So we’ve gone from being very sad at the lack of activity, to me and Johnny dropping a miserable Patreon about how anxious we were, TO ACTION!

Fabio Vieira is in for a medical today, the story around the silence of the deal is that he only wanted to play for Arsenal, despite interest from a host of other clubs. Kind of knocks the idea Europa League being an impediment on the head, right?

It’s also expected that Eddie Nkeitiah is going to sign a new deal, Fabrizio Romano saying it’s a 5 year offer, there was interest from Germany and England, and there are also strong rumours he’ll be our new #14. I like that because why the fuck not? He was treated poorly by Arteta last season and when he was asked to play because Lacazette picked up covid, he absolutely smashed his chance with goals and gut busting contributions. He has earned that new deal and if you don’t like it, keep quiet, because he will deliver next season. Most of the slander around him is because Premier League fans still can’t accept that it is really hard to make it as a young player in the hardest league in the world, especially as a striker. BIG season from him incoming.

A lot of the big papers are leading with the Gabriel Jesus deal. I doubted the move, I inadvertently slandered the good name of David Ornstein, and it appears the tallboy summer I had hoped for was NOT on the cards. So you know what I’m gonna do? Delete all the evidence that I ever suggested this rumour wasn’t right. The story is £50m, but I think that’s a hopeful fee from City. I reckon it’ll be lower, but who knows, hardly the best negotiators of fee, are we?

The Youri Tielemans deal is also looking like a goer. This one has been all over the training ground for a while, which means the players have been gassing like old ladies at a greasy spoon, and that means agents have probably been swapping rumours. You are going to look VERY foolish if you doubt his ability, just look at some of the bits he’s been doing for Belgium the past couple of weeks. He’s top talent, our Thiago, he will make us MUCH better.

I was asking a Technical Director about the Tielemanns move and what he thinks. He basically said he’s an exceptional passer, he’s great in tight spaces, and he reads the game well. I asked about the pace worry and he was adamant that you don’t need to speed to excel as a deep-lying midfielder or a box-to-box because you are rarely running at someone one v one. Teams pack out the midfield, you almost never get to stretch your legs and run, so the main attribute you need is the ability to operate in tight spaces and find passes for… the fast players out wide and up front. Add to that the dead ball abilities of the Belgian, it really is hard to understand why anyone would be criticizing the signing. Experience, pedigree, specialist skills, elite character… perfect.

If you assume we have about the same money as we did last season, net £130m, we can start to see how the summer is shaping up.

£130m

-£30m Vieira

-£40m Gabriel

-£25m Tielemans

-£35m full-back coverage

That’s a pretty decent summer that covers off goals, end product in the final 3rd with coverage of Saka and Odegaard, competition for Thomas Partey, and cover for Kieran Tierney.

Then factor in we have the best keeper in MLS giving competition for Aaron Ramsdale and we have Europe’s best young centre-back dropping into the squad… well, it’s hard to argue our summer hasn’t been needle-moving.

All of the players we’ve added give us high levels of technical ability throughout the squad. We’ve added depth, we’ve added new options we didn’t have before, and all the players come with character.

The Fabio Vieira signing just gets better by the minute. I wondered what his character was like, then heard he’d been made Portugal U21 captain, which is all I need to know. He was being kept out of the Porto side earlier in the season by Luis Dias, he was told he needed to add more aggression to his game, and now he’s a much more complete player.

Did I ask someone if this skinny lad could handle the Premier League bullies? Yes I did. Then someone showed me this video.

Fabio Vieira vs Liverpool. Liverpool dominated the match but the *new* Arsenal man still managed to impress.pic.twitter.com/cRwUN91mEI

— Hesh (@HeshComps) June 16, 2022

Reading the tea leaves, I wonder if Mikel Arteta has looked at his striking options, seen that they are not the biggest of players, and decided he needs a City-like player to unlock his forward line. Fabio Vieira looks VERY much like the sort of player Pep has been pulling out of Portugal for years.

I do love that so many people have been whining to me that they don’t see the Arsenal strategy, now we’re seeing the dust settle on what this window is trying to bring, how much clearer could it be?

We’re signing hungry young players, with extreme levels of technical prowess, and this window has added goals and final product.

Is it time to stop doubting the vision of Arteta and Edu? I think so. We seem to be moving out of the banter era at great speed now, so we should all be happy.

The fixtures rolled pretty well for Arsenal as well. Is that down to me? I asked my guy with a PHD in statistics and he said 100% yes.

There is no such thing as an easy run in the Premier League, but opening against Palace, in the summer, on a fresh pitch, with all our first team players ain’t the worst. We don’t play a top 4 challenger until we meet United away in early September. The best bit of news for our horror show of an October is that Manchester City play Liverpool 3 days before we meet them at home. You won’t get a better advantage than that.

Did I like that Arsenal.com printed who we were playing after our European games to make it easy for me? Yes I damn well did.

The Premier League matches we play immediately after the UEL group games are at home to Everton, Brentford away, Liverpool at home, Leeds United away, Nottingham Forest at home and away to Chelsea. These are all due to be moved back to the Sunday (or Monday if selected for live TV coverage).

Yes. We have two big teams after they’ve played BIG games in Europe with their first teams. Let’s hope Arteta leans into the squad so we have fresher players for those games. Can’t be having any of that Arsene Wenger mindset where he’d play Santi against Ludogorets in a game we’d win with a reserve team.

Not that I want to pump KSE too much. But they have got to the playoffs in basketball, they have won a Super Bowl, and now their hockey team is in the Stanley Cup Final. I think we need to give them some credit, they’ve gone from not giving a shit about winning, to being VERY successful. I like what they are doing at Arsenal. It takes a bit of time for truth to catch up with reality… but what is going on at Arsenal is very smart, more people are going to tune into that reality next season.

Finally, before I go, I tapped @ZachLowy, an expert on all things Portugal, for a quick download on our new signing. Check it out, subscribe to the channel, and join our Patreon if you’d like to. (Check out his excellent write-up on Fabio here).

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