ANGST
You are dumb. I am dumb. We are all so dumb. Why? Because we’re actually fuming that Arsenal haven’t wheeled out five new players by June 16th. We know the club has ambition—because they hired Andrea Berta. We loosely know two deals have been done, with Zubimendi and Kepa all but sealed. Most folk are pretty clear that Sesko is the first-choice striker and that Rodrygo is the winger of choice.
But we don’t see bodies, so we’re angsty and furious at the same time.
It’s hard to tell anyone to be calm right now. You’re a grown-up, so am I. If you want to punch someone soft enough not to damage your bones, but hard enough to have some reverb that makes you feel powerful… then do it right now. But don’t do it near people at work—you might get pulled into HR for being emotional. You might even scare an intern.
Jokes aside, it is crazy to me that these negotiations with Arsenal tend to drag for so long. We’ve known since last summer that we wanted Sesko—it’s wild to me that we didn’t have a price negotiated a long time ago. But it’s only wild to me because I don’t negotiate the deals, and I can’t fathom why a selling club wouldn’t obey Arsenal and do what they’re told.
Leipzig need to sell and rebuild. There’s only so long they can wait for a second bidder before the messing around starts to damage their ability to focus on their own summer.
Could some of the hold-up be directed by Jurgen Klopp, working in the shadows to slowball our guaranteed success? I won’t say. But I’ll have that back-pocketed if things drag on any longer.
Matt Kandela revealed on the Therapy Session that he’s heard Arsenal have had conversations about Phil Foden. The jack-of-all-trades attacker had a horrible dip last season, finishing with the same G&As as Martinelli. His poor World Cup wrecked him, Pep G went out and added to their squad like a madman, so it’s not inconceivable that Foden might want out. The season prior, he managed 27 goals and 13 assists—like, if you wanted to rebirth a player, he wouldn’t be a bad bet… I’m just not sure I understand why we’d drop £80m on someone who predominantly shows up in the same position as Saka.
He answers the question of G&As, but don’t we need someone with explosivity, and probably on the left, out the way of Ethan and Bukayo? If this did happen, it would be VERY Kai Havertz of us. A great player, no doubt—but rat-up-a-drainpipe opportunism.
All I’ll say here is I don’t feel sexy about this type of move… that doesn’t mean it’s a bad one, but I would like to feel a million bucks when we bring someone in this summer.
Nico Williams has been linked… again. Eleven goals and seven assists last season. The story in SPORT was that we’d offered ABOVE his release clause and a £9m-a-year contract. The player wants Barca, Barca want him (but they’re usually low on cash), so it kind of feels like this chase—real or imagined—is a bit Raphinha when we went to war with Chelsea for his signature. I’m also not sure it’d be a good idea to buy a Basque player who has ‘Barca DNA.’ Two good seasons and he’ll be begging to go there. Arsenal aren’t a transition club for Barca dreamers, I’m afraid.
I’ll say it again… signing a winger with a scoring record you have to squint at from La Liga doesn’t feel frisky to me. I want G&As, total dominance, the special sauce in dustbin size.
Few other tidbits:
– Granit Xhaka is moving to Milan after an acrimonious season at Leverkusen, where he once again fell out with fans in full view of the cameras… maybe he was the problem?
– Flamengo vs. Espérance Sportive de Tunis was a banger. I just watched a beautifully disguised assist for an Araujo BANGER.
– John Cross is claiming Milan asked after Calafiori, but Arsenal said no. Now they’re focused on getting Zinchenko and Kiwior out of the club.
– Ref cam is here. It’s pretty cool. A nice innovation that we’ll see in the Premier League in 62 years.
Ok, short one today, check out the Therapy Session right now. You can only watch the video if you subscribe.