A very good morning from a sweltering London, and here’s a quick Saturday blog for you.
The news that Martin Zubimendi was in town yesterday to complete the formalities of his transfer from Real Sociedad leaked out, with some suggestions the deal could have been announced on Friday. That was at odds with what we’ve heard from the Spanish side and their need for it to be done in the next accounting year, and it might well still happen in that way.
He signed the contract, did the filming and interviews for the #content on arsenal.com, and I guess it’s all ready to go. It could be today, it could July 1st. Who knows?! The bottom line is we’re getting a very good player and that should make everyone happy. Although I don’t know if anyone can be happy until we sign a striker. Come on Mikel and Andrea, make up your minds between Sesko and Gyokeres … and sign Ollie Watkins. Then only some people will be happy.
Beyond that, not a lot going on, so for some extra reading, here’s Myles Lewis-Skelly’s mum talking to the Guardian about her role as his agent, and the organisation she founded to specifically help parents of young footballers:
“We have a workshop called ‘Finding the right agent’. And it isn’t about, OK, go here. No, it’s about, do you know the role? The part that they’ll play? What questions should you ask? You know, even around the approach, around having a meeting, how do you show up to feel on an equal playing field with someone who wants to sell you a service? What are the signs? What are the red flags? Equally, parents, how do you need to adjust your behaviour? You know, it’s not about paying off your house.”
We’ve read that she was the one who negotiated Myles’ new contract with the club, which is due to be announced pretty soon. From what I hear, there could be more good news on the contract front in the coming weeks with some other players too. With the Zubimendi signing done, and Kepa expected to follow soon, the wheels of Arsenal’s summer business – both internal and external – are beginning to turn.
Finally for today, if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, Tim’s column this week touches on the influence the match-day programme has had on his Arsenal supporting life.
And that’s where I’m going to leave it things for this morning. Stay cool if you can, more tomorrow.
