DANI BOY COMING BACK HOME!

by .

I have a BUSY day today so I’m going to keep this sweet and short. Did the order of that phrase jar you? Good. I’m messing with your damn mind because it makes me feel powerful.

First up, good news, Mikhi has left Arsenal. A mutual agreement for each party to go their separate ways ends a pretty bland tenure and probably one of the least satisfying transfers of the last 10 years.

Arsenal lose £180k a week off the wage bill. The player gets to sign a long-term deal with Roma he’d not have picked up had we slapped a transfer fee on him. There’s sometimes an early cancellation fee, in this case, I very much doubt it. This works for all parties. No one is out of pocket.

The GREAT news that dropped out of the blue is that Arsenal will be welcoming back Dani Ceballos for a year. The fan favourite had 3 loan offers on the table and he turned them all down because he LOVES The Arsenal. What a guy.

I was genuinely worried he was a wet lettuce when I heard he wanted to play for Betis. This is the best move for him. He’ll grow under Arteta and he’ll gain a bigger profile. There’s no option to buy, but let’s be real, who’d be foolish enough to tie themselves to a purchase a year out. Only worry is if he keeps up his great form, he’ll cost us more money, or potentially earn a move to a different club.

David Ornstein, a god among gods, reckons the Gabriel deal is done and dusted. He’ll be announced shortly. That’s bloody great news. I love how covid-agitated fans are raging at the PR department like this is some sort of football chinese-water-torture.

‘WHY WOULD THEY HOLD BACK THE NEWS THEY ARE SO CREUL!’

What does that mean for the midfield? Will we sign Auoar and Thomas Partey? I hope so. We need all the help we can get next season. Make those two signings and we’ll be a very exciting force next season. It’s a pipedream at the moment, but give it a week and see who we sell and for how much.

AMN is staying. I told you that yesterday. I just wanted a way in on this video.

That my friends is what we term: Sauce.

Mesut Ozil. The man, the myth, the Fortnite legend… has been offered a mega-money deal to play in Saudi Arabia for a season. Why not? My mate Tomasz went out there to sell generators, he’s caked in dough. He absolutely loves it. I just don’t understand why Mesut would waste a year feeling shit about football? You work in football a short term. Your legs, muscles, and ligaments don’t hold out forever. Why would you waste game time to make a point no one cares about?

Training with green energy entrepreneur Matty F is no match for proper football. I am at a loss as to why he doesn’t just move on, for the good of his mental health, and his brand.

Finally, there are BEASTLY rumours that Hector Bellerin is attracting the interest of Mr Pirlo at Juve. The suave Italian wants ‘chameleonic’ players. That is the most elite word ever to cross my laptop, coming to a creative review soon. I love Hector, I’m not sure how I feel about this, but if the price is right, why not?

Ok, that is all I have time for. I’ve had a sneak peak at the new lick of paint we’re putting on Le Grove and I am VERY happy that you are going to get a decent mobile experience moving forward. The comments are unlikely to change too much, as someone put it, the functionality of the site if like peak-AOL homepage, but does it need to be any slicker? I don’t think so. Any suggestions, drop them below.

Oh, and by the way, why haven’t you listened to our podcast? So rude. I’ll forgive you if you download and share with FIVE friends.

Thanks x

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Chika

Would Arteta refuse to play Kante or Gundogan next to Ceballos because of a “physical imbalance”?

Guns of SF

Torreira needs to be sold. I cannot for the life of me find a reason or attributes he brings to the team.
Seems like a nice kid, but fuck me, every game it seems like he might get a bad injury, broken leg or ankle ( yes he did break his ankle)

He is way too small to deal with the ferocity of this league… back to Serie A please.
25M is fine… time to move on

HighburyLegend

Seems that we’ve finally sign Gabriel.

Marc

Bojanges

They’re the rumours although Laca would or should cover Partey’s cost, can we raise £40 million through other sales? Bellerin or AMN would bring in £20 million or more, £10 odd million for Sok and Kolas, £10 odd million for Torreira as a loan fee or more if sold.

