via @Arsenal
Omari Hutchinson was one of the players Arsenal fans were quite to watch next season. The young attacker has been at the club for 7 years, there was a lot of hype around him, he found the bench a lot towards the end of last season, we were hoping he’d be the next Bukayo or Emile.
Well, he’s packed his bags for West London, signing for Chelsea.
Firstly, let’s just say this: The byproduct of an elite youth system is that not all of the kids can make it / will even want to try. It is a compliment that we now have a system good enough to have other big clubs sniffing around it. This is probably the first big ‘oh shit’ moment we’ve had. Edu and Arteta have been really good at tying most of our gems down to deals. Shit happens.
Secondly, it is perfectly fine to look at this situation with WTF tinted Raybans.
Chelsea had a real crack with young players under Frank Lampard. Why? Because they had a transfer ban and used that period to try something different. It worked. The players that came through won the Champions League in yr 1 of Tuchel.
What has happened since then?
Last season, Thomas Tuchel shipped out Tammy Abraham to Roma for £37m, and signed Lukaku for £90m
Connor Gallagher spent the season at Palace.
Livramento and Broja spent the season at Southampton.
Levi Colwill wants out after a good loan at Huddersfield.
Fikayo Tomori was sold to Milan and won the title.
C-HO hasn’t developed at all.
I don’t even know what’s going on with Billy Gilmour.
Chelsea is trying to re-sign Nathan Ake who they bombed off the Bournemouth
Thomas Tuchel, for all the rockstar adulation, had quite a poor year, and talent ID was at the core of it.
Historically, always remember this: Chelsea binned Salah, KDB, and young Lukaku.
Now look at their transfer policy under Todd Boehly. They’ve just lost Christensen and Tony Rudiger… and they’ve spent £37m on a 31-year-old in Koubilaly.
Policy-wise, they’ve spent £50m on Sterling and tried to spend another £60m on Raphinha. Todd B tried to convince Tuchel on Cristiano Ronaldo.
Why raise this you say?
Well, how the hell do you sell that sort of project to Omari Hutchinson unless money is the driver?
If the player wanted minutes and didn’t believe in his ability to break at Arsenal, surely, surely, surely you’d go and work under Patrick Vieira at Palace, head to Dortmund, or try and sneak a move to Leicester City?
Getting a starting place at Chelsea is a 2% chance at 18 years old. He won’t play in Europe at all. It’ll be hard for him to break into the cup line-ups because there will be talent there that needs minutes for the emergency moments in the league.
Kids at clubs around Europe are double-taking offers from big clubs these days because they know they are being stockpiled as U23s to be sold on. Do you go to Bayern to play for the u23s or do you go to Monchengladbach and get minutes? Do you stay at PSG or do you go to Le Harve? One of those directions gives you a better chance of making a career out of the game. The other has a case study from Arsenal. Marcus MaGuane was killing it at Arsenal, he took a move to Barcelona, now he’s slumming it at Oxford City after failing with Nottingham Forest.
This move looks like a weird revenge move from Kia. You think he’s not petty enough for that? Remember the Bruno Newcastle video where they popped off at Edu with one of the welcome video frames?
I wish the player the best of luck, I really do, but this move doesn’t pass the logic test, and I’m not sure it gets the boy to where he needs to be. It didn’t have to be Arsenal, but surely, it shouldn’t have been Chelsea?
What will be interesting now is to see how Marquinhos does. Clearly, the Brazilian is the solution to whatever Omari was going to be for us this season. I just hope Omari doesn’t look back in 2 years time and see this new boy smashing it in Arsenal’s starting 11 while he’s on his 4th loan with FC Charleroi.
ONTO FIRST TEAM TINGS.
Arsenal are in negotiations with Manchester City over Zinchenko. It’s heading in the right direction. Johhny Cochrane messaged me earlier to point out that it looks like we’re getting preferential treatment from them, an especially pertinent point when you consider this deal might be at the expense of Chelsea signing Nathan Ake.
The player is quality, he’s competition for Xhaka and Kieran Tierney, this is how you move when you are trying to get back to the top of the game.
