Mikel Arteta has ‘only’ done three deals despite ‘clear’ and ‘subtle’ statements
Frankly, we’re embarrassed for Mikel Arteta, who has only managed to offload three Arsenal players.
What have you been playing at Arsenal?
When we’re not all pretending that Liverpool are about to sign any number of footballers but mostly Anthony Gordon, we all have to pretend that Arsenal are somehow failing in the market despite making one excellent signing.
Mikel Arteta has only completed deals for three of seven stars on Arsenal’s transfer list
Frankly, we’re embarrassed for him. And so clearly are the Mirror, who are claiming as news that Arsenal have sold Emile Smith Rowe and loaned out Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga but somehow contrived to lose no more members of their first-team squad despite there being less than three weeks before the end of the transfer window.
Arsenal have offloaded just three of their seven transfer-listed players as Mikel Arteta signals for a summer exodus.
How has he ‘signalled’ for a summer exodus? As far as we know he has said f*** all about a summer exodus. What would the ‘signal’ be? A sort of push-wave with both hands?
It was reported that several players had been deemed surplus to requirements at the Emirates, namely Emile Smith Rowe, Nuno Tavares, and Albert Sambi Lokonga – who have already left the club.
However, four more players, including Aaron Ramsdale, Eddie Nketiah, Kieran Tierney, and Reiss Nelson, are yet to depart this summer despite the Gunners making it clear they would consider bids to sell them.
Couple of things here:
a) It’s August 6. And Arsenal’s international stars are just returning to training. If Arsenal had sold all those players already, they would have had 10 first-team players on the plane for their pre-season tour of the United States.
b) The Gunners did not ‘make it clear they would consider bids to sell them’; you reported that they did.
Now Arsenal might well want to sell Aaron Ramsdale, Eddie Nketiah, Kieran Tierney and Reiss Nelson, but to paint their continued status as Arsenal players as some sort of failure is ludicrous.
Though perhaps not quite as ludicrous as the Express detailing ‘five transfers to replace Eddie Nketiah’ (who started 10 Premier League games last season) and kicking off with Victor Osimhen.
MORE ON ARSENAL FROM F365:
👉 Five-year Premier League net spend table has Arsenal in third
👉 Ruthless Arsenal signing named most exciting Premier League virgin
👉 Arsenal transfer to be ‘completed at any moment’ as talks with Tottenham target ‘accelerate’
Alv a world away
Obviously Julian Alvarez is off that potential list of Eddie Nketiah replacements as he appears to be Atletico-bound.
Which is very clear when you see this headline in the Mirror:
Arsenal’s Julian Alvarez tactic as Man City striker moves closer to blockbuster transfer
It’s obviously an unfortunate misunderstanding that it sounds very much like the Man City striker is ‘moving closer to blockbuster transfer’ to Arsenal; we’re sure they will change that soon.
But what’s this ‘tactic’? What’s this ‘action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end’?
Mirror Football understands that Arsenal were among the teams monitoring the situation, having previously signed the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from City.
So their ‘tactic’ was to ‘monitor the situation’? That, ladies and gentlemen, is one hell of an action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end. It’s just a shame that the specific end did not materialise.
It’s probably because they’ve failed to offload Reiss Nelson. Losers.
I can see clearly now…
Back to those Arsenal outgoings and football.london claim that ‘Mikel Arteta offers glimpse into next summer deals during pre-season with subtle statement made’ under the headline of ‘Arsenal next five transfers after pre-season decided as clear Mikel Arteta message sent’.
It’s really, really sodding subtle (but also ‘clear’, which is slightly confusing) but if you look very, very carefully (and Central Audience Football Writer Tom Coley is a man who looks very, very carefully before centrally writing for an audience), you will see that Karl Hein has no future at Arsenal because he has played every minute of pre-season so far, while Aaron Ramsdale is also surplus to requirements despite not playing at all. We told you this sh*t was subtle/clear.
Pre-season for the pair of them has so far been skewed but does not hide the fact that tough transfer decisions must be made sooner rather than later
It absolutely does not hide that fact.
We are also told that Reiss Nelson ‘is not part of the main plans’ despite playing a lot of football in pre-season, which was clearly both a ‘clear Mikel Arteta message’ and a ‘subtle statement’. It’s a difficult trick to pull off but Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Jakub Kiwior have prompted Mikel Arteta to do exactly that.
If pre-season has given an indication as to how anyone is viewed, then it’s these five.
Is it as back-up to the missing first-team players but essentially available for transfer if the right fee is offered? Like every other fringe player at every other Premier League club?
Price of admission
On the incoming front, there will be no Arsenal move for Nico Williams. And how do we know this? Is it because Arsenal have not made an offer and he has not actually been remotely linked with the Gunners since June?
Or is it, as per football.london, that ‘Nico Williams ‘confirms’ final Arsenal transfer decision amid £49m issue’.
You could argue that he had no Arsenal transfer decision to make but that would be churlish, especially in the wake of this latest development:
Arsenal target Nico Williams has hinted he could now be staying at Athletic Club after admitting he is looking forward to the 2024/25 season.
Now that is quite the ‘admission’. And definitely confirms his final Arsenal transfer decision just months after there was some vague interest.
MORE ON ARSENAL FROM F365:
👉 Five-year Premier League net spend table has Arsenal in third
👉 Ruthless Arsenal signing named most exciting Premier League virgin
👉 Arsenal transfer to be ‘completed at any moment’ as talks with Tottenham target ‘accelerate’