Morning all.
My post yesterday didn’t suit everyone. All I was trying to say is why slate the club when we don’t know what’s going on or the reasons behind any of the decisions the club makes. I certainly wasn’t trying to tell any football fan how or what to think, or what opinion they should hold. No one has the right to do that.
The boys are on the plane and despite the early ‘Thomas Partey, Flo Balogun and Bernd Leno haven’t travelled’ gossip, which to be fair, probably got tongues wagging, all three travelled to the USA.
Here’s the squad in full.:
Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, Bernd Leno, Matt Turner, Arthur Okonkwo, Alex Runarsson.
Defenders: Kieran Tierney, Nuno Tavares, Gabriel, Pablo Mari, Ben White, Rob Holding, William Saliba, Hector Bellerin, Cedric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Reuell Walters.
Midfielders: Mohamed Elneny, Lucas Torreira, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson.
Forwards: Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus, Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka, Folarin Balogun, Marquinhos.
Runasson? That’s a weird one…
A few of the younger players have missed out which is a shame but I guess other plans are being readied for them. Loans perhaps.
I’m glad the players who are widely expected to depart this summer are included because if they don’t go, they need to be fit and ready to play for Arsenal if and when they’re needed. It’s in their own interest to be fit and ready for a new season regardless of where they end up playing.
For Lucas Torreira, that could be Valencia as yesterday his agent suggested that an agreement had been reached between both the club and player although he’s does go on to say that Mikel Arteta wants to see him in pre-season before any agreement between both clubs is made.
Arsenal’s transfer window has gone from being slow to non existent but that’s not to say Edu and Co aren’t busy negotiating signings. I think there’s business to be done yet and a lot of it. Loans, exits and arrivals. We’re three players short in my opinion, probably more if money was no object. It seems like Lisandro Martinez is heading to Manchester Utd and Raphinha to Barcelona which means Arsenal have missed out on two of key targets. Well, that’s what the media will be printing anyway but who knows who Arsenal are truly interested in signing, after all, Your Tielemans to Arsenal was a certainty just a few weeks ago yet he’s still a Leicester City player the last time I looked.
The gossip goes on though and it will do until the 31st August.
The Boot Room – Josko Gvardiol is the latest name on Arsenal‘s transfer wishlist, with the Gunners monitoring the Croatia international. Mikel Arteta’s men want the RB Leipzig star who is also attracting attention from Manchester City, according to Media Foot.
The Daily Mail – Arsenal are among a number of Premier League sides interested in signing young Chelsea defender Levi Colwill this summer.
Twitter – Journalist Ben Jacobs has claimed on Twitter that Arsenal feel confident that they can agree personal terms with Lucas Paqueta, while Lyon will consider offers of around £55 million for the Brazilian.
NewsNow – Arsenal are one of several leading European clubs chasing Aston Villa starlet Carney Chukwuemeka this summer.
Enough, see you in the comments.
Hi Rico and all
why take leno if we are planning to sell him, seem a waste of money.
In-regards to yesterday at the start I didn’t believe Arteta had any man management skill by the way he would just block players out and running up down the field yelling at the players and putting them off, however I believe that some time last season, someone pulled him aside and had a good chat and he has now taken that onboard.
The good thing about this season is Arteta seems to have the support of those around him so no excuses if we have a bad season
Good morning Rico, freedom to express an opinion is a two way street, only those with a closed mind can object to that principal. I thought your post yesterday was fair and well reasoned, you did not, and to my knowledge, never have told people how or what to think. Your open-mindedness is the foremost reason why I regularly visit highbury-house.com.
Keep up the good work, your efforts are much appreciated.
Morning Geoff, Cicero and all.
Thanks Cicero, means a lot.
I don’t understand Leno and Runasson going on tour but I guess it’s to attract more interest in them. Re Leno, I think I read Fulham are refusing to meet our asking price which sums up how difficult it is for the club to sell players. £10m for a keeper as good as Leno isn’t much to ask is it?
Rico I am not sure why some of the comments were said yesterday however some people just have trouble writing down what they think and all comes out wrong. I have often disagreed with you and most on this site, but the one thing is you have always allowed me to say my opinion. Lets face it, in the end, we all want the same thing a competitive team.
If we can’t sell Leno then maybe we could loan our American keep to Fulham for 1 season to gain experience in the premier league and try to sell Leno later in the season.
Afternoon Rico, a blog is only as good as the contributors who comment on it, you set a tone and then it’s up to the others to run with it and if people don’t like it then the answer is in their hands to change it or they move on although I didn’t sense any dissent from anyone yesterday only a debate and people disagree of course but surely that’s the point of a blog otherwise you have a MSM type of narrative and nobody with an open mind wants that, do they?
If Arsenal leave Leno or Torrieira at home then in my view it weakens our bargaining position to get a fair fee for their services, Arsenal have to toughen up in that area and I’ve heard everyone and their dog on here opining as much, so to take them on tour is to send out a message to those clubs low-balling us, surely that’s obvious, isn’t it?
Taking 5 goalkeepers does seem excessive but what difference does it really make, Leno may need to leave in a hurry if things progress in his transfer but if they don’t then he might play a blinder in a game and attract more interest in his services, then we’re down to four and it’s a nice trip for all the guys to hang out together and maybe get half a game or 20 minutes, that’s gotta be better than training with the U23’s, don’t you think?
Geoff, I just wanted to clarify what I meant yesterday. We move on.. lol
Afternoon Kev. Spot on and no, there was absolutely no dissent. Well, not really. 😂 but I’ve got broad shoulders and a tin hat anyhow.