So it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

salparadisenyc

Andy Bywater-Read

For me Martinez plays being the in form keeper, not great precedent set if Arteta yanked him re-instilling Leno.

Ride that form until it cracks, it’s that good he’s earned this moment.

prvhc

Freddie
Don’t forget at LB,where he did a decent job. Xhaka is a good squad player to have.

Muppetman

Not sure what Xhaka has done wrong since covid restart? Think it was more of a case not utilised correctly in previous systems. How about we get behind the players as supporters?

Chika

Xhaka gets selected ahead of Torriera simply because he is the better player.

Chika

Pedro

“Chika, those two would start because they are elite players, LT is not elite.”

Exactly! The notion that Arteta doesn’t play LT because of his height is comical at best.

Guns of SF

would love to see Edouard I hope it can happen…
but CAM CM is priority now

Chika

“Don’t forget at LB,where he did a decent job. Xhaka is a good squad player to have.”

Now imagine Torriera at RB. 😂

China1

Pedro Ceballos is brings more to the table, credit to him and I’m glad Dani is coming back But there’s always been this honestly bizarre amnesia that happens with Torreira where everyone is giving him loads of credit (including you) when he gets a run at DM then within weeks of him being out of the team he’s just not up to scratch Dani brings more and suits artetas playing style better. Doesn’t in any way mean Torreira isn’t really good at what he does best ie destroyer to break up attacks But then half the problem was that people… Read more »

Chika

“Arsenal trying to pinch Edouard from Celtic… has two years left on his deal.”

I like Edouard, well rounded CF. Lacazette must be definitely off then and perhaps Nketiah (sorry Pierre).

Partey before Edouard though.

Marc

In a year or two’s time when Xhaka is slumming it for a bottom half of the table team in Germany I’m going to need someone to explain to me how such a talented players abilities are only seen by a handful of Arsenal fans on a blogsite.

China1

If we sign a serious striker it probably means auba is staying on the wing

Sad times

prvhc

Muppetman
Xhaka hasn’t done anything ‘wrong’, if by ‘wrong’ you mean making errors which cost the team. He hasn’t done anything special either.
Question is. are you satisfied with ‘not doing something wrong’ being sufficient for a starting position in our midfield ?

Chika

“Arsenal beat QPR 4-3 this afternoon in a behind closed doors friendly at London Colney. “

Marc

China

It raises a lot of questions – if we sign the 2 CM’s we’re linked to and a striker where does Willian fit in? When we’re trying to get the wage bill under control we’re going to have just so many more players than we need.

Champagne Charlie

Gabriel joins and then tweets “London is Red”, man has had a quick history lesson already.

Love to see it, and already speaks more mother tongue than Bale managed in Spain.

prvhc

Chika
Now imagine Torriera at RB. 😂
Sums up your understanding of football. Judge players by their position and the role they play. Xhaka is not a ‘better’ player than Torriera. He happens to be more suited to how Arteta wants the team to play at the moment. I guarantee you Torriera will have more suitors than Xhaka if both were placed on the market right now.

Emiratesstroller

There will be a lot of questions to be answered this season 1. What formations will be used ie will we play 3 CBs at back or a conventional Back 4. My guess is that we could use both formations dependent upon opposition. 2. Who will be first choice with either 3 CBs or 2 CBs. My guess is that it will take time to bed in both Saliba and Gabriel in same team. 3. If we keep Maitland- Niles what positions in team will he play. I assume that Tierney is first choice LB/LWB. 4. Ceballos and Xhaka are… Read more »

China1

Marc I’d actually be shocked if we bought both CMs. They’d cost 100m all in. We’d need to sell laca, Bellerin, cunt off mesut at a minimum to cover those two probably

I know it could happen but really I’d be shocked, especially with Dani in.it just needs a lot of things to work out and I doubt it will be that perfect. I think we will sign one CM, though I’ve no idea who.

