hello. For those of you who didn’t know what day it was, it’s Sunday.
There are Premier League games today and Monday, but for some reason the game against Brentford is scheduled for Wednesday evening. It’s a little strange. I’m not sure why there is such a gap. But it means we have two tricky away games at hand when we travel to Brighton on Saturday evening.
When it comes to Arsenal news, there isn’t much going on other than rumors of Fabio Vieira being recalled from his loan at Porto. It even includes private jets (a classic, but I’ve never seen this applied when a player returns in his own plane). club on loan for one season). Anyway, this was subsequently shot down by manager Vitor Bruno. He left the 24-year-old out of the squad for the game against Boavista yesterday and insisted he will be with them for the remainder of the season, although he was vague about his ‘daily activities’.
Fabio knows me well and we trust him. He should be able to play again next week.
That makes sense in some ways, but I don’t think Vieira will be a warm body. It may be impossible to ignore at this moment, but for Bukayo Saka’s part I have never been convinced of him, and just a few press conferences ago Mikel Arteta made it clear that it was deliberate to loan him out. Please make a way for Ethan Nwaneri. It’s not like he broke it at Porto either. He has two goals and two assists in 17 appearances in a league that is easy to produce, but it doesn’t scream ‘recall!’ to me.
As discussed in Arsecast Extra yesterday, aggressive signing is essential in this window, but what we do is the question. Do we look below us in the Premier League and pay a higher price for someone ready to enter this league, or do we pursue something more cost-effective elsewhere? You cannot loan players from other Premier League clubs, but you can bring them in temporarily from abroad.
A loan could be smart and gives him the opportunity to pursue a more achievable permanent target in the summer, but it also runs the risk of being closer to Dennis Suarez than Martin Odegaard. Arsenal have done decent business in January in the past. Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor, Abu Diaby, Andrey Arshavin and Nacho Monreal were all brought in in the mid-season transfer window, and they all performed well to varying degrees.
More recently, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho and Jakub Kiwior arrived in January, and while perhaps only the Belgian has had a ‘hit’ (even if his current form is a bit patchy), the other two have bolstered the squad quite well. But the problem with this window is that you need people who can actually make an impact. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, no player has contributed more than 30% of our goals (James’ stat from yesterday’s podcast!). These are some big steps to try and follow.
Currently we are participating in 4 competitions. That may change with the cup competition this month, but besides, we are second in the Premier League and still in the Champions League. Despite the low-level feel-good factor that exists in the undercurrent of the season due to the way certain games are played, this team remains a competitive team that has a real chance of winning several competitions. I’m sure Arsenal recognize that. I’m sure they’ll be able to sense the opportunity, but they may also see the challenge of trying to do it without our most productive attacker.
I understand what Mikel Arteta said about the need to get as much as possible from the players he has. However, spending on offensive talent during his tenure was much lower compared to other areas, especially defense. We were very strong there, but now we are fundamentally weaker. That’s not to say Newcastle can, or even spend, as much money as they want on Alexander Isak, for example, but it would be a huge undertaking to announce their intention to sign an irreplaceable Saka in the short term. It gains strength as the season progresses.
Stan. mockery. Get out your checkbooks, friends.
Have a happy Sunday, everyone.
