Morning.
Let’s start this Friday with some good news, and that’s Gabriel being ‘close’ to signing a new deal with the club. Which, in reporting parlance, basically means it’s done but it’s not official yet. My understanding is that it’s just a matter of the announcement at this point, and I have to say it’s excellent news to go into the weekend with.
There has been interest from Saudi Arabia in the past, but it now looks like he’s going to spend his peak years in North London, and I really hope he got the kind of contract and pay rise he deserves. Back when we underwent the last round of contract renewals, he was one of the first to commit, and perhaps got left behind a little in terms of salary as the likes of Bukayo Saka and William Saliba had a bit more leverage in their negotiations.
New deals for those two players are, hopefully, part of the large body of work Andrea Berta is taking on this summer, but if you’re Gabriel’s agent, you’d have wanted some assurances that you’d be in the same ball-park as the club’s best players. Perhaps not quite ‘If this, then that’, but there’s no question that he should be up there with those two, and others, as one of Arsenal’s top earners.
That is because, quite simply, he is one of our best players. In our highly unscientific player ratings votes (tied to yesterday’s Arsecast), he’s in third place for last season with an average of 8.53 from over 3000 votes, with only Myles Lewis-Skelly (8.55) and Declan Rice (8.64) ahead of him. This is a guy who has put his body on the line as a defender, contributed massively in the opposition box too, and is a player I think any top club in the world would take in a heartbeat. Unless you have to cash in, or the player’s desire is to go somewhere else, that’s an asset you absolutely tie down.
I think it’s also a solid start to a summer when you want to convince people to join, and also convince some others to sign new deals. In particular, I’m thinking of Saliba here, because we know that on and off the pitch, he has a great relationship with Gabriel, so if his big mate is gonna stay, it can’t hurt when you come to the negotiating table with the Frenchman and his agent. So, let’s see when this gets announced, and hope that it’s the first of a few (at least) this summer.
Next up, the striker search appears to have taken a definitive turn with a report from annoying but generally well-placed transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. He says that Arsenal have started ‘moving initial concrete talks’ for Benjamin Sesko, and while transfer jargon gets ever-more grandiloquent, I think we know what he’s getting at there. Whether that means we’ve 100% decided he’s the one, it’s hard to say, because there’s every chance this information doesn’t tell you the full story of what Arsenal are doing right now, but what’s clear – and has been for some time – the interest in the 21 year old (he’s 22 tomorrow but until then remains 21 because that’s how it works), is real.
I have to say, this is such a big decision for the club this summer. There are pros and cons for each of Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres which could convince you either way. The former has a load of untapped potential, and years to to develop. I’m not saying he’s the same or going to be as good as Alexander Isak, but it’s reminiscent of that moment when we could, and probably should, have signed the Swedish international from Real Sociedad. Then someone else came along and now he’s out of reach unless you pay an absurd amount of money, which I don’t think we will (or should).
Might there be some growing pains because of his age and how raw aspects of his game are? I think that’s a very real possibility, but when you also have Kai Havertz as the experienced option alongside him, then it makes it a very tempting risk to take because of the longer-term upside.
On the flip-side, Gyokeres is more experienced, and his goalscoring record is ridiculous. Wouldn’t you be mad not to go for the guy who has demonstrated an ability to stick in the back of the net with a frequency that’s almost second to none in comparison with any of the other available strikers on the market right now? The caveat, of course, is the level of the league he’s playing in. I don’t think it’s quite like players who scored for fun in the Eredivisie and failed to make it in England, but there is a step up from Portugal to the Premier League. No doubt about it. The only thing I could be absolutely definitive about is that Premier League clubs should run a mile from any Portuguese defenders, but in slight mitigation Gyokeres has done it in the Champions League too (11 goals from 17 appearances in the last two seasons).
Decisions decisions. It’s really not an easy one, but one that Arsenal, Arteta and Berta have to get right. It’s potentially the most important transfer of the manager’s tenure, not least because we’ve invested so little in our forward in comparison to other areas of the pitch. There’s no choice this summer, it has to be done, and we need whichever player it is – or maybe even someone else – to be a success. There are no absolute guarantees in football, but this is where we need to get as close as possible.
What’s 100% sure though is that whoever we go for, opinions will be divided, and whenever the other fella scores a goal for whichever club he ends up signing for, the discourse will be awash with ‘Oooh, we should have signed him instead!’. Looking forward to that. I suppose it won’t matter too much if our lad is banging them in too, but when it comes to the final decision, I wish the boys upstairs the best of luck.
Right, I’ll leave it there for this morning. The player ratings Arsecast is below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet. Have a good one folks.