There’s a great video doing the rounds where Kyle walker gives his view on who the 3 most technically gifted players at the club are.
“Not in any order, my top three are Zinchenko, Mahrez & Silva. Two touches, head tennis, so good. You’re leaving De Bruyne out, Foden, Cancelo, but they don’t come close to those three.”
Being singled out as one of the most technically blessed players at City is quite the accolade when you consider the outrageous talent on offer.
We are getting ourselves a top player here, he’ll want to impose himself on our starting 11, we’ll be signing another 4 time Premier League winner.
In other news, now Raphinha has moved to Barcelona, talk is on the winger.
Leroy Sane has entered the conversation. The player was absolute mustard when he was at City under Mikel Arteta. 57 g/a in 90 appearances is top tier. He’s dipped at little at Bayern, with 48 g/a in 111. But whatever, he’d be an electric signing, though a little bit older than the profile we’ve been chasing. The fee is rumoured to be around £60m. He’s an end product merchant. You just worry that a player of that reputation might mean less time for Martinelli who could find that level. His Champions League record is 29 g/a in 39 games. So, so elite. Suspect he’ll be picking Madrid before us, but whatever, I like that our name is in the mixer, and once again, it’s the City connection.
William Saliba, according to some reports, is not going to extend his deal. This is a weird one, because GFFN is oddly taken as a serious voice in football, but runs with very clear agendas that are quite immature. They don’t want Saliba to stay at Arsneal, they’ve been wrong at nearly every turn, so I’m not sure why we need to take this too seriously.
If Saliba has said he won’t sign a new deal until he sees how he’s used this season, that would make absolute sense professionally and from a business perspective. If his season goes badly, he’ll get a more favorable exit with one year on his deal than 6. So logically, I get the contract situation, but again, who knows. He might just want to get more money right away and feel secure that the club really wants him to be in the mixer next season.
I am calm regardless. There’s no better place for him to be at the moment. If he does what he did last season in the Premier League, he’ll be getting plenty of minutes this season.
Ok, that’s all I have.
P.S. I am on the wait for childbirth. We’re back and forth with pre-labour stuff. So I’ll be in and out on content
4th place trophy
4th place
3rd
Arteta wishes he was 4th. Tr4phy
Good luck with the upcoming arrival👶
Well..
Sane would be good business
Can’t say I wish the best for Omari, personally hope he flips at Chelsea.
Or flops ha
Good luck Pedro — sending you a virtual cigar for when it happens
Didn’t expect todays Le Grove to throw shade on my beloved Oxford United 🥲
Good luck Pedro – sending you best wishes
Martinelli’s first and best games in an Arsenal shirt came under Emery playing as the CF vs Forest, Standard Liege and Liverpool scoring twice in each game. He was also given minutes in the very first EPL round vs Newcastle. Imagine coming from across the world to a new continent, new surroundings, new culture etc, from a lower Brazilian league to the most competitive league in the world and your new manager plays you in the very first EPL game, followed by 4 starts in 5 Europa league games and more starts in the FAC and EFL cup. We can… Read more »
“P.S. I am on the wait for childbirth. We’re back and forth with pre-labour stuff. So I’ll be in and out on content”
FFS Pedro no excuses the god damn site needs you.
Hope everything goes well daddy Pedro.
congrats Pete!
Congrats and hope all goes well, Pedro.
If the Zinchenko move happens we’d have gotten my realistic #1 CF in Jesus and #1 LB.
My best CM picks are Milinkovic-Savic, Gundogan and Matheus Nunes.
My best DM picks were Bissouma and Anguissa.
We’re 2 in 4 so far, let’s keep it up.
Others have not had the same luck
Spence to Spuds (Samesong in shambles)
Eriksen to Manure (Pierre will keep mentioning him throughout season I’m sure of)
Best wishes Pedro and wishing for a safe delivery!
Apparently we’re going for Tapsoba of Leverkusen. Big fan of his but I dunno what it means to Saliba or Gabriel.
