Morning all.
It’s official, Bernd Leno has left the building. He’s now a Fulham player and I wish him all the best although it wouldn’t surprise me if this time next year he’s looking for a new PL club. No disrespect to Fulham but surviving in this league isn’t going to be easy. Nottingham Forest have signed something like twelve players this summer and unless they all hit the ground running, they too are likely to find things tough. Bournemouth are back in the Premier League too which is annoying because they prevent Arsenal from being top of the league table before a ball is kicked. Lol
Charlie Patino is heading off on loan for the season with Championship club Blackpool. The Championship is a tough league so it’s a good move for our young midfielder. Fabrizio Romano reports that Galatasaray are waiting for Lucas Torreira to make a decision as to whether his wife wants a move to Turkey. Another exit on the cards is Pablo Mari as he’s rumoured to be in talks with Monza.
Honestly, regarding the player exits, it matters not what name as I wish them all the very best. Just because things might not have gone the way they’d hoped at Arsenal, it doesn’t mean they’re bad players in my opinion. I really hope Nicolas Pepe can find a new club, Hector Bellerin too.
One player not going anywhere is Granit Xhaka. There’s a really good interview with him on Arsenal.com.
I love this bit:
One of the highs from last season certainly for fans and yourself would have been your ‘Xhaka boom!’ against Manchester United. How does that rank among your best moments in an Arsenal shirt?
Yeah, after what happened, everything between the fans, the people and me I think this was one of the nicest moments since I’m in this football club. After scoring as well, the feedback, the moment in the stadium, I felt very good, very happy. But as well, happy for the three points we got on that day.
Have the majority of fans forgiven him yet for “that” incident at Selhurst Park I wonder. I hope so because whether we agree or not, he’s likely to one of Mikel Arteta’s key players again this season. He’s still only 30 years old and his experience is priceless I think. Especially in such a young team. He might not be the perfect midfield partner for Thomas Partey but are we better with him in the team than without? I’m sure there’s a statistic out there somewhere which suggests we are. Just. Lol
The Premier League season is fast approaching. What can this Arsenal team achieve this season?
The signings that we made give us something more than winning, they give us the mentality of how to win and the quality, of course. It’s like a puzzle, you need the quality, of course, but if it doesn’t fit in with the team, it’s very difficult to achieve something. The signings all fit very well in the team, year by year we get much better. It’s easier to speak than to do it, for sure, but I have a very good feeling that we will be ready for the start against Crystal Palace away and let’s see and hope that we can achieve the goals that we have.
I imagine the goal this season is a top four finish at least but of course, that won’t be the aim. The aim will be to win the league, to push hard week in and week out to really challenge the top two clubs of last season. I really hope we can and we do.
See you in the comments.
Morning Rico and all.
I agree with all the best wishes.
This season the relegation battle will be tough. I think the places will be allocated among the 3 promoted clubs, Southampton and Brentford, but that’s just a guess.
The part why we should pay attention is that we sold Leno to Fulham for only 3.6M, this could (will) rise to 4.7M if a certain number of games played, and a further 2.4M-2.4M each if Fulham stays in the EPL this yeas and the next season. So in fact it could reach as high as 9.5M, but there are many ‘if’-s to get there.
So I wish Leno the best and even more against other teams, and I hope we will play our best football against them.
Morning Pb, all. where do you get your Leno figures from?
The figures appear to be flexible depending on where you read them . The Athletic claim that the totting up system will come to a maximum of 8 million. This makes me suspect that the truth is not out there and much speculation is being used .
However yet again the bonus is seen to be the removal of wages which often outweigh the fee received..
Some years ago Wenger said that the transfer market was going to change as more players would run their contracts down and get the fee for signing on rather than let it go to the clubs.
This of course despite going against the grain is why Torriera , Bellerin and Mari will go the same way , clubs are going to either renew shorter contracts for those they want to keep or sell much earlier. They can’t afford to leave things to the last minute.
What do you think of us looking to get Memphis Depay?
I agree Potter, the figures out there are seldom factual. I think they mean little really, or they do to me as I haven’t got an insight of what goes on between clubs so I’m not going to guess. It’s Arsenal’s job to work out and manage the finances.
Good morning Rico and all
Good luck to Leno. A good keeper. unfortunately he wasnt suited to our system. Still he will remain a good keeper and I hope he goes to the WC. He always played with a smile and was never arrogant. I only have two hopes……that he doesnt spout rubbish about the club (I dont think he will….he seems a nice gentleman) plus he doesnt play well against us only. The rest I wish him all the best especially against spuds
This morning I came across this…….what do you make of it???……..
