Sporting ‘look like the assholes’ over ‘flop’ Gyokeres as Arsenal tipped to finish sixth

Another Premier League club has discovered the joys of negotiating with Sporting, whose protracted sale of the ‘flop’ Viktor Gyokeres will not save Arsenal.

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Blame Sporting, not Arsenal
Every Arsenal fan has at some point vented about the laboured way Arsenal goes about transfers, so maybe this is a wasted effort to push back.

But this faff about with Sporting is 100% them playing silly buggers, not Arsenal.

Now I get it, every club and owner has the right to try and get what they can for their players, so it’s understandable what they’re trying to do.

But it’s clear they’re going both against the promises they’ve previously made to the player and some traditional conventions (such as them covering the costs of previous sell on clauses – they apparently want Arsenal to split 50:50).

If Arsenal relent on their position, they whole idea this new regime are tough negotiators or we stick to our valuation is shot for all future deals. We become mugs for any sporting director who wants to grab that extra £5m here or there. We become United.

Sporting look like the assholes here; I hope every player watches this and realises that’s not a club worth trusting in. Them constantly leveraging the Portuguese press to attempt to apply pressure is pretty childish and transparent too.

So yeh, Keys as per usual doesn’t know what he’s talking about and once we’ve finally agreed on all these nonsense minutiae, hopefully we never have to deal with them again. Happy to stand our ground and not lose our future bargaining position on £1m on appearance fees or whatever.
Tom, Leyton

Enough is enough
This saga has gone on long enough – you know what I’m talking about.

It affects Arsenal, United and a number of other top clubs.

Why can’t they ban sleeve sponsorships so Adidas stripes can go down the whole sleeve like they’re supposed to?

It really gets on my nerves.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

READ MORE: Arsenal face four-word question over Gyokeres as clown car Man Utd circle and Liverpool move quickly

Sack or cack?
It’s been blindingly obvious to the whole world that Arsenal need a striker, possibly two.

In the meantime, Arteta has bought, a keeper, two midfielders, and a winger. But, yes, trust the process etc.

If Arsenal finish fourth, it will be no surprise. And no, I’m not Stewie.
Simon S, NUFC, Cheshire

The needs of the many
I find the whole Arsenal need to win debate boring and hilarious. If Arsenal need to win, what do Liverpool NEED to do? Win the quadruple?!

Let me remind you this Liverpool team won the Premier League at a canter and have now bought one of the hottest prospects in Europe (Wirtz for £100m), and are about to sign an £80m striker. Bought 2 full backs for £30m+ each and are expected to sign more players still. So far they have lost a very good full back, a backup CB and a striker under tragic circumstances (but he still only played 1k minute’s)

So if Liverpool need to win because they were the best team and got better, Arsenal need to win because they spent so much and City need to win because they are one of the best teams and have also spent loads of money, how do we fit 3 teams into one needs to win? Answers on a postcard please
Rob A (Liverpool look very scary) AFC

Top six predictions for 2025
Dear Mailboxers,

The next season is less than 1 month away, so here are my top 6 predictions:

1. Liverpool – We walked to the title last year, vastly strengthened this window, and will be disappointed to not challenge strongly again. We haven’t even finished our transfer business yet. Given the dearth of realistic challengers going into the new season I would have us massive favourites to retain the title. The question is whether we will win the Quad or not, we will surely challenge strongly and possibly finish with a couple of major trophies, no doubt.

2. Chelsea – Has anybody else noticed that Chelsea are quietly collecting (tinpot) trophies, and selling well lately? Madueke for 52m must go down as one of the most overpaid transfers in history, the lad is talented but barely worth 15m, this must be a transfer masterclass. However, Chelsea currently has the most expensively assembled squad, valued at close to 1.2b, surely now is the time to show their worth? 1.2b of transfer fees since 2022 and being barely convincing at all yet managing to avoid ridicule for the majority of the time must be considered proof of management genius by the executives at Chelsea. If Chelsea continue to faff around the pitch this season they shall be rightly remembered as the most expensive collection of mistakes of all time.

3. Tottenham – Thomas Frank and Tottenham. It’s going to work isn’t it? Tottenham has sacked the manager who won them a trophy after having never won anything at all, and decided that Frank is their man to bring them forward. I have a feeling they might be right on that front. Above all, Tottenham have been silently spending massive amounts of money to build their squad, they will be challenging this year, maybe a cup or two as well.

4. Man City – City have spent an obscene amount of money to refresh their squad, and still have the best manager in modern history, they will be thereabouts. The problem is they still feel stale and it is up to them to prove that last season was a blip and be back to their winning ways this season. I’m ignoring the 115 because they are never gonna be punished for that.

5. Newcastle – So far it looks like Newcastle has failed to progress. For the last 2 seasons they seem like they have reached their glass ceiling and have repeatedly failed to break through. This season is no different, and could be worse if they lose Isak to us (he is never signing for Arsenal, dream on chumps). Like Chelsea, they need to start showing that they can challenge for major trophies. Unlike Chelsea, they don’t have the pressure of a massive price tag hanging around their neck.

6. Arsenal – Arsenal is desperate this season but their transfer dealings so far show that they don’t know what they’re doing. It looks like they might fail to sign a Proper Striker, and have overpaid for a bunch of mediocre squad players. There is a reason one of the best teams in the world (us :)) chose not to follow up on the Zubimendi deal. They also have a very tough start to the season, any early slip ups and they are done. All in all, Arsenal are very likely gonna be a very gloomy bunch come Christmas this year. If they sign Gyokeres they might be bumped up to 5th but Gyokeres smells like an EPL flop already.

Ta.
Romulus Shani (LFC, it’s the Quad or nothing)

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Don’t take the Mik
Hi

Love your site, thanks.

