Our two Swiss boys had a good day at the office. Xhaka banged home a screamer from range on 55 minutes to give Switzerland 3 vital points. He celebrated with an eagle sign, a big fuck you to the Serbians, FIFA no doubt going to step in to punish him because they’re super hot on anything unless it’s proper racism. A bit of gentle goading about some genocide back in the day is sure to garner a ten game ban.

Lichtsteiner played his part, barking orders from the sidelines. I found this piece from a Swedish ref Jonas Eriksson on our new signing.

‘I have met several international players and to judge a person you have to meet them several times – and not just once when they have a bad day because everyone can have it. But I have met Lichtsteiner several times, and he is one of the most unpleasant players I met.’

PERFECT. Get me some of that unpleasantness in our side. Not because I like mean players, more because we’re a soft touch with refs in general.

There are some reports that we’re chasing Russian superstar Golovin. The 22-year-old has been impressive this year; we felt his talent first hand in the Europa League. Juve are favourites, but his current employers are pushing for £25m. He looks a player, can’t believe Everton aren’t chasing him down, looks like an Usmanov centrepiece.

In coaching news, Le Grove favourite Julian Nagelsmann shocked the world when he announced he’ll be joining Redbull Leipzig next season. It’s an odd move when you consider Bayern were very interested in his talents, but from a learning perspective, it’s really smart. He’ll get to work with Ralph Rangnick, who is a bit of a management idol from a mentor perspective. He’ll also have money to support him, a smart scouting network, and he’ll be able to raise a family with his lady.

The big transfer chases going off at the moment for Arsenal centre around Soyuncu. The Freiburg centre-back is going to wait until July to decide where he goes next. Then there’s Banega, who met with Gazidis this week. The Argentine, who has been missed this World Cup seems to be playing games. He’s working out his second stint at Sevilla, and he was upset that Sporting Director Oscar Aries left the club. Seems to me like he’s either looking for more money there or more money with us. So we’ll see how this pans out.

There’s a bit of chatter about Petr Cech heading over to Napoli. I wrote yesterday that we’d pushed our wage bill up a lot so far this year. He’d be a good one to ship off the list. Who wouldn’t want to retire to Italy?

Also, I missed off Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla off the out list yesterday. I didn’t do it on purpose. I promise.

Finally, there’s a great write up about Raheem Sterling, by Raheem Sterling on the Players Tribune. It’s rightly being received very well because now people are looking at this guy like a human. Every year, fans of football clubs grow a little. This summer, it seems we’re not about the nasty attacks the press perpetrate on our players. They’re our boys; we’re here to the support the, and the fans will control the narrative. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Tapping out early, but tune in at 4ish tomorrow because I’ll be on Love Sport Radio chatting about our amazing summer.

SPEAK THEN. x