OLISE LINKED, BUT IS HE THE RIGHT PLAYER?

SATURDAY MORNING ROUND-UP FOR YOU

Happy weekend my Arsenal brothers and sisters. Our first without football in a long time. Nothing to play for. No dreams to chase. Just the emptiness of spending time with neglected loved ones…

So what shall we feast on?

Stories hit the web that Erik Ten Hag is OUT after the FA Cup final. That news might give the United players a bit of juice - or it might make a team that has been on the beach since September get into the sea. I am fascinated by where they take the managerial hire. Dan Ashworth is no mug, I think it’ll be De Zerbi (based on feelings), but I pray every single day they put all their chips on the Ben White hater.

I did an AOP podcast with Jacob a little earlier, we started talking about Chelsea dabbling with McKenna and I was reliably informed by him their attention has switched to… Jose Mourinho.

Let me catch my breath.

This. Would. Be. Incredible. 

Jose working with his 2009 tactics board, beasting good players out of the club, burying the good work of Poch last season. It’s the decision that can only be made after watching The Last Dance - or the sort of things that could entice Netflix to part ways with £50m for the rights. It is not the decision of a serious club looking to elevate young talent to the next level. Jose was responsible for selling Lukaku, Salah and KDB - why would Chelsea hire someone who was binning kids in his prime?

But… as Kevin Keegan would say… I WOULD LOVE IT.

Managerial merry-go-rounds are so beautiful when they’re not your club, and the decisions are delightfully baffling.

Transfer news-wise, I’m basically going to go off what I see on my feed. Crystal Palace is likely to sell some of its stars this summer to fund their excellent new manager. The big money is the right-wing French star, Michael Olise. Everyone loves him, 22 years old, extremely skillful, a delightful range of passing, he can beat men for fun, and he has that unpredictability our team sometimes lacks.

This rumour doesn’t really do it for me - I’m not sure that’s the profile we’re chasing. Our team lacks true explosivity on the right - and if you follow the players we’ve looked at over the past few seasons, it’s a struggle to see us targeting a player like Olise. Don’t get me wrong, his game is elite in every aspect- but I think the club will look for a player with Mudryk/Neto-like pace. Someone who can stretch games with direct running and cause teams chaos as we chase games late on. Olise feels like more of what we’ve got - if Arsenal want to be more unpredictable, maybe we’ll add tools to the squad we don’t have.

Ben Jacobs, the journo who is knee-deep in Chelsea, came out with a piece today that confirmed what I told you yesterday… Arsenal is unlikely to be rocking a £100m release clause for Bruno. The new news is that Manchester City might. That is quite an unnerving sign - but given what is likely to happen to them next season, I’m not really worried. It’s like watching your neighbour put a beautiful extension on their house 3 months before it gets repossessed.

Fabrizio Romano confirmed the least surprising news of the summer - Arsenal want to find a new home for our second-best number 6 at Arsenal. The Ghanaian loves it in London, he’s just got engaged, so it’ll take something big for him to move. But Jason Ayto and Edu out in Saudi would indicate that something is brewing there. I wonder if he could get a move to an Italian or Parisian club. He’s still really good, he just can’t hack it at a Premier League club.

Arsenal will want a fee as well - this will not be a contract termination. That makes things harder again. But we’ll see, he’s top quality, and some clubs still splash the cash on older players.

I’m standing strong on the Arsenal striker case - I think it’s highly unlikely the club is going to splash £100m on Gyokores or Isak. I don’t think there is a need like there was at the start of last summer. Kai Havertz was an output machine in 2024. That gives the club the chance to sign someone with a high ceiling that might be slightly raw. Evan Ferguson fell massively out of favour at Brighton and could be available for less than £100m we all thought he’d be worth a few seasons back - and Benjamin Sesko might not have a specific release clause, but those players only go to RB clubs if there’s a path to a bigger club. If we could get him for sub £60m, we could be in business.

Aaron Ramsdale was quick to jump onto X.com to deny he was moving to Newcastle this summer - but one thing is for sure, the England number three is most certainly not hanging around. He’s a top 4 keeper, great with his feet, decent at most things when his confidence is up. He’ll find a new club and I think there are plenty of options. I’d imagine Newcastle or Chelsea is probably where he peaks. But there’s always a market for good keepers and Aaron is most certainly a good keeper.

My question for months has been - what type of name would we sign as back-up? We’re not at a phase of our progress to sign a young keeper - and Raya is only 28 years old. So a 21-year-old with less experience has no chance of displacing him. There was talk of signing a Wojciech Szczęsny-like veteran who could turn it on when called upon - these signings make sense. They’ve won big things, they’re happy to retire to the bench, and their experience at rolling cigarettes could prove vital during times of squad distress.

Well, it would seem that the choice is to go for a similar keeper to David Raya - a 26-year-old Dutch guy on the verge of securing a permanent place as the Netherlands #1. Justin Bijlow is the name being linked. He’s been coached under Arne Slot, so he’s probably decent. I’ve watched the videos of him. He’s a very good shot-stopper, great at claiming crosses, and his passing seems pretty decent. The Feyenoord fans really like him, they say he’s a jack of all trades… his main problem is fitness. Two keepers with tier-1 international pedigree would be lovely moving forward. I just wonder how you keep them both happy.

Last story of the day is the story that Estêvão Willian, the Brazilian right winger I spoke about here the other week, has apparently joined Chelsea. He’s been dubbed Messinho for his mazy runs and explosive pace. He’s a baby at 17 years old, but all the major clubs have been keeping tabs on him. I’d have loved a talent like that at Arsenal, but you’d imagine Mikel has banged the table for a winger that can compete for a place now… not in 4 years time. A shrewd piece of business. I’m sure Mourinho is the perfect man to develop him!

Ok, another blog bites the dust.

Now you need to jump into the latest AOP. I recorded a Therapy Session with Jacob yesterday and we stopped halfway because a very special guest said he’d come and speak with us… legendary boxing promoter Frank Warren. This was a seriously big deal for us, and we weren’t disappointed. Take a listen below!