Runasson is the only bizarre one for me. Torreira etc, yep, I totally understand them going and for the reason you suggest. After all, leaving them out would only stoke the flames against Mikel Arteta’s man management skills.
Taking Torreira makes sense as he could stay or go but I still say taking Leno will not help to sell him as much as he could play a blinder he also could have a shocker or get injured and no one will want him. I wonder if we gave Fulham a chance to pay 5mill now and 5 mill next year
Arsenal are working on a deal to sign Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko, according to The Athletic.
The Gunners have already done business with Manchester City before this summer, after completing a £45m deal for Gabriel Jesus.
Kev, as everybody on this blog (correctly) say it: we don’t know what happened behind closed doors, and we don’t know what could have happened differently if someone made a different decision.
It could very well be that Leno, Torreira, Bellerin and Maitland-Niles will be sold higher only due to the fact of they still seem to be in the manager’s plans. Or maybe they play 45 minutes and put up a decent performance. Or even convince the manager that they are good enough and willing to compete for the starting places. In that case bringing them was a masterclass.
And it is also possible, that if it is obvious even for us that players were added to the traveling squad for bargaining purposes, then it will not affect the transfer price; while they are taking away important playing minutes from lads with long-term potential, and also training, bonding and introduction opportunities from the Academy players. In that case the decision was a huge mistake.
We will never know.
Didn’t think that there was too much dissent yesterday but a little bit makes the world go round.
I thought that it was even handed .
As for today’s post there are question marks against the travelling party but if you are trying to reintegrate players to the squad you have to make them feel wanted and who would be surprised if Valencia suddenly decide that they want Torriera for half price Afterall if Fulham can get away with it, why shouldn’t they try too.
It’s what all clubs do and not just those selling players. Ask Arsene. Lol
Just got in from work and the first thing on news now is Leno asking us to reduce his fee to facilitate his move to Fulham . So do we roll over , stick to our guns or what ?
Off topic. From what I am hearing from a well placed “source” or “sauce”, the smart money on the streets is that the rape allegations against “the EPL player” may not be as credible as first thought. It involves a girl friend/ an acquaintance, and her 2 girl friends.
Peter, I recall Guardiola getting dogs abuse about the way he handled Phil Foden, all the ‘experts’ were giving him advice, you know the coaching failures on TV, there was even suggestions that Pep didn’t like English players because he held him back. Well he held him back for a reason and that’s probably because Pep didn’t think he was mature enough even if the technical ability was there and now Foden is a stand-out player for City and England.
And all the ‘experts’…?
Arteta had similar accusations thrown at him regarding Martinelli, but he held him back as well, injury didn’t help but now Juergen Klopp gets an absolute hard on every time Arsenal play Liverpool because he’d love to sign Martinelli. So was Arteta right?
Maybe if Wenger had held Jack Wilshere back he wouldn’t have retired at 30, it’s a thought?
As for the youngsters not going on tour, we already have the youngest squad in the Premier League!
I’m like you, I love to see the kids coming through but maybe, just maybe, we need to raise the bar and if so then our kids probably aren’t ready, but they will be and when they are they’ll be outstanding…
Potter, maybe Arsenal should ask Leno to reduce his wage demands, fancy that?
Hi Rico,
Been a while. I didn’t see yesterdays blog but sound like you put the cat amongst the pisgeons good for you it’s good to get people worked up adds spice to the blog and as you say you’ve got broad shoulders.
I did think that maybe by taking there so called movers to the US might provide the US clubs a shop window for some of our wantaway players and with Edu being there as well (I think I read that) he’s on hand to start negotiations. It also shows those clubs tiptoeing around a small price tag that we mean business and won’t be pushed around
I also really like the idea of Zinchenko coming to Arsenal the whole deal is perfect he’s very close to Arteta, we have a good rapport with Man City, he can play both Left Back and Midfield which is perfect for us when short on key players through injury or suspensions and he’s a really hardworking quality player who we would get at a fair price. Just makes perfect sense.
Cheers
Mig
Good morning all, from what I can discover, Zinchenko is on £59.000 per week. I guess we can comfortably afford that, his transfer value is estimated to be between £17 and £25 million so long as we can get or circa £20 million it would be a good deal but with two years to go on his contract City may push for a high figure in which case we should be prepared to walk away.
If The Mail is right Cicero, the deal will be done at £35m and it’s imminent. 😂
Morning to you, Mig, and anyone else..
Correction: so long as we can get him for circa £20 million
I think £35 million is over the top Rico, but then we are Arsenal. 😒
Chris Wheatley
@ChrisWheatley_
Omari Hutchinson set to join Chelsea from Arsenal, as first reported by
@TheSecretScout_
.
The 18-year-old was speaking with the Gunners over a new deal but talks had broken down. #AFC
(This can only be about money primarily but maybe the signing of Marquinhos also – in fact it’s possible that the club foresaw this scenario and that was actually behind the Marquinhos signing – proactive perhaps?)
It’s what it is Cicero, cheaper than Martinez though.
That’s a bit of a shock Kev. Didn’t see that move coming at all.
Maybe if we had taken him to America? It’s all about being involved and feeling wanted. Apart from money what can Chelsea offer apart from first team football which is unlikely.
Instead of paying exhorbitantly for first teamers perhaps we need to look at making things better for the next generation.
But that takes us back to the previous conversation.
Surely he’ll be going out on loan for a season and if so, a move could be imminent. Same for the likes of Patino etc.
New post up now