Real odd article. The question should really be as to why he feels the need to move Just looking at what is being said about Broja, Colwill and Gallagher ( 3 players that were indeed on loan) they are in the US and all three are being given a chance to impress whereas where are the Arsenal academy youngsters ? Playing against Woking and Hereford! What message will that send to Arsenal academy players? As for Gilmour and CHO well again they are in the US. Gilmour had a terrible first loan at Norwich and CHO who suffered a horrendous… Read more »
Oh and best wishes Pedro
“There’s a great video doing the rounds where Kyle walker gives his view on who the 3 most technically gifted players at the club are.”
I like Zinchenko but I’d be more inclined to watch Kyle Walker’s views on horse racing than on players technical abilities
Good luck to the Mrs safe birth and all that jazz
Tapsodi? May as well just double down at Leverkusen with Diaby. as well.
– Tapsoba
Sane just paper talk most probably because it’s yet another with Man City links.
Again a player that is a crowd pleaser on the ball but has question marks over him as a more complete player on and off the ball.
Body language of the player can be poor at times.
Can be a bit of a stroppy player Sane if things don’t go quite right for him in a match.
anyone been following what’s happening w ruben neves? is he still headed to barca? hehe
Best wishes for the baby!!
Baby comes first
Look it’s obvious that Chavs aren’t the best at promoting youth players to their senior team but their youth system is levels, levels above ours. In the last 10 years the academy players to make it in the seniors regardless if at Arsenal or at their next clubs are Emi Martinez, Gnabry, Bellerin, Iwobi, AMN, Nketiah, Saka, Willock, the Smith. Chavs have Ake, Bamford, Loftus-Cheek, Bertrand, Christensen, Bertrand Traore, Abraham, Tomori, Hudson-Odoi, Chalobah, Reece James, Mount, Gallagher, Broja. Might have missed some names but I have it currently as 9 to 14. Not counting the likes of KDB, Salah and… Read more »
Congratulations Pedro. We will have to make up our own topics to talk about while you are on baby duty. Anyway, Chris Wheatley has reported that Omari is getting a lot of money to move to Chelsea. So shit happens. If he valued his career more then we would have seen a move abroad or a lower tier PL club. But he chose Chelsea because they offered more. We have Flores, Patino and Co to come so no worries. I like the Zinchenko signing if it is done. A capable player going forward that can give us an attacking edge.… Read more »
I like both Sane and Gnabry but if there’s one more signing to be done after Zinchenko then it has be to a CM/CDM.
Pretty clear through almost our signings this window that Edarteta highly prize versatility (Jesus as striker but can slide out; Fabio V as a 10 or a winger). Zin perfectly fits that role, much better IMO than Martinez, and with PL experience to boot. I’ve wanted Zin all along. Plus, not instead of, Youri T.
Rap
Arsenal I think in the last 10 years
Lansbury, Afobe, Mikel, Vela, Hayden, Gibbs, Wiltshire, Dasilva, Akpom, Bellerin
Chelsea
Gheui, Musiala, Solanke, Nat Chalobah, Thorgan Hazzard, Lamptey, Livramnto, Gilmour, Ampadu
Wishing you all the best Pedro.
Good luck and all the best with the baby Pedro!
Terra,
yeah I missed a few I guess especially for Chavs. Ours much less impressive to theirs pound for pound as well.
If we’re buying a backup RW or something might as well be creative and buy someone before they blow up. As an example I like that Mbeumo dude from Brentford. Anyone that can do this type of a run vs them Chavs is quality in my books. https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/1547959924461748226 One of the best Brentford players, 22 yo, former French U21 international, will certainly not cost 60m.
Rap
What stands out is the number that Chelsea have got through in the last 5 years.
Goodluck pedro, more grace.
