Good morning from a very windy Dublin. Buckle up friends across the Irish Sea – I assume this is headed your way. viiiiiiinnnnnddss!
Not much happens this morning but Mikel Arteta will meet the media ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Wolves. We may get some team news, off-committee answers on transfer-related stories, but don’t expect any big revelations 48 hours after game after game after the win over Dinamo Zagreb.
This morning there was talk of Kieran Tierney agreeing a pre-contract deal that would see him return to Celtic when his Arsenal contract expires in the summer. Less than six months later he is free to talk to other clubs and although there has been interest/contact from Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla, Juventus and Everton, it looks like he is going ‘home’.
If so, I’m sure Celtic will pay him well despite the fact. It’s more of an emotional decision than anything else. I’m not criticizing him if that’s what he wants, fair play, but he could play at a higher level and make more money at the other clubs mentioned. But obviously, he’s a Celtic fan, he grew up there, and that draw is not to be underestimated. We are often deceived about the impact money has on games and players. So to see a player decide to go with his heart – if that’s what ends up happening – isn’t a bad thing at all.
I’ve seen some talk this month about how that could happen, but while we could use a lot of left-backs, the tendency has been to hang on to him until the end of the season. With further reports of Oleksandr Zinchenko heading to Borussia Dortmund before the window closes, we think it makes sense to keep Tierney. I like Myles Lewis-Skelly and his emergence has been positive from this season, but Riccardo Calafiori is yet to prove his durability in the Premier League. So as someone whose experience will be useful between back up and the end of May, I hope he sticks around.
That would then leave space for Zinchenko to leave the loan as an obligation/option. I thought he did pretty well the other night, but it was only his fifth start of the season, and he moved down the pecking order from Lewis-Skelly. Mikel Arteta doesn’t fully understand why he went for such a technically good player who has never considered him for midfield minutes, but it would seem clear that that’s not his idea. If the terms of the deal are right, let Zinchenko go.
Elsewhere, there’s talk that Ben White is back in training (on the grass!) and could be back soon. That would definitely be a big boost. We have struggled for numbers in our defence, and ideally that would mean we no longer have Thomas Partey playing. Ben White’s availability would be very welcome, with William Saliba currently out with a hamstring strain, but we’ll see if it’s something the manager mentioned in his press conference this morning.
For those interested in money, the latest Deloitte Money League is here. Part of me thinks this is similar to TV ratings. Here they just have to make it within reasonable parameters, and I think we find the better analysis to be that of our friends Swiss Ramble (not just Arsenal, BTW). Anyway, if there’s a takeaway, it’s that there’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to commercial returns. Would you be so bold as to suggest increasing the volume of Adidas merchandise? I think we went at least 6 hours without new scope.
Yes. If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet from yesterday, here’s the arsecast. Later on we’ll be previewing Wolves Game Over on Patreon, so join us if you haven’t already become a member. We’ll be bringing you all the press conference stories on Arseblog News.
Have a good one now. Stay safe from the wind!
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