.
This is elite negotiation tactics Loool we are not accustomed to the Level of robbery
This is unbelievable, even though i think they will make it permanent coz this player is too good not to impress.
He is just a brilliant player and will make his impact felt but Berta getting tough negotiators like Leverkusen to budge should be applauded. Incredible stuff!
(Raya formula) which means the purchase counts against next year’s total. Meanwhile, Kiwior, which is an obligation, counts as profit for this year.
We have never ever used such tactics before
Evening Devil, Ornstein wrote about that this morning. Makes sense to stay within the European financial rules.
Good morning everyone
Odegaard and Trossard have travelled. So they are in squad. Fingers crossed we have everyone fit and raring to go.
For me 1-0 win with VK14 scoring the winner is most welcome.
Morning Devil, all.
Good news on Odegaard then but I’ve a feeling Eze will start.
New post up