ARSENAL TARGET PREMIER LEAGUE STARS
THE LIST OF LINKS LOOKING VERY UK BASED IS ALL ABOUT MITIGATING RISK THIS SUMMER
Do you ever wonder what the players think of the system? Have you ever thought, I wonder if someone as swanky as William Saliba detests that the artistry he’s asked to partake in is a little… brutalist. Well, Big Bill got into the details today with L’Équipe.
“The first season I arrived, we were playing incredible football. That was the season where I said we deserved the title. We finished second, and as usual, people made fun of us. The second season too, we were playing good football, and finished second. People made fun of us, ‘Bottle, bottle’. Last season too, we were playing well, even if we weren’t playing as well as the first two seasons, we still finished second. This season, even if I don’t agree with everything they say, as if there was only one team that was playing. Well, we’re playing football, except it’s true that sometimes we score a lot more from set-pieces. Now, in the Premier League, you see everyone does long throws, focuses on corners, it’s not just us.”
The inquisition had we not won the league would have been immensely boring and thorough this summer, so thank the lord we are Champions. But the deeper point here that everyone misses is the whole league is at it… everyone is trying to work the same margins we’re working… but we’re the best. No one takes corners like Declan and Saka. No one finishes them off like the whole Arsenal team. No team anywhere in the world innovates around the ref trends and rule changes.
It’s quite something.
The aesthetics crowd this season were amongst some of the most boring to have ever done it. We’re top of the league and people are sending me text messages asking if we can continue with the manager if we drop down to second. Are we winning? Yes. Then STFU, I’m trying to enjoy it. If it’s good enough for Saliba, who could have his pick of any club on the planet, then it can be good enough for all of us.
I try not to talk too much about the World Cup, but I am getting the bug, especially when I see Arsenal players doing well, or I spy content of Lamine Yamal in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Gets me right in the mood. I’ve seen Trossard pop a 30-yard screamer into the top corner, Martin Odegaard has been on the score sheet, and King Kai looked a boss for Germany… 40 g&a in 56 games for them. In the Premier League, he has 17 non-penalty goals and 10 assists in 35. I mean, if we were signing a player like that, we’d be very excited. Oh, Tuchel named Declan the vice-captain of the England football team. Big news!
Transfer gossip goes to bed for the weekend. I’m quite interested to see how many clubs do big deals before the World Cup and how many players push to see what the interest looks like after it.
Matheus Fernandes is a player who looks set to move this summer. West Ham have been relegated, one of their directors has been exited and Panorama’d (BBC version of 60 Minutes before it was taken over), and they’ll need some cash in the business. Arsenal have registered interest according to a few big names, but it does seem like the fee they’re expecting is going to be well beyond what most clubs will want to spend on him. £100m? Crazy. Even £80m would be a desperate move that even Chelsea might pass on.
Virgil was asked by a reporter who was the best Dutch player in the Premier League this season; he answered: Jurrien. Good man. I like that. Please stay at Liverpool one more year and be more disastrous.
All the rumblings doing the rounds at the moment seem to be that Mikel Arteta is going to look towards the Premier League for upgrades this summer and I’ve got to say that makes me happy. It’s not as sexy as Europe, but we need to be de-risking our signings. Morgan Gibbs-White and Morgan Rogers would be good additions to the squad this summer. Tonali and Livramento will no doubt be on the list. Though I will say, it’s hard to picture many Premier League players giving us the edge in our forward positions. Do we need more brute force safebreakers? Or do we need some of those lock-picking magicians?
Bradley Barcola and Julián Álvarez feel closer to the type of players we’re missing right now. Elite technicians, fast on the ball, and in the mind. Difference makers of the very highest calibre. Both players are deep-block breakers, they offer us extra layers of creativity, and they’re light on their feet which is good for free kicks around the area.
For Álvarez, the question is whether Barcelona have the money…
For Barcola, it’s a question of whether he’s robust enough for an Arteta system…
There is also the reality of the price. It’ll be fairly steep for Álvarez. The 26-year-old is commanding a fee of £108m. This is the age Liverpool signed Mo Salah. Another player who had a stint in England, moved, then boomeranged back. Bradley Barcola won’t cost that much money if we’re going by the ‘they don’t want him so you can’t command a big fee’ narrative that Arsenal has always faced when trying to offload decent players. His transfer value is €70m, he’s 23 years old, so I wouldn’t expect anything too discounted there.
We also have to look at the viability of our exits. I know, I know, you all hate it when I put values on players that are backed with chronic amounts of hopium, but it’s my blog and I’ll propagandise prices if I want to.
Player Value
Calafiori £80m
Zubi £70m
Martinelli £65m
Viktor £60m
Kai £60m
Ethan Nwaneri £60m
Madueke £30m
Fabio £15m
Trossard £20m
Norgaard £5m
Gabi Jesus £5m
Kepa £5m
Reiss £0.5m
Total £475.5m
Ok, that might be aggressive, but we can’t be the only club in history that can’t sell its players after winning a title. Arsenal players should have a premium now, there are almost no wasters, and they can all do the work.
That’s me done. Check out the latest members podcast and get signed up for the very good deals for the Premium writing this week.