THE EUROS TONIGHT LADS AND LADETTES.

Can’t wait.

It’s nice that to commemorate the Italians and Turks game that we’re being heavily linked to Serie A players.

Locatelli as a Granit replacement?

Barella as tasty number 8 with bite to his game?

RODRIGO DE PAUL FOR CHANCE CREATION, BALL PROGRESSION AND BIG ENERGY VIBES?

Those are three very sexy links. I read someone say we go from ass to class and I am absolutely here for that sort of poetic internet prose.

Rodrigo De Paul is 27, repped by Mino Raiola, and probably going to Atleti… but his profile is exactly what we’re looking for. He’s tasked with progressing the ball from deep at Udinese. He creates a lot, scores a lot, has an energy profile that has attracted Bielsa. Give me that sort of talent over some of the one-paced merchants we’ve been looking to replace all day long.

This is an excellent scouting report if you’d like to read up further on him.

Locatelli is exciting because he’s handsome and Italian. He ticks all the Xhaka RPL boxes from a stats perspective. He’s at a small club in Italy, Sassuolo, so should be attainable. Though I do wonder how the P&P merchants are rationalising him more than the other slow deep-lying midfielders because he’s very one-paced even in Italy. I guess Italians just hit differently?

I’m not sure how much is actually going on, because I know Arteta is out of the building on holiday and it seems that Edu is still away because he keeps posting to his public IG stories. Breath though. Everyone is entitled to a holiday. BUT WHERE ARE THE SIGNINGS BECAUSE THE EUROS HAVE ALREADY STARTED. Breath. It’ll be fine. IT WILL BE FINE.

Tyler Adams feels like a dead cert now.

Agent Smith Rowe is on the blower as we speak luring him over to the mighty Arsenal. Journos are saying he’s a hot target of clubs with Champions League football. I’d say WE ARE ARSENAL, but Emi B just binned us off to play cards with John Terry, so who knows how the Arsenal pull is working at the moment.

More journos are talking up the prospect of Lokonga, a great talent, but not for the first team I’d imagine.

Then there’s the story of Eddie getting a new deal. Not quite sure how this one is working. If he’s getting a new deal, you would imagine it’ll be because Huss Fahmy put an option of an extension in his last deal so we could preserve his value… because I don’t see a world where he’d sign another year knowing how far he is down the pecking order to protect Arsenal’s right to sell him?

Granit Xhaka is about to move out of the club for £18m or so… if you spent the last 5 seasons calling him the worst player in the world, I can’t have you moaning about the fee in a post-pandy world (pandy is ok to use, right?).

On the note of moaning, word for the comments. I let a whole bunch of people back on a few weeks ago and predictably, the misery is back and the conversation is starting from a low point. People need to pick it up. Misery breeds misery and stops interesting conversation flowing like we have a few months back. If perpetrators don’t pick it up, I’ll do a sweep again.

On that note, I bid you farewell, enjoy the Euros, it’ll be fun!

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