Morning.
I just woke from a dream that I had the job of Sporting Director at Arsenal, and they sent me to conclude a very important transfer … by hot air balloon. Of course, I had no idea how to steer one of those things, so ended up landing on Jersey. As a punishment, Arsenal sold Martin Odegaard to Leeds, and I was furious.
I mean, it wasn’t even a proper hot air balloon. It was a basket with some blankets around it, and a couple of ropes that did nothing. Don’t blame me if I end up in the land of Bergerac and Graeme Le Saux. Anyway, I’m less furious now as we’re not selling Odegaard to Leeds.
We might be selling Fabio Vieira to Stuttgart though. David Ornstein reports that talks between the German club and Arsenal are ongoing for the 25 year old who is one of those players very much in the departure lounge this summer. Obviously we’ll have to see if it’s a sale, or a loan with an option or obligation, but ideally it’s the former. We’ve done quite a lot of the latter with players we hope will do well and then become easier to sell, but it doesn’t always work out.
It did in the end with Nuno Tavares, for example, but in the case of someone like Albert Sambi Lokonga, his repeated injury issues have made it more difficult to find a buyer, despite the fact he did pretty well when he played for Luton and Sevilla over the last couple of seasons. The loans might have put him in the shop window, but the sign below him says ‘damaged goods’. I do hope he finds a new club soon, but it’s one of those where I think we’re going to have to take anything that’s vaguely reasonable in terms of a transfer fee.
As for Vieira, there’s talent there, but we never saw it with any consistency at Arsenal. I know some people had concerns about his size, and whether or not he was physically able for the Premier League, and I get that. I don’t think being small precludes anyone from being a success in English football though, and there are plenty of guys of small stature who have done really well, but maybe there’s a need for much greater application if you’re at that slight disadvantage.
There were reports that Mikel Arteta had some concerns about the way he trained, and then he was sent off on loan to his former club, Porto. That always set alarm bells ringing for me in terms of his longer-term future, and even if the explanation about wanting to create a pathway for Ethan Nwaneri made sense, it always felt like there was a bit more to it. When Odegaard picked up that injury last season, the manager was reluctant to use a then 17 year old in that position, and while Vieira might also have struggled, he would have been a more experienced option.
So, let’s see what happens with this one. I don’t know if he has returned to training after his extended summer break, I assume he has unless this deal is imminent in some way, but we’ve talked a lot about selling this summer and how it could be important if we want to spend more, so if Andy Berta can get a few quid in for Vieira, it’s probably a good deal for all concerned.
Speaking of Porto, I saw a report which said Arsenal rejected a loan offer from the Portuguese club for Jakub Kiwior. It was one with an obligation, in a deal that could have been worth €27m, but I don’t think that’s sufficiently tempting for us to do business right now. If there was a big lump of cold, hard cash on offer, maybe you have to give it serious consideration, but not this. I wrote the other day about how I think it makes sense for us to hang onto Kiwior right now, but again what the player wants at this point in his career is another factor.
There’s no suggestion Kiwior is agitating or anything like that, but there’s part of him that must fancy being a first team regular somewhere. Then again, he might also think he’s at a great club with a lot of very good players, and even if his is a supporting role, he has a chance to win things with us. It is perhaps interesting that stories have emerged over the last couple of days about Arsenal interest in 19 year old Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet. Whether that’s connected to the Kiwior situation, I don’t know, but another defensive addition would surely mean a departure – maybe opening the door for Oleksandr Zinchenko to leave.
I don’t know if Arteta is doing any pre-match media stuff ahead of the game against Villarreal tomorrow, but that’s going to provide us with some midweek talking points anyway. Right, I’ll leave it there for now, the Arsecast Extra is below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet. Have a good one!
