Morning.
A quick Friday blog for you. There were some Arsenal players in action last night for their countries, starting with Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino for Spain. The former provided an assist with a very smart pass for his former Real Sociedad teammate Mikel Oyarzabal to open the scoring against Bulgaria, while the latter headed home Spain’s third in a 3-0 win away from home. David Raya was on the bench.
Leandro Trossard was a second half substitute as Belgium beat Liechtenstein 6-0; Jurrien Timber didn’t get off the bench in the Netherlands’ 1-1 draw with Poland; while Martin Odegaard played the first 45 in Norway’s 1-0 friendly with Finland. Overnight Gabriel played the full 90 as Brazil beat Chile 3-0, while Gabriel Martinelli started before being replaced in the 71st minute by West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta. Finally, new man Piero Hincapie played the full game as Ecuador drew 0-0 with Paraguay.
Speaking of Hincapie, as we do for every new signing, there’s a profile piece to tell you a little more about the player, his background, and what he can bring to the team. Phil Costa has been worked hard this summer with all the incomings, but that’s a very first world problem when you sign 8 players! Anyway, his article on Piero Hincapie is here – and for some extra reading this morning, Tim looks at the driving forces behind this summer window in his column this week.
Elsewhere, there’s a story from Turkey that Besiktas want to sign Leandro Trossard, and have made a €22m bid for the Belgian international. Typically, I take most rumours that emerge from the Turkish press with a pinch of salt, and I think this one needs to be a bit bigger than that. Although the window there doesn’t close until September 12th, Arsenal would have no way of replacing Trossard, and given the way our squad has been hit by injuries already this season, he’s a player I’d keep, even if there was more money on offer.
He hasn’t featured much so far this season, in part because of injury, but if we want to maintain a big squad with depth, quality and experience, there’s no way Arsenal can sanction a deal at this point. Of course we have Eberechi Eze now, but we also have a Martinelli in poor form, and for me that’s a real consideration. And for me, when I think about tight games and players who can make an impact from the bench, Trossard is one of the first players that comes to mind. Regardless of the fact that Andrea Berta’s selling was far less successful than his buying, I think the Belgian is needed and I’d be staggered if this went anywhere. Even if the player himself pushed for it, which would surprise me, it’s one the club should turn down without a second thought.
To finish, if you missed it yesterday, we have a cool Arsecast episode for you this week. Rather than another discussion about where does Mikel Arteta rank on the Caution Scale©®, we’re focusing on injuries. Not just talking about hamstrings, but getting some expert insight from Dr Andrew Mitchell who, as well as being an Arsenal season ticket holder, is an Associate Professor in Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Bedfordshire. He takes questions on said hamstrings and surgeries, injury prevention and treatment, the challenges faced by players, managers and medics, and loads more.
All the links you need to listen/subscribe are below, happy listening! Right, have a good Friday folks.