Ómárí left because they bought Marquinos. Quite simple. They are same ages. Marquihnos is already involved with the first team but Ómárí isn’t. He’d be a fool to have stayed back. He’s going to Chelsea not necessarily cos he will get first team path but because Chelsea generally takes much much better care of their academy players compared to Arsenal. So he knows he’s almost guaranteed of playing premier League or top level football in 2 years. None of our academy players really make it elsewhere and very few make it with us. They all go to league 2 and… Read more »
Arsenal continue to be linked to left sided centre backs, both Gvardiol + Tapsoba . Gabriel continues to be linked to Juventus to replace De Ligt. Always assumed Gvardiol would end up at City, or one of the European giants, but apparently Ake not leaving City this summer now. Gvardiol + Zinchenko to rebuild the left side of our defence, would be so exciting, statistically 2 ball progressing machines, add Saliba into the mix, and we’d be able to play so high. For those who don’t think we need more expensive defenders, Man City finished third + pot-less in 2016/17… Read more »
Saliba contract was the ISSUE though. So obvious he would come back and go nah, another waste of a 50 m talent . We will sell for 25m after parking 30 for 3 years.
That’s is very dumb
Mystic leaves – ‘He’s going to Chelsea not necessarily cos he will get first team path but because Chelsea generally takes much much better care of their academy players compared to Arsenal’
How do you know this ? What evidence do you have ? Do you have an inside track on this ? What poor environment is Per Mertesacker overseeing?
Hate to think your talking total bollocks
Exciting times Pete good luck with the new baby
Zinchenko deal close now on some reports
Marky, no inside evidence. I also assume you misunderstood the “care” I meant.
What I mean is that Chelsea youth players always (more often than not) end up paying top European football while ours don’t seem to hit the mark more often. So Ómárí won’t be so fussed at not making it at Chelsea cos he could very likely be playing for Milan or Crystal palace or Roma in 2 years. That’s why he’s choosing Chelsea to us.
Plus he’s 18 and we signed Marquihnos who is 18 too but is already involved with the senior squad and he’s not.
Markyman,
Lol. Youniust have to laugh out the weird take in here on omari.
Can you imagine one saying Chelsea takes care of their academy payers. I still don’t understand what he meant by that
I don’t think any club beats Chelsea to the award of keeping players on loan for more than 3 years.
The Ban on their transfer forced them to unearth mount their James.
Anyways, you have said it all. That a poster feels Chelsea takes care of their prodigyies is nothing but bollock.
*you just*
*mount and James*
Rich Before Pep bought his defence, he didn’t have issues with the attack. City could out score teams but were left open at the book cos their defenders weren’t good enough. He had zabaleta, Clichy and that Argentine I can’t remember his name. All were past 30 too. But they were already scoring at a good rate. Bringing better players generally improves the whole team both defensively and offensively but city didn’t need their defenders to make their attackers better. I am not so sure what you want to achieve with that post…we need to improve our attack with good… Read more »
Hutchinson is 18 . Marquinhos Is 19
Let’s not pretend the world is over because omari left us bollocks to him
Good luck Pedro. I have three kids 5, 3 and 2. It’s great and very rewarding. But prepare for exhaustion like you have never felt in your life.
Seems like we could cry over Hutchison if he actually played and we had a chance to witness the skills. As it stands we will witness his skills at Southampton or Brighton before he moves on to bigger things.
Or he will disappear to the bundesliga and places beyond.
Pedro,
Get ready to “grab a leg”
I did that twice… you have another hand for the iphone or other device to record the special moment.
Congrats man… you joining the club soon. the daddy club
Mystic leaves I disagree , we need top forwards, but top defenders and a ball playing keeper are how you move the entire team up the pitch, and keep them there for sustained periods. The way you create a territorial advantage in the opponents final third, is by getting another forward player positioned there, this way you create an overload The better your defenders are on the ball, the less reliant you are for a midfield double pivot, and it takes pressure off your single pivot. If you can position one more attacking player in the final third as a… Read more »
I would take Sane for about 55…
That seems to be the high end.
Why dont we offer some of our shit,,,,
Throw Pepe in? What about others?
Sad thing is that none of them are BM quality LOL
I really want to get Sane.
The thought of him and Saka on the wings would be superb
Yea play Saka on the left,,, Sane on the right with the cut in shot
or whatever, just get him in… he is quality. That and the others, and this would be a great window
Very best wishes for the birth Pedro
Congrats Pete, salud
I said pretty much the same thing on the last thread. It’s a poor decision from Omari Hutchinson- especially because I’m certain that he was going to get minutes this year with the club being back in Europe.
Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Fulham- pretty much any other club below the top 6 would have been a better move for him than Chelsea.
Did Chelsea acquire him on a free?
Plus all the very best for the new arrival and your missus!
All the best Pedro Gosh that brings me back. The process in China was no fun. Couldn’t understand what the fuck was going on at hospital when my wife was there. They don’t let family members in the room during birth. When my son was born they just flashed a notice up on a screen in the waiting room and he was taken past me in a cart thing for all of 3 seconds before he was taken into a lift. No chance to see him or hold him. Then I got whisked away to sign lots of documents and… Read more »
Good article btw. Agreed on all points
Sane is brilliant
At city he was a monster. I dunno why they let him go
There’s levels in this game and Sane is right up there
We have to fix midfield and LB first but if we do get those done and magically have money then for real Sane is a top top player
Leeds Gunner
We got 3 million for Omari Hutchinson apparently.
Pedro, the first is always special, enjoy every minute. I’ve got 3 kids, all over the age of 28 btw but I still remember their births like yesterday. Bit of advice: Get plenty of sleep, you might need it.
Leeds
Very well said.
While some of the weirdo’s on here were getting hard admiring Chelsea’s youth policy, it’s worth remembering they were fined & handed a transfer ban for the trafficking of kids & illegal third party ‘dealings’. They didn’t do this once & get caught, Chelsea did it over 30 times. This, along with additional breaches & the manipulation of the loan system, is why they are the last club that should be paraded as a role model for young players…!!!!
Good luck to the lad but he’s gone for the money not football.
Sane had a nasty knee injury, he’s a top player, but his game is reliant upon his ability to make repeated intensive sprints, and the ability to beat his man 1 v 1 I’m very suspicious of these profile of players as they approach 30, because once they lose their elite athleticism, they’re never the same players, and their fall from grace is usually rapid, we’d be signing him for 5 seasons , not 2-3 He’d likely want a 5yr contract on big money, he’s reportedly on €20 million p/a (£17 million) I don’t see us doing it, that would… Read more »
Miguel Delaney is reporting that Saliba wants to be guaranteed a starting spot or he’s going to request a move. So he’s essentially asking for a move then, right? Can’t give guarantees like that.
That sucks. I don’t really care about losing the player, at this point this saga is more than a bit tiresome. Im just annoyed because I doubt we’re going to get what he’s worth. I find him somewhat personally dislikable but his talent is undeniable—-he really may be the next Virgil van Dyke, definitely has world class potential, IMO.
Best wishes Pedro!!
The thing with Omari is slightly disturbing but it’s not to loose sleep over it. Good.luck.to him. What has always intrigued me is that Chelsea somehow get to loan thier players to PL sides case in point Borja, Gallager while we laon out youngsters abroad or to Legue one and.jot even championship clubs. Trusty is on loan to Birmingham City which is good. But would it not be possible to send an Omari or a Balogun on loan to newly promoted Pl side to give them.higher experience and to keep th.happy while also looking at how they cope? Not sure… Read more »
Selling our best CB to buy another CB sounds like a monumental waste of time to me unless we are getting a comically high transfer fee (70+m) for Gabriel.
Selling him for any less is pointless. Similar players cost 45-55m and there’s the added risk of any replacement needing time to settle in or not settling in at all + should be a premium of 20 odd million
Juventus can suck it
Gabriel should be over 50M he is better than Ben White and we paid that much for his arse
Sane even with declining speed is still a nightmare. Ive liked him, ever since he ripped us a new one 2x in one week with City. Just a monster. Unplayable. The other is Coman. Similar. To think BM have both of them! I love Martinelli but I do not think he will hit the heights we all think. I have not seen any real development in his game. its largely the same. based on quick pace, and dribbling. He is good no doubt but for me Sane is greater than him. Maybe Martinelli needs more competition still. TO think he… Read more »
Where is Tony?
wassup China
Happy Birthdays Guns! Where Tony is … is a long story .. basically he went full Bamford.