Champagne Charlie

“Gabriel Magalhaes compared to Arsenal’s defenders in the 2019/20 Premier League season:

❍ 1st – interceptions (136)
❍ 1st – tackles (41)
❍ 1st – duels (224)
❍ 1st – duels won (150)
❍ 1st – aerials (128)
❍ 1st – aerial won (83)
❍ 3rd – recoveries (22)

The newest addition.”

Bojangles

Marc

Yeah, it was more a tongue in cheek comment following my previous comments bemoaning the fact that Stan has short arms and long pockets.

Emiratesstroller

prvhc

Who cares about suitors for LT? They are two a penny in Italy and most probably Spain as well.

What we need are clubs who will pay a realistic transfer fee. We need cash and
not loans or swaps.

NJ+Gooner

Pedro, Great news on Gabriel. On to a half-dozen out an Partey in. I am not particularly averse to Xhaka. The trouble is that Arteta constantly talks about the importance of “angles.” Xhaka is so one-footed that he only has a 90 degree range for passes instead of the 180 degree that we need in that position. So often, he misses a great pass out to the left because he can’t pass more that five yards with his right foot. So, instead, he turns back towards his right for a pass in that direction– into trouble and/or a crowded field… Read more »

Luteo Guenreira

Sigh. Ozil’s tweet earlier today made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

Chika

prvhc

“Sums up your understanding of football”

Sums up your understanding of humour.

“I guarantee you Torriera will have more suitors than Xhaka if both were placed on the market right now.”

Well according to your logic, I guarantee you it’d also be a reflection of how Torreira is more suitable to how the interested coaches want to play.

Receding Hairline

When exactly was Torriera considered good at Arsenal? When he was harassing opponents all over the pitch and scoring in NLD and overhead kicks against Wolves. He was never this pure DM most of you imagined he was, a second Kante, being short does not make you Kante. Yet most of you believed he was being misused, a man with extremely short legs should be placed in front of the back four..hilarious. Anyways Xhaka is durable and all but the day he leaves our midfield the transformation will be clear to all, even an average Elneney is better there as… Read more »

Marko

Xhaka, who has been at the heart of our success over the last 8 months.

First off success? Worst league finish in how long? Also you must have missed where Ceballos was 1st across the board statistically since the restart but yeah apparently Xhaka was at the heart of things

salparadisenyc

Luteo Guenreira

He’s gone full troll, in fact Mesut could easily be posting in this space.

Receding Hairline

“Gabriel Magalhaes compared to Arsenal’s defenders in the 2019/20 Premier League season:

All well and good except Gabriel did not play for any team in the 2019/2020 Premier league season, all his stats are from ligue 1.

You can’t just transfer stats from different leagues and begin to make comparisons. The ligue 1 season ended after 28 games anyway

Emiratesstroller

Chika

There is interest in most of our squad at the moment.

The problem is that most of the clubs interested do not have a pot to piss in and want loans or swaps.

Torreira and Guendouzi in a normal transfer window are probably worth £25-30 million. In the current window we will be lucky to get a loan fee.

Northbanker

Delighted that Gabriel deal finally done but a bit surprised we did do this given that midfield was where the gaping holes were. Still need a CDM and a CAM but a CDM to me is the priority if i have t choose one of the two. Still really cant see us signing Aouar but hope I’m wrong.

Luteo Guenreira

sal

The timing of it is damn near impeccable, right when Arsenal are about to announce Gabriel, so that you can’t even see the Gabriel tweet without running into his. And a day after news comes out of offers for his full salary from Saudi Arabia.

Chika

ES

I was really hoping Torreira and Guendouzi would generate some meaningful funds for us. As it stands now, if the fees for both them can only facilitate our acquisition of Partey, then that’s fine enough.

Receding Hairline

“Marko, we won an FA Cup and made it back into Europe after our worst start in 38 years.”

Man United finished third and were UEL semi finalists after their worst start in 33 years yet you think Ole is trash.

salparadisenyc

Luteo

It’s on Arteta now, needs to spell it out in more defined terms.

