Morning.
It’s a bank holiday here today. I’m not sure what difference that makes to anything, but it’s still true. It is June 2nd though, which means Transfer Window Part 1 has been open for a whole day now and we haven’t signed a single player yet. What did we bring in a new Sporting Director for?
I heard that in Spain Andrea Berta’s nickname was Mr Indolent. Señor Indolente. Just to be clear, this isn’t true. I don’t think he’s the kind of man who has a nickname that people say out loud. There might be one that people whisper between themselves but they make sure they don’t get heard. Otherwise you might get a slap from Diego Simeone, who I’d say has hands like a pair of old cowboy’s chaps. Tough and leathery. If you asked me which football manager I’d least like to get a slap in the face from, I think he’s the one.
There’s really not a lot going on today though. The rumour mill is pretty quiet. On the outgoing front there’s a story linking Thomas Partey with Barcelona, but a little digging on that suggests it’s all coming from this side (most likely his camp briefing the press). In El Mundo Deportivo, their report says ‘In England they say Barcelona want Partey’, which is usually a sign the information has not come from a source connected to that club. They’re actually pretty bemused at the idea in their article, suggesting that if he can’t agree terms with Arsenal that befit his stature, there’s little chance of Barcelona offering a 32 year old player a significant contract. Which, given their financial situation, makes a lot of sense, even if I’d be very happy for them to pull another lever and take him off our hands.
Meanwhile, they’re going quite large on Joan Garcia to Barcelona in the same paper, and it looks as if their plan is to bin off Marc-Andre ter Stegen, keep former Gunner Wojciech Szczesny for another season, and bring in the Espanyol keeper. He’s a player we’ve been interested in for some time, and you’ll remember that last summer we almost got to transfer deadline day without sorting out our goalkeeping situation, such was the desire to bring in the young Spaniard.
Whether we were led a merry dance by agents or other people closely involved, I can’t say for sure, but it seemed as if Espanyol were straight up all the way – insisting that the release clause be paid in full, otherwise no deal. In the end, with Aaron Ramsdale desperate to get away for regular first team football, Edu had to call up one of his closest agent friends to facilitate a late loan for Neto, which allowed Ramsdale to go to Southampton, thus giving us an experienced number 2 for the season. But, perhaps it shows how last summer’s thinking was not as joined up as it should have been. It should never have got that late.
This summer, we need a goalkeeper – no two ways about it. Neto will go back to Bournemouth, and I don’t think the younger lads are quite ready yet. Someone like Tommy Setford could probably do with a loan move somewhere to help his development. The question is should we be trying to rival Barcelona for Joan Garcia, given the cost of any potential deal? The other thing to consider here is that Barcelona are basically looking to sign him as their new number 1, with the plan for him to keep that spot for years. We already have Raya, so how do you convince someone who has been playing week in, week out, to join Arsenal as back-up?
I don’t think you can, so let’s hope we don’t waste time on a deal we can’t do, and sort out a more realistic solution to our needs this summer. If that means certain people have to be told ‘No’, then that’s the job Andrea Berta was brought in to do. Not to mention there’s a very solid argument that a more cost-effective goalkeeping signing would allow funds to be used to bolster other areas of the pitch.
Last week we were linked with Bryan Mbeumo, and there are some whispers about our interest in him again. This would make a lot more sense to me if we didn’t have Bukayo Saka, but we have Bukayo Saka. Is it possible Mbeumo could operate from the other side? Maybe, but he’s just had a 20 goal season playing off the right, so it’d be a bit weird to sign a player and then not play him in his best position. I really like him, by the way, but it’s hard to imagine we’ve targetted a wide forward who plays in the same position as our best wide forward. That’s not an area we need to upgrade, whereas the left-hand side is where you can start to have a real conversation.
Right, I’m gonna leave it there for now, but as ever we’ll have an Arsecast Extra for you today. We’ve already put out the call for questions on BlueSky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
Pod should be out mid-morning. Until then, have a good one.
