Morning all.
A quick Friday blog for you. The transfer rumours are swirling around with a report in The Times suggesting that Arsenal are looking at Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Feyenoord winger Igor Paixao as ‘potential’ targets this summer. Which sounds nice, but there are a lot of potential targets out there, and the list is surely pretty long. Looking at, interested in, potential target, the language of transfer reporting is wildly inclusive, and massively vague at the same time.
The Brazilian, who has yet to win a cap, would clearly be cheaper than buying a full England international from another Premier League club, but Mikel Arteta does like them ready-made when he can get them. Still, 18 goals and 19 assists last season are decent numbers for a 24 year old, even if you have to apply the asterisk of the Eredivisie to that output. Another name to keep an eye on, I guess.
There’s still talk about Leroy Sane, with the BBC’s Sami Mokbel confirming talks have been held with the player, but I just can’t get rid of the idea that signing a player this late in his career on big wages is something we should avoid, having done that before and paid the price for it when those players didn’t deliver. Fool me once, and all that. He’s 29, the same age as Raheem Sterling when he joined last summer on loan, and for some that cliff comes quickly.
If the move happens, and he plays well and scores goals and makes the team better, I’d be very happy with that, but right now I just cannot talk myself into the upside of a deal like that. I realise they’re not all the same, players decline at different rates, but we’ve been here before and it’s been a disaster on the pitch, and in the case of Willian financially too (even if he left some of what he was owed behind to make a fresh start elsewhere, where he looked like he gave a shit). I hope we can do something more interesting than this.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have confirmed the departure of Nuno Tavares who has joined Lazio on a permanent basis after spending last season there on loan. There has been a lot of talk about how the Italian side are going to sell him straight away, and with a 25% sell-on clause in the deal we just did, there might be a little more to add to the pot this summer. Which we can use on not Leroy Sane.
Outgoings are another aspect of Andrea Berta’s work this summer, and we’ll have to wait and see what happens with players like Albert Sambi Lokonga (back from his loan at Seville), Oleksandr Zinchenko (now very much a bit-part player), Fabio Vieira (back from his so-so loan at Porto), and Reiss Nelson (working his way back to fitness after hamstring surgery), all of whom are likely to be available for transfer. I don’t think any of them will garner massive fees on their own, but decent deals for all four could easily be enough to fund a solid signing in an area we really need it. Traditionally we haven’t been brilliant sellers, so while the focus is on who the Italian brings into the club, this is something to take note of as the summer progresses.
Berta also appears to be adding to his own team, with the reported addition of his compatriot Matteo Tognozzi, who has previously worked at Juventus and Granada. The departure of Jason Ayto from the club has left a gap to be filled, and it’s interesting to note just a few days ago Juventus fan sites were reporting that Tognozzi was set to return to Turin as the club’s new Sporting Director. So, perhaps his head has been turned by the chance to work at Arsenal and with Berta. Let’s see.
Finally for today, Mikel Merino was on the scoresheet for Spain as they beat France in the Nations League semi-final last night. Not that I care particularly about that tournament or anything, but it’s a nice goal and it’s worth noting the role of Martin Zubimendi in it too – watch here. That’s a link-up we might well see a fair bit next season, and when Merino is officially given the number 9 shirt and announced as our new full-time centre-forward we can … I kid, I kid.
Right, I’ll leave it there. There’s an Arsecast below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, and if there’s any breaking news during the day you’ll find it on Arseblog News.