In fact we could sent Ice Pick Ricardo from Bay Ridge Brooklyn to help him understand.

Receding Hairline

“Sigh. Ozil’s tweet earlier today made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.”

The dude has gone full Bale on us, i am not leaving and you are going to pay me, only difference is he apparently loves the club

Marc

Pedro

But imagine what we would’ve done if we’d had a proper midfielder in there?

Champagne Charlie

“Man United finished third and were UEL semi finalists after their worst start in 33 years yet you think Ole is trash.“

Who was manager for their worst start in 33 years?

Marko

I suppose we’re still lowering the bar as Arsenal fans. This season was a success and Xhaka was instrumental. Christ I can’t wait for when we’re actually successful and have actual quality in the CM position.

Receding Hairline

“Marc, imagine we had a decent manager in at the start of last season?”

Well we have one now so can we have your predictions for the season?

Marko

Anyway good news the club is apparently interested in Odsonne Eduoard one would assume to replace Lacazette which is great news because it means they’re not stupid enough to roll with Nketiah as second choice ST. Great stuff

Buzzy

loved the Luiz and Willian chat..these guys really sound like they love Arsenal.. I might be the odd one out but I really liked this contemporary method of announcing Gabriel..COYG!

Receding Hairline

Who was manager for their worst start in 33 years?

Guess the point is lost on you as always man child

Man United started worse than we did, they were below us when we sacked our manager yet finished third without sacking theirs, we finished 8th.

We sacked the coach because we believed top four was still a target as indeed it was, but we finished 8th. Now winning the FA cup to qualify for the Europa league, the same one you all hate, is seen as success.

Marko

Marko, you spent 18 months defending the manager that crashed us

Sure I did. Are you going to be bringing up Emery every time you disagree with someone or can’t make a decent argument? It’s not that it’s boring it’s just that it has very little to do with any actual discussions around Xhaka

Marc

Pedro

Add in a decent blog writer and the world would be a perfect place!

Receding Hairline

“loved the Luiz and Willian chat..these guys really sound like they love Arsenal..”

Yea, all those years winning league titles, UCL’s and EL’s with Chelsea but Arsenal was the love of their lives after all.

Nothing to do with bigger pay checks and the London life, it’s all Love

curse

welcome Gabriel!!! been a long time since we signed a cb that looks like he could bully a grow man. Thats why I can’t wait to see torriera leave, absolute piss take that signing. once there’s a party in midfield putting the snackdown on mid table and beyond, that’s a pretty decent spine. bad boy Spanish Danny on his way back, not the biggest or fastest but his attitude more than makes up for his lack of physicality. if we can sell bells to psg ending up with amn and pepe on the right, we’ll be close to a near… Read more »

Receding Hairline

“RH, I have no idea what is going to happen this season. ”

You seemed to have a pretty clear idea of what your expectations were the past two seasons.

Now with a better squad and a world class manager all you can offer is excitement? No expectations? No spelling out of what you will regard as success?

Bit odd

Marc

Pedro

“RH, I have no idea what is going to happen this season. I’m excited about the possibilities though, which makes a nice change of track.”

The players we’re being linked too certainly get the juices going – obviously that needs to be converted into actual signings but we will have to get the regulars on here to make their predictions once the window closes – it’ll keep the comments section going at record levels.

salparadisenyc

Really are some depressing bastards in this space, you Receding are leading the charge.

Champagne Charlie

Ahh, straight to the name-calling because you come out with a dunce statement.

Ole led United to their worse start in 33 years, in his second season no less, and you want to somehow equate that to the influence Arteta had joining ranks Xmas day.

Only you, OGS is fucking dogshit and they preyed on a terrible top 6 this season with a 55 mil signing midseason that saved their bacon.

Receding Hairline

Marc 75 points its my marker.

It was the expectation i set for Emery in his very first season and his second and he failed both.

