He hasn’t said yes yet…..

Morning all.

All or Nothing, a behind the scenes look at the goings on at Arsenal last season is out in August. We’ll see Mikel Arteta and the players at their lowest moments and highest too, although I doubt there’ll be much of the latter. The official club website says the Amazon Prime documentary will offer unprecedented coverage of Mikel Arteta and his team as well as a never-seen-before insight into life at Emirates Stadium and London Colney.

The full episode release schedule is as follows:

  • Thursday, August 4 – Episodes 1- 3
  • Thursday, August 11 – Episodes 4 – 6
  • Thursday, August 18 – Episodes 7 – 8

The season ended with disappointment having just missed out on top four but that won’t stop me watching it. I’m looking forward to it too because it’s the only opportunity to hear Mikel Arteta in action and to see how players react after a game.

Transfers are the main topic of interest right now though and a lot of Arsenal fans will be feeling disappointed with the news that Chelsea have gatecrashed our Raphinha chase. Just like that, they’ve stepped in and nicked him from under our noses according to Sky Sports, with a bigger and better offer which Leeds have accepted. Arsenal have a decision to make, either match it or walk away. There’s no guarantee the player will say yes to Chelsea of course and if you think about it, as a Brazilian international footballer, where would you rather be? I think I’d rather be playing football in a team which has a few of my international team mates in it. Plus, we’re a club building a young and potentially very exciting team/squad. I’m far from convinced we’ve heard the last of the Raphinha to Arsenal rumours.

If Raphinha was/is one of Arsenal’s top transfer targets then it’s a bit of a bummer for Mikel Arteta if the player does end up at Chelsea but I’m pretty sure there will be a plan b and who knows, that player might turn out to be a better fit. The Boot Room, I know, suggest that alternative might be Marco Asensio.

One arrival who expected to be confirmed any day, maybe even today, is Gabriel Jesus who completed his medical yesterday. Pictures of him and sharing a hug were all over the internet yesterday afternoon but they’ve soon been replaced by headlines relating to how we as a club faffed around too much when trying to sign Raphinha, allowing Chelsea to nip in with a bid. Anything negative they can find to write about Arsenal, they will. I bet they can’t wait for Jesus to miss his first shot on goal!!

As said, I fully expect Arsenal to have a plan b with all their transfer targets because logic says that not every player will want to join the club. Not every club wants to sell their players either regardless of how much is being offered. As long as the squad is deeper, stronger and ready for the new campaign, I’m sure most of us will be pretty happy.

See you in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

25 thoughts on “He hasn’t said yes yet…..

  1. Anonymous says:

    It’s a good season for this kind of document. Ofcourse as a fan and supporter it would be fun to see everybody happy all the time, win after win. But for the document that would not be very interesting.

  2. Potter says:

    Rico it may only be paper talk but the more it’s said and repeated the more agents and so called poor European clubs will try it on.
    The Amazon coverage will no doubt however even handed, will get picked apart and the media will heavily concentrate on the negative and again our reputation will suffer . I have no idea why apart from getting paid we agreed to it. We really need to look at our spin doctors and our media presence , there must be a reason why we are the castigation target for all and sundry.
    The transfer sagas will go on , it could be argued that we forced Chelsea’s price up and now they have forced ours up as well . Really though it comes down to the player, if he wants to come to us he will tell Leeds to bite the bullet and if he heads to Fulham for the money , then do we really want him.

  3. Alex says:

    Arsenal should just go and buy Savic/Ndidi and Martinez. Those are the critical players required. Bonus buy Gakpo

  4. Cicero says:

    From MSM News:

    Kieran Tierney will stay at Arsenal this summer despite reported transfer interest from Premier League champions Manchester City.

    Tierney has impressed since his £25million move from Celtic in 2019 despite on-and-off injury problems, registering 87 Arsenal appearances across all competitions.

    The 25-year-old Scotland international is now being linked with a step up to Pep Guardiola’s side – but it appears it will not happen any time soon.

