RODRYGO LINKS SPICE UP

LITTLE WEDNESDAY ROUND-UP

I’m up at 5 in the morning thinking about transfers. What a time to be alive. This window is feeling electrifying on so many levels.

I get high off Arsenal transfers, but don’t think I’m immune to getting my kicks from the second-hand fumes of other movers and shakers.

Leroy Sané… he’s taken a move to Galatasaray for €500k a week gross. An incredible pot of money for a player in decline, but the physical drop is going to be far less noticeable there than it would be watching him clog up the wing at Arsenal.

Matt Kandela made a great point on the podcast last night:

‘We should probably accept that the new 31 is 28 years old.’

Quite a statement, but it does ring true to a certain degree. It doesn’t feel like sports technology and new science methodologies are taking more players to 38 years old. Quite the opposite—it feels like tactics and load are getting more out of players for a shorter time before they explode. Raheem Sterling looked like a knackered old car this year and he was only 29 years old. 29 was PEAK back in the day. I think that was the age Madrid signed Zidane!

Arsenal definitely had interest in Sané in the past, mostly because of the awful things he’s been doing to us, so I don’t think it was ever out of the question that we might be tempted by him. But those wages, even on a free, would have been egregious. Walking into the same ageing winger mistake two seasons running would have been a huge mistake.

Mario Cortegana, a Madrid writer with 230,000 followers I’d never seen before, reckons Arteta is in love with Rodrygo. Thinks he could make him a star in the Premier League. You must also remember Arteta thought the same of Fábio Vieira and Mikel Merino at left 8. So we’ll take the dream with a pinch of salt… but, truth be told here, Rodrygo does feel like a different flavor of gravy. Gravy with a bit of sriracha, if you will.

The main issue with a deal like this is simple: it’ll be a circus because that’s what Madrid want. They don’t want to sell him to England—they want some of that sweet Saudi money. It’s also not totally clear if they want to lose him. The player won’t move until after the Club World Cup, which is in 4 weeks. Xabi Alonso might fancy him long-term. He might get the minutes he wants on the left. Who knows. I don’t want Arsenal to dance for him then get left out in the cold when Nico Williams moves to Bilbao.

Also, tiny tidbit… Kandela revealed on the pod that Madrid did a special kit shoot for Rodrygo because they didn’t feel there was enough of him in the release photography. Make of that what you will.

Talking of left wingers… Martinelli had a very good game last night. There are some lovely comps doing the rounds of him looking powerful, exciting, with exceptional control and creativity against Paraguay. We always write him off, and we’re usually right, but could we be missing a beat here? He’s still a baby—anything could happen! But… maybe I’d prefer him if there was better competition? Maybe he would too…

Ok… did you see Rio Ferdinand talk about Gyökeres?

‘If you match him physically, I’m not seeing what he’s got.’

Damnnnnn Rio, that is savagery for a player you feel will almost certainly end up at Man United this summer. Isn’t it weird how little interest someone with 53 goals has from the rest of the world? No one in Spain or the Premier League seems to want him. Telling…

Ok, I don’t have much more juice in the tank… check out the latest members’ podcast and get subbing, my friends. x