First, transfer tittle-tattle: We made the Raya acquisition permanent, and spent £40+M on another defender, Riccardo Calafiori. Honestly, Arsenal has the deepest defensive bench in the world. Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes start at CB, and White at RB. LB was an issue but Calafiori would be ideal there. Any of those guys can play across the back line. Behind them, there's Kiwior, Zinchenko, Timber, and Tomiyasu. Arteta is definitely building from the back. Apparently he thinks the Premier League's best defense can get even better. It looks as though Mikel wants another Mikel, Merino, in midfield. He has a very Rice-like profile and could play a six or an eight. Outgoings include Emile Smith Rowe (Fulham) for £34M and probably Eddie Nketieh to Marseille for around £20M. Reiss Nelson is in the shop window as well. It would not be surprising to see Kiwior move back to Serie A, but if Gabriel goes to Saudi Arabia (long shot), we'd probably keep him for backup. Everyone wants a great striker or winger, but the price has to be right. And Aaron Ramsdale is desperate to play. I think the guy is a really good GK and should fetch £20M+ easy, but we shall see. Karl Hein seemed pretty solid to me in all three games.
The three US games were great showcases for young talent and an opportunity to get everyone together in a competitive atmosphere before the regular season. It's always nice to win, but no one actually cares much about that. Liverpool scored two really nice goals--the second was delicious--and deserved to edge the Gunners last night. We beat Man U by the same 2-1 score, and Bournemouth was a 1-1 contest. Bright spots were Ethan Nwaneri in midfield--the guy is almost ready for the senior team--and a rejuvenated Gabriel Jesus. Martinelli looked eager as well. Timber was good. It was a good run up to the season ahead.
The comings and goings at Crystal Palace, and the rumours of more of the same, are more than I can keep up with. If you are able to do so, for Arsenal, you have a lot more energy than this old man. I'm just going to wait and se, four or five games in to the new season, and try to guess how well or how bad it looks. nonetheless, I do try to keep up with who's in and who's out.
ReplyDeleteI'm obsessed, so I read all the rumors. There's been little in the way of new signings for the Gunners, just the Italian defender Califiori. We're stockpiling excellent defenders for some reason. We're losing some notable players, including Smith-Rowe (to Fulham).
ReplyDeletePalace has some extremely valuable assets in Olise, Eze, and Mateta, all tied down to long term contracts. There will be some money in the coffers when the dust clears. Then the defense can be shored up.