Some good players, Merino talks, Arsenal Women in the US

Morning all.

I saw the image of the Arsenal players at the PFA Awards last night, five of whom made it into the team of the season, and two things occurred to me. First, we have some very good players, and while we wait for a little more to be added to the squad, I think we should feel pretty reassured by that. I know it’s not necessarily what anyone wants to hear, but this squad doesn’t need major surgery this summer.

You can always use a bit extra, but I don’t think this is like previous transfer windows where there have been big, obvious gaps that have to be filled for us to make progress. I do think we can get more out of this current squad, but obviously I would also like us to be active before the end of the window (beyond the tediously imminent arrival of Mikel Merino).

The second thing I thought was: Where the hell is Bukayo Saka? Just the 20 goals and 14 assists in all competitions last season, and he’s not there? Sure, Cole Palmer took a lot of penalties and played very well for Chelsea, while Flat Track Phil Foden had a productive season himself, but Saka’s absence stands out to me. I know it’s not really a big scandal in the grand scheme of things, but still.

Speaking of Merino, it’s being reported that Real Sociedad President Jokin Aperribay has travelled to London to close the deal. Last week we heard that Edu was in Spain, but perhaps he was simply sourcing some top class Txuleta for his barbecue, and not in Bilbao negotiating for the services of a midfielder I think we really need due to concerns about a couple of our more senior squad members.

It seems there’s some disparity between what they want (€40m) and what Arsenal are prepared to pay, but if there are more face to face talks and the player continues to be left out of the Sociedad squad, then I think some kind of compromise is inevitable. I get why they want as much as possible, but he’s got less than 12 months on his current deal, and can leave for free next summer….

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Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-08-21 06:18:12

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