It’s the same one i will be setting now regardless of signings, what that gets you changes from season to season but its a pointer to the overall consistency of a team over a 38 game season and quite frankly its doable.

Receding Hairline

“RH, do I need to explain the difference between a prediction and an expectation?”

If you will drop an actual expectation after the lecture by all means

Sid

If Kroenke dips his hands in his pockets its to scratch his testeses

Im telling you for free

Champagne Charlie

Emery led Arsenal to their worst start in 38 years in his second season, OGS led United to their worst start in 33 years in his second season..

Both managers getting defended by the same guy 😂

Receding Hairline

“Only you, OGS is fucking dogshit and they preyed on a terrible top 6 this season with a 55 mil signing midseason that saved their bacon.”

Didn’t know signings was for dogshit managers alone

Wonder why you are leading the Welcome to Gabriel charge. Give us more comparison between him and other Arsenal defenders in the 2019/2020 premier league season, this time let us know which team he played for in the premier league at the time of your comparison

Calling you a man child isn’t an insult by the way, if anything it insults kids

Marc

Receding

I have no idea right now – it all really depends on what CM’s we do or don’t bring in.

Marc

Pedro

If we get the signings we’re linked to I think that’s a minimum requirement.

I’d prefer to make mine after I see what we do with CM.

Receding Hairline

“I expect Arsenal to compete for top 4 this season.”

Compete is rather vague seeing as the last guy that competed for 3/4th with a worse squad you still use “you defended him” as an insult.

Will failure to finish top four be seen as failure?

How far do you expect us to go in the EL? The first dog shit made the finals, second the semi’s.

Graham62

Slightly harsh to be saying OGS is “frigging dog shit”

Champagne Charlie

“Wonder why you are leading the Welcome to Gabriel charge. Give us more comparison between him and other Arsenal defenders in the 2019/2020 premier league season, this time let us know which team he played for in the premier league at the time of your comparison“ Uhm, it’s a cut and paste from twitter. Might be poorly worded, but the sentiment is pretty obvious. Did you need it explained? He ranks highly for defensive actions of the talent in our ranks. Obviously he can’t be compared in PL terms having never played here, but normally that’s not necessary to state… Read more »

Victorious

CC/Pedro

I’d wait and see how Gabriel settle in first before reeling in stats and declaring absolute top4 charge

I mean going on like we’d just dropped peak Maldini? Give me a break

He’s not the sort to wet the pants over.

Luteo Guenreira

You can think what you want about Emery, you can even believe that maybe he got unfairly criticized and sacked if it’s your prerogative to believe so. But at this point, I don’t understand why the discussion of “how well did Emery actually do?” matters at all. Even if you are generous with your judgment of Emery’s tenure, it’s not disputable that Arsenal are obviously in a better place with the new manager. I mean, have you watched the matches? Don’t you see it in the player’s body languages, their attitudes? Don’t you see the ambition finally being reflected in… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

Pedro

I am pretty sure that both Man City and Chelsea will finish in top 4.

Despite many predictions about Liverpool I am not 100% convinced that they
will finish in top 4. I think that remaining 2 qualifiers from CL will be between
Liverpool, Man Utd and possibly Arsenal.

Liverpool had a very good season, but they were lucky with relatively few injuries and I don’t think that they have the depth of many other clubs.

Arsenal are probably the most likely to finish outside top 4. They need to recruit players in midfield to move up table.

Marc

Pedro

” It’s vague because Arteta doesn’t have 100m to spend this summer. ”

Well if we get Partey it’ll be £75 odd million spent, add in the £25 million for Saliba and you’re there – Arteta will also have had the free transfer of Willian.

If we bring in any players beyond that and and we’ll be easily topping the £100 million.

Sid

Gabi Maga from Lille, Edourd from celtic
is Raul still pulling string behind the seen?

Sid

Scene

Tee

Lol,

They are gradually coming out of their shells.

They don’t get tired of fumbling and tumbling like they did before.

The same top 4 that Wenger was derided for is now seen by them as success for Ole while trying to paint our cup win as nothing, neglecting their “xhaka will end Arteta” statement.

