Morning all.
Signing number two seems to have been done although there’s no official announcement from Arsenal yet. Sokratis Papastathopoulos will be playing for Arsenal next season after a £16 million deal was agreed with Borussia Dortmund. He’ll join us on the 1st of July according to The Telegraph and many other news outlets. To be honest, like Stephan Lichtsteiner, this deal will come as no surprise really as his story has been rumbling away for weeks. Another experienced and mature player signed up to sure up the defence. Our three younger defenders can learn a lot from both of our new signings I’d imagine as both have vast amounts of experience.
What the club did announce officially yesterday was a few departures from the academy, not as many as I thought there might be but perhaps a few are to be given more time under the new coaching team to see how they do before finally making that definitive decision. Either that or a few a good enough to earn a transfer fee.
Leaving the club are:
Goalkeepers Hugo Keto, Ryan Huddart and Alex Crean. Defenders Tafari Moore, Marc Bola and Chiori Johnson and winger Aaron Eyoma.
Santi Cazorla and Per Mertesacker are also on the released list but we knew that already.
For my sins, I was listening to TalkSport yesterday or the day before and there was a heated debate about young players who are deemed not quite ready for their own clubs first team so are sent off on loan to either another English club or more often abroad.Many of the panel believed in this way but one guy whose name I didn’t catch was totally against the idea. He’d been watching Loftus-Cheek and asking how Chelsea could loan him out then sign/play players who are no better. He mentioned others too and got quite angry about how England’s top clubs are not giving their younger players a chance. I think he made a good point personally but that’s the way football has gone, certainly for the top clubs and especially in England.
Look at our own club. Despite Arsene Wenger being renowned for believing in youth, the only players who have done well for the club have come from other club academies and not our own. Eddie looks like the real deal in the making, yet even he came through Chelsea,scacademy and only by good fortune did we get the chance to snap him up.
I was chatting to a good friend yesterday, a massive Arsenal fan and what he said made sense. It appears that the club are going to give our younger players a chance, a proper chance because it looks like Emery is opting for older and more experienced players during this transfer window which will allow those between 18-21 years old more time. Time to be integrated into the team but slowly, sensibly and with protection around them. That protection of course being experience. If they don’t succeed, at least they’d have been given the chance, something which has not always been afforded to them. I know Arsene Wenger selected a few last season but invariably that was in the domestic cups and perhaps too many at one time which as we know, seldom works.
I could be wrong but my guess is the next player in will be another older and wiser player in midfield. N’Zonzi perhaps or even Fellani although out of the two, N’Zonzi gets might vote. If not either of them, then someone with similar experience and of a similar age. A player who can steady the midfield and protect the back five. The kind of player we’ve been missing since the days of Gilberto. Two players of that kind would be ideal, especially if Wilshere departs. A top goalkeeper is another signing we need but my hopes of that happening aren’t particularly high, although the Bernd Leno rumours are gathering pace.The likes of Eddie, Nelson, Maitland-Niles, Macey etc I think will fill any gaps. Again, I could be wrong, very wrong.
Finishing with the youth, the club have appointed a Director of Football in Marcel Lucassen. Born in Netherlands, Lucassen will join from Dubai side Al Nasr, where he’s spent the last three years.
As much as the first team is key to success for the club in the present, so is the youth because if Arsenal can sort that out once and for all, the future will be a lot easier, especially if we start rolling out really good players.
Have a great weekend guys, see you in the comments..
Morning Rico don’t comment very often.
But i just had a message come up on my screen saying highbury house
Wanted to know the location of my device (tablet) do you know anything about this.
Good read as usual.
Morning Rico. At this stage it seems as if Emery is looking to solidify what we already have and stop us conceding the mountain of goals that have proved so costly. Perhaps there will be a big signing round the corner though.
I am interested in how he can get into the players heads and get a real team spirit happening for us in the coming season as I suspect this will be one of the hardest things to achieve.
Afternoon Adam, Mog and all.
Sorry Mog, I’ve no idea. I get that message sometimes on other sites but not here, not yet anyway..
Agree Adam, although I wouldn’t be surprised if team spirit rose a good few inches after the announcement was made. I’d imagine the players felt a bit likes us in the end..
Rico. Yes. This is, after all, the biggest change within the club for many years. Change of culture, style and hopefully a change of the team’s spirit.
……….and fortunes we hope Adam.
Agree again Adam. 22 years, ten of which have been on a slippery slope downwards, the change must be like a huge breath of fresh air for everyone. Training will be different, the coaches different, right through the club it’s different. Whether it’s a success or not remains to be seen but if our players are half as excited as I am, then we’re half way there.
I always thought Ramsey was a staunch Wenger fan, but if his words are to believed, it sounds like even he can’t wait for new things to begin. The likes of Xhaka, Mustafi, maybe even Iwobi might prove to be much better players than they sometimes look.
Thanks Rico I cancelled it anyway didn’t have you down as a stalker.
