Hello everyone, how was your Tuesday? The new season is fast approaching.
Let’s start this morning with yesterday’s news. Marseille’s interest in Eddie Nketiah has ended after they decided to sign Rennes striker Elie Wahi. Disappointing. I thought the price was very good, even though it was originally a loan + obligation, and it was probably a fair fee for a player who has not scored many goals.
It’s disappointing for Nketiah too. What’s clear is that he needs a move to revive his career. It’s become cliche for him at Arsenal. If he stays, he’ll be a third-choice striker, maybe even a fourth-choice striker, and that’s not a positive scenario for a 25-year-old. His Arsenal career is over, and there’s no shame in that. The question is why it fell through. I’ve heard that Arsenal wanted too much, but it was only recently that David Ornstein reported on the deal, and I think Marseille simply preferred Wahi for some obvious reasons.
He scored 12 goals last season, which is double what Eddie scored for us. He is 4 years younger and I think he is more versatile. He can play in a wide position which Nketiah doesn’t. Overall, a similar spend in terms of fee looks like better value for money when you spend on Wahi. Would it have happened if we had lowered the price? Probably, I don’t know. The reality is there are a lot of factors/reasons for deals to happen or not happen and the biggest question right now is what happens next.
I’ve already seen reports that Bournemouth might be interested in replacing Dominic Solanke. Seems convenient to me. As they look to strengthen their attacking line, they’ll ‘look’ at all the strikers available and Eddie is certainly one of them. Whether that becomes something more substantial remains to be seen. Obviously Mikel Arteta has a good relationship with Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola and Eddie could be asked about him and talk about his qualities, but football club recruitment isn’t just about managers these days. I doubt Iraola is as capable as Arteta of pushing for a player he really wants and that’s assuming Nketiah is that type of player for him.
Elsewhere, there could be a gap at Brentford if Ivan Toney moves elsewhere, but they are currently quite quiet on his situation. Then, as the transfer window approaches its closing date, the market will change and opportunities will arise elsewhere. For example, a mid-table club could sell a big-time player and have the cash to invest, but there seems to be no obvious solution to the problem at the moment.
The frustration with Marseille also has to do with the perception that they need to move on to make more signings. Eddie’s departure seems to be intrinsically linked to the Rhys Nelson situation, and would have made room for a striker. I still think they will sign before the end of the window, but it complicates things a bit. Even if we had to loan those two players, I believe we would add some kind of striker to the squad, but the ideal scenario would have been to actually have some clarity before doing so. The waters are a bit murky at the moment, but there are 17 days left until the end of this window, and like many, I expect things to really heat up over the next few weeks.
Still, it’s a challenge for Edu and his team that they probably thought they had dealt with. So far this summer, the transfer fees have been decent enough, but there are still three obvious issues. As I’ve already mentioned, Nketiah, Nelson and Aaron Ramsdale are clearly not keen on being back-up for another season. In all three cases, the ability to move them is tied to the fact that they are on huge salaries due to their recent contracts, and Ramsdale in particular has much less opportunity to move. The team can push the boat out to secure additional attacking options, but no one is going to do that for the goalkeeper. There has to be a place for him to take the number one spot, and it’s hard to see where that is at the moment.
Well, let’s see what happens. At least there will be a lot of discussion! Okay, let’s stop here for now, we’ll talk more here tomorrow, and we’ll bring you the latest news all day long on Arseblog News.