Besides, is there a trophy for Europa league semi final place?

Champagne Charlie

Vic

Hold on, we sign a player and apparently sharing stats from twitter about him is heinous?

What the fuck are you on about? He’s a new signing, he’s highly rated, and 22. Should we pretend it never happened?

You’ve declared him bang average, can you explain that knowledge bomb? Wait to rate him but you can slate him immediately?

Luteo Guenreira

It’s hard to say what all the top squads will look like once all the player movements are concluded, but I’d likely put City and Pool to be nailed on for top 4. Especially if Thiago goes to Liverpool I can’t see them falling off too far, they walked the league last year. Chelsea, United, Arsenal will challenge for the other two spots. I think Spuds fall off and Mourinho might be sacked at some point.

Receding Hairline

Pedro again with the 100m? Those players are literally still here.

Pepe, Tierney and Saliba

None make the dead wood list.

The he spent 100m thing doesn’t wash as they are all good players. The club spent a 100m on assets and we still have those assets and a “better coach”.

Top four should be the minimum

Marko

Delighted with the arrival of Gabriel. Arteta wanted a left footed CB and he’s about the best that we could have gotten it was between him and Pau Torres and I think we got the better player

Marko

Also if you’re a fan and you don’t get excited over a new signing you are a miserable bastard. It’s that simple. Vic you are not a real fan anyway

Marc

It’s hardly the first time we’ve had people on here writing off new signings before they’ve kicked a ball.

We’ve got three quarters of a back 4 in place that should last for almost a decade. Not sure what’s going to happen with Bellerin.

Freddie Ljungberg

If we sign Edouard and sell Laca that’s our Auba succession plan sorted with him and Martinelli, would be excellent business.

Can’t see us signing a Cam then but that’s fine, as long as we get Ceballos and a Partey type we’re much better off as a team anyway. Willian will do fine as Cam for a year.

Would still be an excellent window even if it leaves a gap or 2 in the squad.

Victorious

CC With all due respect, that tweet in comparisons to defenders already playing at a much higher level is odd. The Athletic clearly detailed the comprehensive scouting and interest of Arsenal in Gabriel, which first emerged when he was sent out on loan two years ago. It’s possible that this transfer does not work out. He’s not as quick as people think and needs a bit more development as he can be inconsistent at times. I’m sayin pipe down a bit because you are going over the top like we’ve seen this far too many times when the player gets… Read more »

Victorious

Also if you’re a fan and you don’t get excited over a new signing you are a miserable bastard. It’s that simple. Vic you are not a real fan anyway’ The fvcking cheek you got there Marko, you’ve spent your vast majority of your time here talking down our players and chatting shit about the club, weird way of supporting the club I’d say Even this past few days reading your hot take on our most improved player under Arteta so far(AMN) one would think you’re a dirty spud Look for the good of the club I hope the analysis… Read more »

Dissenter

“loved the Luiz and Willian chat..these guys really sound like they love Arsenal..”

Weren’t both of them present when they smashed us 6-1 at SB?
Both were at the scene of the crime when they smashed us in far away Baku
Luiz and Willian are just two long term friends enjoying working together.

Dissenter

Receding
“Top four should be the minimum”

I’m pretty sure Arteta agrees with you since he’s set a goal to win the CL withing three years.
If we get a good start and figure out how to beat the smaller teams, we an get top-4.

Champagne Charlie

“I’m sayin pipe down a bit because you are going over the top like we’ve seen this far too many times when the player gets so overhyped before kicking a ball and eventually doesn’t deliver much“

And I’m saying bore off because I’ve literally done none of the above, can you tell me what’s over the top about sharing a players stats from their domestic league? – it’s basic as it gets regarding a new player.

englandsbest

Martinelli. Luiz, Willian, and now Gabriel. The more Brazilians the better. The Club will dance to a bossa nova rhythm with a bit of flameno and a touch of Rule Britannia thrown in.