🚨❤️🤍 Arsenal and Real Sociedad have completed all paperwork for Martin Zubimendi deal, it’s all signed.Zubimendi has completed formal steps of his move in London as he will be first summer signing for #AFC.Fee around €64/65m paid in installments. pic.twitter.com/KDmW5K3yF5— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 20, 2025
I read that Tottenham were also interested in Sesko. Next to us they are reportedly the most serious. The internet says Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea are which I dismiss. Outside the prem, its said Napoli and Juve are which I'd give some credence to. Anyway, that said, we buy him and lets assume another club picks up Gyokeres but it doesn't work out for him. Conceivably in a year or so, we could buy him. We were interested in both Mudryk and Havertz at one time and now we have the latter and could have had Mudryk if he didn't have his present doping issues and such and we wouldn't want him anyway Point is, Gyokeres may still be attainable at a later time if Mikel is interested.
Jesus is still recovering so its why he's not been sold yet. When will he recover? If he recovers after the window, he will be available on a limited basis for the fall which will certainly come in handy. I assume in January he will either be sold. His present contract is till 2027. We may be stuck with him for a while but I think he'd make a great back up for league cup games, or CL games where we need to rest people. I also think had he and Havertz not had fairly long term injuries we'd have made more of a challenge for the race and may even have gone further in the cup. I really like him as a player, he's dangerous.
Jesus best last season was wide, so if he recovers I would hope we deploy him as depth for Martinelli if we don't buy a LW, or as depth for LW/RW because when he was RW when Saka was out he did well. If we get Sesko then Jesus becomes 3rd striker behind him and Havertz and his lack of goals hurts him in the rotations. But we would be insane to depend on Jesus for anything more than 10 games this season.
Striker: Sesko, with Thierno Barry as a cheaper/developmental prospect Left wing: Rodrygo, with Bradley Barcola as a more affordable alternative Utility defender: Ryan Flamingo
His surgery was mid January, recovery typically takes 9 to 12 months. So an optimistic timeline is mid October, but it is much more likely to extend into November or December.
I really like the concept of "sensible transfers" and what it used to be but I feel like they have gotten lazy..... - refers to Sesko as a "pure striker" and compares his stats to Havertz but ignores the fact that Leipzig plays him as a SS - mentions 2 LWs that would be good options but neither of which is available. That said, I find the Barry & Flamingo options interesting. Particularly Flamingo as a guy who could potentially replace Partey as a DM/CB/inverted FB.
It should really be two different videos. One where they look at players linked to a club and discuss who is the best tactical fit. And another where they discuss under-the-radar prospects that no one is talking about but would make sense.
For those that care about such things, Watts says there is rumor Zubi chose the #36 shirt. Interesting if correct. I would have expected 3 (low number + wore it for a season or 2 at Sociedad) or 14 (Xabi's number).
I looked at Flamingo’s highlights and he appears to go to ground a lot. As one of many Arsenal fans who were traumatized by Mustafi going to ground and taking himself out of the action, slide tackling is not a trait I particularly value. It works relatively well when the tackler is a better athlete than the player they are up against, but if they don’t have that advantage it can go seriously wrong.
Poking around a bit..... 36 is the number Zubi wore when he was promoted from Sociedad B to the 1st team. Wore that number for 3 seasons before switching to 3 for 2 seasons and then 4 for 2 seasons. For Spain he wears 18 which is half of 36. For Sociedad B he wore 14, 15, 8, 6 & 4.
That's fair. He's also young enough that this tendency could be trained out of him. Guess it depends whether he is a good enough player/fit otherwise to justify the effort.
Assuming we sign Sesko also, we are looking at having atleast 5 players and likely 3-4 starters with non-traditional numbers (30+). Not gonna lie, it bothers me a little. Even #29 bothers me. I prefer all of the 1st team to have 1-28. For whatever reason, the only one that doesn't bother me is Cala's 33. I also don't mind the backup/3rd GK being 30+.
I am not a "yeller" from the sidelines during my son's matches. My modus operandi is to stand sort of even with the 6 yard box on whatever side "our parents" are sitting on---far enough away that I don't hear much from our parents much less any idiocy from parents of the opposing team and not say anything other than an occasional "nice work" or "well done." But what does sometimes draw from me not so much yelling but more of a plaintive plea of "no" is when one of my son's teammates goes to ground stupidly. Grrrr....drives me crazy. In 99 percent of situations it's not good defending. Sorry rant over.
The current rumor is that we are going to buy 19y.o. Ajax defender Hato. I really, really like him. I know...I know...not a defender when we need a striker and attackers and you're right. I have zero doubts we'll get a striker. I am more than 50 percent sure we'll buy a left winger. Hato has huge upside. It may also mean MLS moves to midfield. Maybe. It may mean Kiwior is gone. He's better than Kiwior possibly. If not right now he'll be much better by the time he's old enough to drink.
I have hated this CWC for many reasons but also when I caught the Man City game and they had Lewis in 82, O'Reilly in 75, Ederson in 31 and Foden in 47, Bobb in 52 and Khusanov in 45. Should be adding another 50 charges just for taking the piss with numbers. Thankfully in our squad Raya has taken the number 1 kit and Nwaneri has jumped up to 22. Numbers available for new signings as of now in that top 40 are; 3, 10, 13, 14, 16, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40 Sesko wore 30 at both RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig, Rodrygo has worn 11, 21, 25, 27 at Real Madrid Gyokeres has worn 9 at Sporting then 17 and 12 at Coventry City. Would love if our new LW came in and took 14 and MLS takes 3 or Parteys 5 if he doesn't get a new contract.
I think Arteta has under utilized Rice. Rice has a great football brain. I'd love to see where he has a free reign role. Let him roam where he's needed or most effective according to how the game is going. He's wasted playing defensive center mid all game long as he has at times.
Ironically, my oldest daughter was an excellent slide tackler, but it usually wasn’t about defending, it was about making a statement in games where an opponent was rash or overly physical in their challenges on her or one of her teammates.
Yeah, I've taught my son that I prefer the solid shoulder barge or hip check in that scenario---less chance either you or the target will get injured but your point still made.
She combined the two. She wasn’t rash in her slide tackles, she never slid from behind, never studs up, and never carded, she always took the ball first. I didn’t teach her this, but I didn't discourage it either.