Steven Gerrard’s fines set at Aston Villa 😳
➡ €600 for a delay in training
➡ €118 if the player forgets his GPS for training
➡ €237 per minute late at the training ground
➡ €1200 in case of being late to a pre-match talker or walk
➡ €237 per minute late to a meeting
➡ €118 per wrong outfit worn on match days
➡ €118 per tablecloth not collected during meals
➡ €118 per case left on the training ground
➡ €118 if a player parks badly in the parking lot
➡ €300 in case of delay in a commercial operation
➡ €60 per day if a player doesn’t bring a cake for his birthday
➡ €118 if a player shows up to the shower without his flip flops
➡ €237 if a player does not notify the doctor before 10am of an illness or injury
➡ €237 for a delay for a session with the physical therapist
➡ €60 per forget recovery leggings
➡ €237 per carton received for protest
➡ An expelled player will have to invite all his teammates and staff to the restaurant within 4 weeks after the red card
The above is the comment I posted on yesterday’s post.
PBarany……I would add Everton to that list of those who can go down. I would love to add Tottenham but that is my heart talking.
Morning Devil.
Busayo, if we’re after another striker, my hope it’s someone with a bit more height.
Are Chelsea scouting targets or just going for players other clubs have been linked to and offering a higher transfer fee?
that doesnt surprise me Rico….as Chelsea have already done that since the early Abramovich days. Mourinho used to wait to see who AW wanted to buy then simply went and offered more.
Says a lot about them Devil. I see they’ve got the young midfielder from Villa too.
West Ham have agreed a fee for Onana too, shame really.
Afternoon Rico and all.
Glad for leno hope he has a good season, according to reports in OZ papers we got 8mill pounds for Leno but didn’t say if there was any conditions, lets hope for that price we added a buy back clause.
Geoff, why would we need a buy back clause? a sell on part of the profit clause yes but not a buy back one.
Like Geoff I havent’ read any conditions in the selling of Leno. If we got less than 4 million I can assure you that the papers would have splashed it all over the news.
Tottenham bought Djed Spence for 12 million plus another 6 if they won a trophy according to papers. That is what the papers said. So basically they bought Djed Spence for just 12 million. I can assure you that if the papers got hang of anything about Leno we would never hear the end of it. They enjoy rubbing it in.
Afternoon Geoff, £8m is what I read too but who knows, who cares? 😛
Good day all.
Farewell Bernd and good luck wherever you go.
DG, those fines seem a bit unrealistic, firstly why are they quoted in euros? Unless the players are paid in euros, in which case is that legal from an income tax viewpoint?
Here’s a spoof , West Ham agree terms with Onana and Arsenal bid two arms and ten legs for Declan Rice .
Devil better to have a buy back clause and not need it, than have none at all and find out Ramsdale gets injured or wants to leave at the end of season.
Rico, details of the Leno transfer:
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/leno-joins-fulham-from-arsenal-soon-among-10-most-expensive-goalkeepers-in-history-/view/news/408591
A slightly closer look at transfermarket.com reveals that the figure quoted, £8.10 million, is their own valuation and they do not suggest it is the actual transfer fee.
It has never, as far as I’m aware, been the practice of AFC to make public transfer fees of players arriving or leaving.
TransferMarket are usually way off with their valuations Pb. As Cicero says, Arsenal don’t release financial figures often so I’d take the fees quoted with a pinch of salt.
If the quotes are really quotes, what a level headed guy Sambi Lokonga is.
https://metro.co.uk/2022/08/03/albert-sambi-lokonga-reacts-to-arsenals-push-to-sign-youri-tielemans-17118621/
Yes he does seem level headed and has the right outlook, I hope he gets the chance to prove himself worthy of some more regular playing time but here will be stiff competition in midfield.
Depends on how much rotation Arteta does this season I guess, plus get to September and Partey will be injured… 😆
Morning Rico and all
When I said we should go for Lokonga I also said he will need a year or two before he shows how good he is and I believe this season he will step up and play in more matches like the community shield, FA Cup matches
Morning, all.
Sambi is indeed a lovable guy. I hope he makes his career at Arsenal.
Re Leno’s contract:
True, that Arsenal didn’t make the actual sum or the details public. They never did on Jesus, Zinchenko or Vieira either, but we can assume that the numbers becoming common knowledge are not made up…
The TransferMarkt valuation is indeed based on their own model, and has some to do with the player’s revenue generation and marketability (taking the length of the running contract into consideration as well the performance and the perceived abilities), but we are not talking about Bernd’s way from 31.5M to 8.1M, but the add-ons of his current sales.
And while I wouldn’t say David Ornstein is the most reliable source on the planet, I seriously doubt he is making things up from thin air:
https://twitter.com/David_Ornstein/status/1554547223249227776
(I accidentally referred the figures in my first comment in €, so the total 9.5M is in fact maximum £8M, as Ornstein and The Athletic reports.)
Morning Geoff, all.
New post up now