Morning.
If you want to get your week off to a good start, to go about your Monday with a smile on your face, then simply go to the official Arsenal website and watch Ian Wright interview Eberechi Eze. Obviously there’s the Crystal Palace connection, with both of them sharing that common pathway, but it goes way beyond that.
For Eze, having been released by the club at 13, to come back 14 years later, is essentially a dream fulfilled. He says:
I remember the day I got released, my mum said a prayer that this reverse would happen. For me, this is a realisation of a prayer that we prayed for. This is deeper than anyone can understand. I can see God’s hand in it, so I know it’s meant to be.
I still haven’t fully processed everything, I’m just floating right now. I’ll go home, go over everything, speak with people and then I’ll start to settle in. But, I know what this thing is, I know what it means, and I know where we’ve come from as a family.
And on wearing the number 10 shirt, following in some very successful footprints down the years:
I know what it means. It’s a privilege and an honour, because I know the names that have worn this shirt before me. I see this opportunity as something that’s like a blessing, so just to be able to be here, I’m going to give everything I have to pay back this type of respect.
Everyone loves a new signing, but I can’t really remember one which has come with such emotional heft before. It’s not just the homecoming aspect though. It’s about what a good player he is; it’s about what he can add to this team; it’s about his journey; it’s about what it says of the club’s intentions and ambitions; and it’s about how his first sit down with the club is with a beloved club legend, in some way linking distinct eras of our history.
Ian Wright’s last game for Arsenal was on the 10th of May 1998, over 27 years ago now. A young man or woman born that summer might well be having their own family now, so we’re talking different generations, but that linear connection – which you can feel from the video, and the part where Wrighty casually drops a message from Thierry Henry – is how football fandom works. Your dad’s dad made him a fan, and he made you a fan, and your kids will be fans, and so it goes.
You can’t watch it and not be moved, unless you have a heart of stone. And I don’t think that’s true of anybody reading this this morning. It’s why a petition has been set up to honour Ian Wright with a statue – and honestly, it’s a question we get consistently for the Arsecast Extra. People ask ‘When?!’, and I don’t know what to say to that other than, ‘Yesterday. Or at least ASAP’. Who would argue it isn’t something he deserves? Stone-hearts, that’s who, but let’s not worry about those kinds of people.
Anyway, enjoy that interview as a way to start your week in the right way, and hopefully that theme continues as initial reports over the weekend injury issues are more promising than I had expected.
🚨 Some encouraging news for Arsenal: scans suggest neither Martin Odegaard nor Bukayo Saka’s injury are as serious as first feared.Story w/ @dansheldon.bsky.social _ for @theathleticfc.bsky.social @garyjacob.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/657…
— Gunnerblog (@gunnerblog.bsky.social) 2025-08-24T16:02:16.811Z
Of course, it’s relative. If Arsenal feared Saka could be out for months and it’s just a few weeks, that’s obviously good news, but still means we’ll be without him for a trip to Anfield. Martin Odegaard was set to do a signing at the Armoury today, which the club have cancelled due to the injury, but let’s see how it plays out over the course of the week. My suspicion is that officially we probably won’t hear too much, we know how Mikel Arteta likes to play his cards close to his chest, but perhaps training pictures will be the tell.
What is clear though is that losing Saka, Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Ben White in the first week of the new season is far from ideal. Arteta spoke openly about the need to investigate the litany of injuries which caused us so much hassle last season, and while this might well be a case of unfortunate timing/coincidence, it’s still a problem – even if you have a deeper squad with a better ability to cope. Hopefully the week brings positive news, and no more injuries.
Right, I’ll leave it there for this morning. We’ll have an Arsecast Extra for you in a little while. We’ve already put out the call for questions on BlueSky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
Pod should be out around noon. Until then, have a good one.
