ARTETA STRESSES DEPTH ISSUES
Kind of agitated that I performed my duty to the club by panning the transfer window so far on Sunday… but there was no new news on movement this morning?
What?
The Gyökeres deal still hangs in add-ons purgatory and life goes on in preseason. Arteta said this…
In terms of numbers, we are short and we have to improve the depth and quality of the squad. We are constantly looking in the market.
Until that happens, [we] focus on the players we have – and I'm very pleased with what I have seen in the last 10–15 days.
The new world under new sporting leadership is feeling eerily similar to the old world. Berta hasn’t proved to be a change agent so far, but there’s still time to make things happen.
We haven’t delivered on club priorities yet (first-choice attackers)
We’ve overspent on a Chelsea player
The squad doesn’t have the depth it needs
We haven’t sold anyone of note
The overall feeling for most fans is a little bit… meh
I was kind of hoping to feel a little bit more thrilled about the business we were going to do this summer, and I don’t really feel that way. Outside Zubimendi, a deal done by the old regime, a lot has to happen to feel like we’re taking giant leaps.
I’m sure an attacker like Eze or Rodrygo could move the summer up in my estimation, but so far, the summer is feeling more like squad filler than BIG signings that’ll rock our worlds… so much so, that there seems to be a pretty prominent debate over whether Gyokeres is going to be our main man or will he sit on the bench behind Kai. I’m not sure Arsenal would be spending £60m on a striker to bench them, but I also didn’t think we’d drop £55m on Madueke to be a back-up. Is that the going rate for squad players these days? Seems to be. Liverpool just spent 95m euros on a guy with less career goals than Nketiah. The market doesn’t seen have an abundance of value at any level. Even Omari Hutchinson is going to fetch £35m.
We also haven’t managed to sell anyone of note yet, another problem with strong ties to the only real failings under Edu. I was hoping that the move back into the bosom of Super Agent deal brokers would mean we’d find a slicker runway for shifting talented players out. We just don’t seem to have the magic touch on that front. Chelsea? They do… if you believe the numbers. They picked up £55m for Madueke, they are pushing for £90m for Nico Jackson, they’re nearly done shifting a guy called Renato Veiga for €40m. We can’t get a bite on Kiwior, Zinchenko, Trossard, or Reiss Nelson?
But we’ll see where it goes. We’re about a month out from the opening of the season, and Arsenal already have a very, very good side. Everyone is fit, and that Arsenal team, when everyone is fit, is a title-challenging starting XI.
I was just hoping for some of those phase 5 signings… you know, the guaranteed performers, more in the shape of Declan Rice. We didn’t spend much last summer, we kept the powder dry in January, we’re reducing our yearly outgoings by paying more to amortize deals over longer periods… but we’re not doing that in the name of players like Alex Isak.
Bit of a Monday whinge. Arsenal just dropped their new kit—the perfect time to send you to a podcast where I interviewed the person who introduced lightning bolts to the brand asset library… Drake Ramberg. Enjoy.
P.S. Also subscribe to the members pod I dropped last night, that didn’t go down well with team posi Gooners. x