DID ARSENAL JUST MAKE A BIG DECISION?
I penned an entire post yesterday trying to parse through the rumors that felt right for our squad build, and my conclusion was that we probably didn’t have the money in the locker to buy all the fancy players we’re being heavily linked with.
Well, today, we might just have seen one of the first big decisions of the window.
Noni Madueke has been officially made a target of Arsenal, and talks with Chelsea have begun for the sixth player from them to move to The Carpet since Arteta joined. He’ll have signed as many Chelsea players as he has forwards. This addiction to buying from The Bridge is only second to fullbacks.
But don’t let that cloud your judgment, because that is how overly emotional NewsNow addicts think… we have to be stronger than that and look at the facts and calm our misguided behavior.
On the face of it, the signing is totally inoffensive to me (low bar). We need a pace monster who can beat a man on the outside and take minutes off Saka without a crushing dip in ability. Madueke made 46 appearances for Maresca last season, getting action in 32 of 38 Premier League games. He’s a good player, and denying that reality is your Chelsea tax clogging up your vision.
We need a Saka back-up. We tried older and experienced, and it didn’t work. Now we’re trying a more youthful model, with decent experience in the league and in Europe. This is a guy who feels like an Arsenal version of Doku—a one-vs-one merchant who can break lines with his pace and create for a Swedish goal machine who only cares about attacking posts and getting goals.
Where the conversation swerves off the road is what this means for the rest of the squad.
Some people are taking a podcast comment from David Ornstein to insinuate this would mean closure on Eze. If that’s the case, I’m not really sure what we’re doing. It wouldn’t make sense to me on any level at all.
Eze is not a right-wing back-up option for any team in the Premier League. Saka back-up has been an issue for three seasons. Madueke, to my tiny brain, is solving a very specific problem.
Eberechi Eze would also be in consideration for a very specific problem (Odegaard cover)… we don’t have a ready-made rotation option for Martin Ødegaard, and we don’t have efficiency on the left wing. Eze, to remind everyone, plays as an attacking 10, and occasionally as a left-wing operator. Why would Madueke interfere with that?
So let’s keep with the Madueke part of the story… what signing him does indicate is this: Ethan Nwaneri’s future at Arsenal is not as back-up to Bukayo Saka, regardless of how well he did in his breakout season. The hope for the teenager last season was he’d be a rotation option for Martin Ødegaard, but I’m told the off-the-ball movement and intensity weren’t to the liking of Arteta.
BUT… question here… we can’t have an 18-year-old as back-up for our captain.
BUT… would an 18-year-old sign a new deal if he was third choice for that Ødegaard role?
OR… can Ethan be a super impact player who can spend next season plugging gaps across the forward line to help him develop as a player? Arteta said he could see a future where he plays as a #9.
A pattern that does seem to be emerging is the age profile of the players we’re hunting has shifted up as Arsenal move into WIN NOW mode. I don’t like this idea of breaking down a vision that has served us so well, because if it doesn’t work, you’re left with expensive 28-year-olds that you can’t shift (see United). But this has been reflected with Arteta not meeting Nypan in January and passing on teenage sensations like Estevão because of the development time needed to get them to title-winning levels.
So… in short, it’s becoming quite difficult to work out what the plan is with the squad right now because we haven’t seen the full meal served. My gut would say if we sign Eze, that means no more Rodrygo. But who knows, because we’re not sure who is staying or going.
There’s only one move I’d be totally against this summer, and that’s seeing Ethan move to Chelsea for £60m.
But at some point, someone you love moves—especially when you’re producing best-in-class 17-year-olds in a side that wants to win now.
I spoke to Matt Kandela about this Eze deal last night and cover some of this off in a Power 30 Podcast. Get the early bird version NOW. x