    Football Scotland report that ‘no offer has been forthcoming’ and add that ‘the general feeling among the player’s camp is that he will stick around [at Arsenal].’

    The Gunners were recently linked with City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, who is said to be a priority target for Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.

  5. Pete the Thirst says:

    The great Raphinha mystery continues:

    Arsenal bid £50m for a right sided attacker…a position which Arsenal’s player of the season (Saka) currently occupies

    Chelsea bid £60m for same player…in a position they already have 3 or 4 players (Pulisic; Odoi; Ziyech; James)

    Player wants to go to Barcelona, who can’t afford him.

    Anybody else confused by this?

  6. rico says:

    It’s been going on for years though Potter, so much so I switch off from it all. Must admit, I’m surprised we bothered with the all or nothing series but I think all clubs are doing it at some stage, or at least a lot of them.

  7. Aussie Geoff says:

    Morning Rico and all
    If we really want a player we should go in hard and not give any club a chance to move in at the last second and make a deal with that player right under feet. and if any club, player or manager muck around then move on to the next player we want.

  8. Adam says:

    As far as I can see any player who would prefer Chelsea is not right for Arsenal anyway. Caveat emptor.

  9. allezkev says:

    Reach PLC will be hungrily picking over every minute part of the Arsenal docu-drama, it’ll be like manna from heaven for them, News Now will be rocking Zzzzz.

    Meanwhile back on planet earth life goes on and now doctors want to go on strike it seems. How about reintroducing face-to-face consultations for patients, remember those?

  10. rico says:

    Hi Geoff. I kind of disagree. Why should we be expected to pay more than another club? I’m sure there’s a budget, especially if the club are looking at other players/positions to strengthen.

    Adam, after what happened with Lukaku, I’d have thought a lot of players would be put off of going there.

  11. Adam says:

    Rico. I guess Bohley wanted to make the sort of overblown, crass gesture that is so popular with rotund American businessmen. We could go for Gnabry or Ascensio but I’d look toward Gakpo which would be cheaper. I’d offer Leno in p/ex as the word is that they have been linked with him.
    What’s the betting that Chelsea move for Martinez too?

  12. Aussie Geoff says:

    Rico I didn’t mean pay over the top I totally agree we should set a max amount and stick by it, but push hard straight away and not waste weeks going back and forwards

  13. devilgunner says:

    Good evening Rico and folks

    Plan B if Rafinha does not materialise??? Gnabry. I still feel he will come back.

    However, with WC year and with so many players for Chelsea in the same position I doubt that Rafinha would want to sit on the bench while he can just walk in at Arsenal plus he has many friends. Only time will tell. i stillthink that he will be dumb enough to go to chelsea

  14. rico says:

    Nothing would surprise me Adam with that lot. I’ve heard you mention Gakpo before, I know nothing about him but either of the other two would give us something different to what we have.

  15. Obi says:

    Devil @ 4:28 pm, how would Raphinha, just walk on the team? Is he really better than Saka and Martinelli?

  16. Obi says:

    Alex @ 11:28, the addition of Savic or Ndidi, now that would be a top 4th team. I prefer Ndidi though, tackler and straight up ball winner.

  17. Aussie Geoff says:

    Rico we have only signed 2 players and one of them we signed last year,
    Saying that I did read that Jesus will be announced on Friday as the new club tax year starts on the 1st of July and will make the books work easier, which makes sense.

  18. Cicero says:

    Good morning all.

    According to Sam Dean in The Telegraph, Arsenal have made a £35 million bid for Lisandro Martinez, with add-ons of almost £5 million. It seams that his old manager Ten Hag, now at Old Toilet, is trying to get his new employers to bid for the player.

    It seems like the, so called, chase for Raphinha is over with Chelsea bidding for him. Much has been written about Arteta/Edu’s interest in the Brazilian but I’ve seen no credible evidence of a serious attempt to buy him.

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