🙂 Mog, good and I can assure you I’m not… lol
Thanks for letting me know though..
Cicero. Yes, I forgot to mention our fortunes. 🙂
Wasn’t it under Wenger that Arsenal fielded a complete starting eleven without a single English qualified player in it?
He certainly gave young players a chance, the problem being they were mostly from other club’s academies and were mostly not from English clubs.
Is that a reflection on Wenger or the coaching staff that he was so loyal to ? It would appear that the changes that are happening suggest the latter . This doesn’t absolve Wenger from the blame because he appointed the people and if he wasn’t getting the required response then it was down to him to shake things up.
Again we see the England under 21 team winning in Toulon with Nketiah getting an assist on the winning goal but of course his formative years were at Chelsea.
Over the years we seem to have bought players from the Hale end academy to see them founder at the final step , perhaps Maitland Niles and Eddie will prove to be the jewels in the crown and get their chances and take them.
The difficulty in breaking into a Premier League team is going to grow and grow, that’s why Chris Willock and Marcus McGuane left, lack of 1st team opportunities and why I’m expecting Reiss Nelson to be sold this summer!
It’s also why Arsenal were able to sign Fabregas and Bellerin, it’s across all really top clubs.
Currently we have two really talented midfielders in the academy who are yet to sign pro deals, Vlad Dragomir and England U21 Josh Dasilva.
If Arsenal sign that Uruguayan from Sampdoria (22) and you’re a young 19/20 year old midfielder, what are you gonna think? Then if the boy from PSG joins, he’s what 17 going on 18, and you know he’s gonna be fast tracked, so you leave, just like the lad who left a Man City to join Dortmund. Nelson is one of our best youngsters, but they aren’t patient, they have an agent in their ear who wants them playing in the 1st team, any top 1st team, the player earning big bucks and the agent earning even bigger bucks.
It’s how it is now, in a way the UEFA Cup was a Godsend last season as it allowed Wenger to blood talented youngsters like Nketiah, Willock and Maitland-Niles and for them to get games and progress that wouldn’t have been available if we’d been in the Champions League.
We might have lost one or more of them this summer as the frustration kicked in…
I guess it’s a kind of backhanded compliment to the quality of the players that English academies are now producing. It’ll benefit the English National team in the long run even if it doesn’t benefit EPL teams in the short term.
Agreed , if we keep hoovering up talent fom elsewhere then our own gets left out. Once Brexit is finally settled we might find that things change , although there is so much money involved for them that they are cushioned against the effect it might have on lower paid ( basically everyone ) people.
Agree too Kev, there’s little loyalty in the game now and why should there be when young guys who have come through club aren’t played? Yet to a certain degree, if they were good enough, they would be surely?
I actually believe Emery is going down the older and experienced route so these younger guys will get a chance..
Potter, as you say, it’s about the money, but I doubt that Brexit will have a big influence initially on recruitment into England, and as Brexit is sure to be watered down, it might have zero effect.
Yes Rico, that’s how I see it, experienced old campaigners to give our jazz defence some backbone and meanwhile allow our youngsters to progress.
Being in the UEFA Cup again could bring long term benefits for our academy products and to the squad in general. It’s no bad thing having a core of home made players.
If Jack goes Kev, that’s AMN sorted…
Afternoon all.
Wenger once said something along the lines that although not many of the trainees made it into the 1st team or squad even, the children were given a great grounding and start in football most of whom when they left played at all levels. Some made it to the top whilst most made a comfortable living. The old chap with all his wisdom of Methusellah was happy with that! I suspect that is why the age groups were never put under great pressure by the coaches as they were pleased enough to produce adequate players but rarely exceptional ones.
The really sad thing is that you have to wonder how many possible top top players were never developed sufficiently to attain their ability’s potential
Lovely day here, again. The sun has got his hat on…..!
Good point Wavy. Thankfully that should all change now with a whole new academy setup. These changes from top to bottom have been long overdue..
This has been the way of the world of Arsenal for too long . It would seem that at every stage complacency was allowed to foster . The club needed shaking up from top to bottom , it will take time to see the fruits of the changes . Whether that means more homegrown or buying in kids to develop remains to be seen.
Patchy cloud and sun here in Norfolk but at least it’s not raining.
Yep, about twelve/thirteen years…
Yes Rico, I make you right, I expect to see AMN in the centre of midfield in the UEFACup next season, maybe pairing up with the French kid Adli..?
I hope that Jack goes to Juventus and is a sensation.
He needs to get away from England and the EPL…
He needs to learn new things, at 26 it could be the making of him.
Wavy, I don’t remember too many of our ex-trainees setting the world alight, most of them ended up in non-league.
The record of our academy, under Wenger for 22 years has been pretty damned rubbish.
Ashley Cole – who was almost got rid of by Wenger – came through the old system.
Jack Wilshere.
Then I’m struggling.
Jermaine Pennent, signed from Notts County.
