SALIBA HINTS AT LONG ARSENAL STAY

2ND HOTTEST DEFENDER IN THE WORLD NEEDS HIS BAG

Gonna bang you out a bulletin board of content because I have to admit to you right now—I’ve lost some power. I need to search for the hopium because the bag is empty, and my dealer is in jail for crimes against our Premier League season.

The bedwetters have been telling us for the last six months that William Saliba will exit to Madrid if we don’t win a trophy this season. I’ve said…

WE’RE GONNA WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.

I’m back, baby. Good as new.

Jokes aside, this is what Big Bill Saliba had to say about his future:

“I’m really happy here.”

“Because we have some years [to go]. There is no rush at the minute. I want to win big things with Arsenal. If you leave this club without winning anything, the fans will forget about you. I want to win big things here.”

That’s what we want to hear. YouTube ‘personalities’ will say we need to move on from Arteta, but proof of connection is in the players. No one wants to leave. The squad feels like they’re on the right track, and really, when you sift through the rubble of the season, it’s pretty clear what needs to happen to get into the winning phase.

As for Saliba, I can’t imagine the sort of numbers being pushed around, but he’s the second-best defender in the world this season. VVD will dip in the next 18 months, making Saliba the most coveted center-back around. Giving him a long-term deal on £350k a week feels like value to me. The only concern we all have is this: big players run their deals down these days. If we ever lose him, we have to be getting a monster fee—and Madrid aren’t that fond of paying them these days. They prefer massive signing-on fees, and I believe they’re even considering offering shares in the club in the future.

PSV Eindhoven is, I think, the biggest dead rubber of a game we’ve had in our history… I don’t think our U18s would give up a lead as big as the one we have. Which presents some interesting options for Arteta:

• Will Martinelli get a start?

• Will Benny Blanco get some minutes?

• Could Saka make the bench?

• Will we roll with Zinchenko in midfield?

• Would Neto get a second start for Arsenal?

• What about some of the academy kids we’ve only seen on the bench this season?

MAX DOWMAN. I kid, I kid, because he is a literal kid by the letter of the law.

Chelsea is a monster game at the weekend that we really need to win if we want to be serious about securing second this season. Drop points there, and we’re in a dogfight for top four, which is not something any of us want.

WINGER WINGER CHICKEN DINNER

That little title makes no sense, but I wanted to write it, and it’s my blog.

Nico Williams, according to reports, is going to join Arsenal this summer because Barcelona have good options on the left—and they also have no money.

This feels like a signing that has been long in the works. It brings back fond memories of trying to sign Chamakh and Julio Baptista. Hopefully, the output is a little bit better than those two rascal signings.

The Spaniard has not been having his best season by quite a margin. Club Athletic are sitting pretty in fourth this season, and Nico has 7 goals and 7 assists to his name. Not terrible, but that’s in totality. A guy called Oli McBurnie shares the same number of assists with him in La Liga, where Nico only has five. Last season, he had 8 goals and 16 assists.

I hear you. Stop shouting in that high-pitched shriek that is beneath a person of your experience…

“You said this about Alex Isak, and Arsenal didn’t sign him because of your exact criticisms.”

I know, it was my fault.

So maybe I should pipe down here and just remember the pukey feeling Williams gave me when he fired the starting gun on the end of Kyle Walker’s career at the Euros last year. He has pace, his decision-making is outrageous, he’s good in one-vs-one situations, and there’s only upside with young players like that. The key thing for me is how good he is in tight spaces—something Martinelli isn’t really built for. For under £50m, I’d say that’d be a total steal.

If we’re looking to totally rebuild the left, which I think we might be considering the steep regression of Martinelli this season, then I really hope we’re looking at Semenyo—who wouldn’t elaborate on why his favorite ground is The Emirates.

“For other reasons [than them being difficult to play against], but I’m not going to go into that!”

This deal might be a bit pricey for Arsenal. He’s another amazing talent who doesn’t have mad G&A numbers, but I’ve watched him rip teams apart. His running is so direct, his power on the ball is unstoppable, and I just get really good ‘Mane to Liverpool’ vibes from him. He’s a player ready for the big time, and I think he’d add a lot to our frontline because he can play across it. I really, really like this guy.

On the Andrea Berta hire…

We’re going to announce this at some point, and I’ve had time to dive deep into what he’s all about. I still like the core message his hire sends to the rest of the league. The only pause I have here is that I was excited about Don Raul, who had a similar background.

• Big dog dealmaker

• Had been around success

• Knew all the super agents

• Made magic happen

• Looked like someone out of the mafia in a suit

All that shimmers does not shine is something I’ve been mulling over. And a slight counterpoint to the hype and desire for glitz in these signings is this: don’t forget who got you this close to the promised land. There’s a whole bunch of those folks still at Arsenal who have been working miracles behind the scenes for years.

Jason Ayto would have been a boring hire because it would have been more of the same… but why have we decided more of that same is a problem if:

• We can all agree PGMOL interfered with our season

• Our injury crisis was mostly on Arteta

• Our tepid summer last year from a funding perspective was not the fault of the Sporting Department. The man leading the charge on Merino and Calafiori was Arteta.

Casting away the team who did so much to get us to where we are—and the risk of losing those people—seems pretty high risk. And my biggest point… what is the driving reason for this hire?

If it’s checks and balances on a manager who has too much power, I’m all for it.

If this is a hire who will operate in the ‘now’ for Arteta, then this might not be the best thing for our long-term future.

Andrea Berta does things like re-signing Griezmann and Diego Costa. See Ollie Watkins and Leroy Sané. Some of you might be saying,

“Well, good god damn, Pedro, that’s what we need. Some now action.”

But… that sort of mentality is much more NFL than what Arsenal has been doing. The Rams won the Super Bowl and then died. Maybe that’s what Josh wants? You only live once.Get the trophies in now then we can worry what we do next. That sounds great to the fierce table bangers, but it’s also what Spurs attempted after Poch so they could max out Harry Kane. Now look at them.

The skill in now signings is making sure you don’t lose track of what keeps you in business at the top end - consistent Champions League.

Spending good cash on Robin Van Persie season like wonder players can block signings like the next Isak or Haaland. If your one season wonder breaks down becuyase he’s 30, you’re really fucked, because you have no resale value, and no infinite funds to fix the issue.

Failing to bring through enough young talent to maintain a sustainable football model that doesn’t crash out every four years when the older players decline—like they did under Arteta in his first year.

Remember, some of Arsenal’s worst signings have been authored by Arteta.

• Willian was his.

• Tomiyasu was his.

• Fabio Vieira was his.

If we signed someone who will do his bidding, it doesn’t matter how good he looks in a suit—we won’t be better off for it in the long term.

You also have to remember that the Premier League is far more ruthless than La Liga and this guy is learning English on the job and has no experience here. Dan Ashworth tanked at United, his first job when he wasn’t trying to raise the level of a midtable team. Ralph Rangnick couldn’t do it in England, dreaming that Antony Elanga was the level because he would have been in Leipzig. Fabio Paratici couldn’t replicate his dominant work from Juve at Spurs because it’s just not the same here.

That’s my counterpoint to the excitement. To be clear, I’m still excited, but always cognizant that Arsenal are very good at punching themselves in the face. Just look at last summer.

Ok, see you tomorrow. We’ll be dropping a podcast later tonight for the freaks and geeks. x