A comment on Arsenal possibly firing Arteta if they don’t win a title: Winning can never be guaranteed. The fact that he has led Arsenal constantly to be in the top is difficult and requires a solid talent. Changing him does not ensure success. So why fire him?

As for Man U and their problems, I miss a balanced article comparing the travails of Liverpool under Gillette/Hicks and the near trainwreck they made out of the club with what ManU is going through these years. What did LFC do differently than ManU since LFC survived and blossomed, and ManU has not succeeded? They can be compared because of the size of the clubs and their history and previous successes.

Thanks

Kind regards from me in Denmark
Michael

Weird Liverpool
Liverpool has me very, very confused. As a fan I know I’m supposed to think more signings is better, more money spent is better. However, the only times they’ve won the league in my lifetime* have been on the back of very settled squads with 1 or 2 unfancied additions for very little money.

So, what is happening? Is the idea to spend all the money now as champions that can attract the very best? Will this be a squad that sticks together for 4-5 years hoping to win multiple titles? What does it mean for this season?

*I had the misfortune of being born in late 1990 to a father who bandwagoned through the 70-80s and an uncle who picked “the other red team” to support… Needless to say, I listen to a lot of Man Utd gloating for 20 years.
Ziggy

A pleasant retort
I’m not a combative contributor or BTL commenter. I enjoy nuanced and reasoned debate/discussion. Just wanted to say though that absolutely PSR restricts the (financial) big 6 too, but I called them that for a specific reason. Handily, there was a mailbox contribution on the 18th (I think) detailing the richest clubs in the PL. The difference between 6th and 7th was stark – €174m I believe.

If you look at 2024 revenues, Chelsea are in 6th at £468m. Newcastle, with their much bigger ground, are 7th at £320m. That’s one year, not over a 3 year period. So yes, PSR effects the big 6, but nowhere near as much. You’ve even mentioned that Chelsea have spent £600m more than Villa over the last 3 years under PSR. A period where arguably Villa have been more successful. (Evened out now perhaps with that lovely Club World Cup $$$).

Villa and Newcastle are trying to grow revenue and success helps with that, but they both absolutely have to check themselves if things go slightly awry. By which I mean not qualifying for the CL for the 2nd year in a row on GD. Admittedly, Liverpool and Spurs have had a few quiet transfer windows to help them stay in line. Look at what Man Utd are able to do now with no European football. It’s widely known that Man Utd are in near enough £1bn debt. Villa are debt free. Yet which one is able to spend?

I also never said PSR should be ditched. Maybe others have, but I certainly didn’t. Like you, I said it needed to be tweaked. Your idea on incentivising keeping academy players would be a nice little start. Maybe it doesn’t need to be linked solely to losses over a 3 year period. Maybe it should consider debt owed and perhaps assets and overall ‘bank balance’ too? I dunno, I’m no finance expert.

Anyway, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t being misquoted. Think we’re pretty much on the same page. The revenue behemoths will likely always have an advantage, however hard they’re trying to disprove that currently, but I just think PSR/FFP/SCR/ABBA or whatever it’s called can be done better. Not just for the benefit of Villa either.

Ta,
Gary AVFC, Oxford (Really hoping Ramsey doesn’t go).

Johnny just wants international football
I enjoyed John Nicholson’s article on football fandom, but I realised at the end that he’s not pining for Women’s Euros per se, but more so all international tournaments.

I get that there have been issues at some games (Russia 2016) but I’ve been lucky enough to go to games at the last 3 world cups and 3 euros and had an amazing time at all the games I’ve been at – largely due to what the article describes.

I think it’s because international football often has less tribalism, but also because it’s often a lot of money to spend to just start fights. World Cups often require a long haul flight and a least a week long trip – pointless spending all that cash to have a fight when you can do that at your club games.

These tournaments are so often a great case of seeing the best in humanity. Watching games with random fans in bars, chatting to people about their home countries, politics and random players that played for your club. It’s the same with the men’s and women’s game – international football tournaments are just class.

I’d recommend anyone to go to one – World Cup ideally (the Latin fans are the best) – and you’ll be hooked.
James, NUFC

French teachers and flying tampons
Dear Ed,

Reading through the recent article about the joys of the Women’s Euro 2025 tournament, and the battering of a teacher with a 12” dildo at a grim northern school! I was reminded of being 15 again.

During French GCSE our French Language teacher was attacked by a squadron of paper plane Stukas with tampons attached. The Luftwaffe crossing the Meuse and capturing Sedan, and all that. She didn’t deserve it but boys will be boys. That was the last we saw of her.

Also I recall that the Design & Communication teacher had his tires slashed and then had a fist fight with the overgrown lad who did the vandalism later on in the staff car parking. This was in genteel Oxford. It was grim in the 1980s Home Counties too. What’s the worst thing other reader’s class groups inflicted on their French teacher?
Dan McG LFC

Hair today, gone tomorrow
Dear Football365,

Alex, South London asks why hair pulling is a red card offence and even calls for it to be downgraded to a yellow card. Well, I’m more than happy for it to remain classed as a sending-off offence, for a couple of reasons.

First, pulling someone’s hair is in no way part of a legitimate effort to play the ball, so it deserves more severe punishment than, for example, kicking someone on the ankle when tackling them.

Second, and you can trust my experience on this, it really hurts when someone does it, more so than that ridiculous rubbing foreheads thing angry male footballers do, and that’s a red card offence.

Third, if you make the punishment draconian, you dissuade people from doing it in the first place.

Fourth, and this also applies to the non-headbutts and “hands to the face”, either fight properly or, preferably, don’t fight at all.
Ed Quoththeraven