Ryan Garry – now a youth coach at Arsenal – career ruined by injury.
Most of the others were signed from other academies, all this under the paternal watch of good old Uncle Arsene.
And here come another…
https://news.arseblog.com/2018/06/report-barcelona-youngster-rejects-contract-will-join-arsenal/
And now Joel Lopez a 16 year old left back from Barcelona is said to be joining . Another from La Masia which seems to churn out more young prospects than Hale End.
Me too Kev, Juve would be really good for him..
Do we have any left backs in the academy? Ones which look like they might be good?
That kid from the lower leagues Cohen Brammal was a left back when he signed but he has been on loan at Birmingham and despite showing promise only played 6 times. However this shows certain potential. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-scouting-report-cohen-14024545
Arsene’s School of Wasted Youth, I remember it well lol.
Nice one Tone ! 😆
https://www.givemesport.com/1331330-tony-adams-savages-englands-tottenham-players-ahead-of-the-world-cup?autoplay=off
Ah yes, I’d forgotten about Bramall…
……..and yet another centre back is about to join, Freiburg and Turkey twenty-two year old Caglar Soyuncu’s agent confirms talks with Arsenal.
Koscielny must be finished then and questions marks hang over the futures of Holding and Chambers I’d have thought, perhaps Mustafi too although unlikely they’ll all go surely…
That’s if we sign the two we’re linked to of course.. lol
Morning guys.
Morning Rico..
Morning Bt, all well?
‘morning Rico, I think you could be right about Koscielny, I doubt the new regime will be as willing as Wenger to retain players with chronic injuries. Cazorla was quickly out the door as soon as Wenger departed.
I think Mustafi could be sold but both Chambers and Holding kept for the time being.
Morning Cicero, Emery would be brave to get rid of Kos and Mustafi at the same time.
Also, I’d have thought Mustafi should be given a season under coaches who might know what defending means..
Although Chambers and Holding both signed new contracts last season, that could just be Arsenal protecting their investment, a welcome proactive change from the Wenger’ish reactive policy of letting players run down their contracts.
If both Sokratis and Soyuncu sign I’d have no problem in selling Mustafi myself, his value is decreasing at an alarming rate even though he’s only 26 and as a centre back is entering the best years of his career.
Of course, Emery might decide to loan out one or more of Holding or Mavrapanos for a year, maybe even Chambers, but tbh at 23 going on 24 if Calum has got any future at Arsenal then he should really stay.
Morning ‘Rico’ and Gooners….
Most contracts run from July 1st until the following June 30th, so we might have to wait until the end of the month for transfers to be finally concluded and signed off.
Not many clubs are doing any business despite all the agent generated chatter on NewsNow etc etc, so the press can’t yet regurgitate their usual ‘Arsenal in chaos’ headlines to generate advertising clicks online.
I suspect that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes and as the man so memorably said a few weeks ago ;
Those that know, don’t talk, and those that talk, don’t know…
To be honest I can’t really see Koscielny leaving in this transfer window. No club is going to buy him while he is injured and he would be incredibly foolish not hang on receiving both free medical treatment and generous wages while he goes through the rehab process.
To cut him adrift at this time would be seen as a PR disaster.
He won’t be listed in the squad for the first periodwhich I believe takes us to Christmas which gives him 6 months to recover . In the mean time we need a defence which Emery appears to be building.
As for Mustaphi even when he played for Germany he was always the gopher and not the brains behind the central pairing. Mclintock ruled Simpson , Adams had Bould or Keown,.For Germany , Mustaphi had Hummels or Boateng to lead him but last season when Kos went as Mertesacker was rarely playing he had Chambers , Holding who were inexperienced or Monreal and even Elneny who were out of position. He was left to do the organisation which is not what he’s suited to.
PV4 has a new job….that’s Nice???
Should he have come to the Arsenal? Probably not but, we’ll see how he fares on the Côte d’Azure. Maybe next time we have a vacancy he’ll find himself under consideration. Not a bad side Nice top 6 of League 1.
Hot and humid here, not such a good gardening day, a bit draining!
That looks like a good move for Vieria, getting out of the Mickey Mouse league, sorry MLS, and into major European one will be a step up and a few years experience of proper football will stand him in good stead should Unai Emery not renew his Arsenal contact.
Very warm and sunny with just a slight, but cooling, breeze here.
PV4 confirmed as Nice manager…………………..are Nice managers any good though, better off with a bastard manager than a Nice one imo !
As per usual the weather here is hotter than Shakira and Jennifer Lopez making love !
😎
Two more possible signings, the agent of CSKA central midfielder Alexsandra Golovin says he is in advanced negotiations for the twenty-two year old to move to Arsenal for €25 million.
We’re also after Sampdoria’s Uruguyan twenty-two year old defensive midfielder, who will play in the World Cup, his price €22 million.
Just like London buses, you wait ages for one and then three come along together. ?
They’re not in yet Cicero… lol
New post up now