Anyhow.. trying to work up some sort of emotion about Omari Hutchinson.. but I just can’t ..been through this before with prospect after prospect that was supposed to be the next big thing… The Jeff..Chuba Akpom… Zelalem, Eisfield… Reiss Nelson.. etc etc
Hope everything works out Pedro.. and Congrats again.. just remember to breath. Have a sis in law that is a baby doc.. always telling me stories of the dudes passing out.
Hi Midwest
good to hear from ya. Seems like Tony went off the deep end and Pedro opened up the bin?
We were the night crew along with you and some others, china etc.
I have been swamped with shit with this divorce but now finally finding my feet a little.
Daughter is in room watching Glee re run, son watching Simpsons in the living room.
Its all good!
Oh nice Guns.. glad it’s going well. I feel your pain man.. been through a few divorces. Not sure what went wrong with Tony but it definitely went sideways… and slightly weird. Not sure about the bin.. but most likely.
I used to type exclusively late night on here but I just make the odd cameo these days.
For you Middy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsfcUZBMSSg
Thanks.. Before my time.. but Robert Johnson and Lead Belly started it all and then Muddy electrified it. Music today has lost so much humanity.. I would call it.. aka suffering that people can relate to. Anyhow.. guess I should start figuring out how to see the game tomorrow. I think they are saying can get it on Fubotv.. free trial.
fubo is good. I had it for the trial as well. I would have kept it but needed my sons xbox to run the app. He did not like that part. Fighting over the darn xbox
But it was good when I had it.
Yooo Guns. Much love.
I still post in flurries but a bit less often than before as I started dedicating more of my nights and mornings to reading books instead
yea China,
Reading is good, I just wish I had more time for actual books. Mostly reading stuff on the net.
Good to know.. Actually just found it on something called Stadium TV I think it’s free.
you can also go with ADTHE but be prepared for porno ads popping up, and God knows what else being downloaded into your hard drive LOL
But hey it works and its free
Congratulations Pedro! Here’s to a healthy child and mother.
Haha … been there done that with the porno pop up live stream.. I found this on Roku. which is how I hook up so should be able to see it on the big screen. Anyhow.. cya all tomorrow night if your on for the game.
Rich That’s all well and good. But that’s just one model of playing. Ancelotti has other ideas for example and he’s still winning UCLs. Just get him the players he needs. Pep is a generational coach quite alright but his style isn’t the only style. I would like us to be successful either ways. Just get good players since Arteta is a cheque book manager and not much of a coach China Horrible experience re the birth of your child in China. I don’t know about that country but there seems to be a lot of restrictions and stringent rules… Read more »
Sometimes you just have to accept the loss. If we had snatched a Chelsea starlet away from them, then we would be positively giddy. We wouldn’t be talking about why he left Chelsea for us but just that we’ got him. It stings but there’s no guarantee he’ll be the next big thing.
Let’s just hope he doesn’t turn out to be a beast for Chelsea and by the same token, Marquinhos shines for us.
Now let’s wrap this damn Zinchenko deal up please.
Arsenal took out to the US a large squad of players which included several who are clearly on the way out of the club. It would seem that this has upset several of the talented youngster in the Academy one of whom is Omari-Hutchinson. Another who is also apparently upset by this decision is Flores. Both Omar-Hutchinson and Flores can play as attacking midfielders or on the wing. The problem for both these talented players in the Academy is that we have got currently in the First Team Squad Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Smith-Rowe, Vieira and Marquinhos who are all young… Read more »
Omari hutchison has giving space for another academy prospect to step up.
Martinelli has a great shot but the way he’s probably asked to play down the line and cross etc doesn’t offer ample opportunity for taking shots. Someone commented yesterday on his scoring when played as CF in earlier days…. Omari like many of our U21, 23 peospexts has slim build and would have a hard time gett going in today’s rather physical PL. Fabio would likely experience similar challenges if he doesn’t bulk up or build up strength quickly.. If we sell Gabriel, surely it’d be time to make some money from the Ilyalian clubs. 70m £ if they genuinely… Read more »
*prospects *
Fabrizio Romano 6m
Arsenal and Manchester City have now reached verbal agreement in principle for Oleksandr Zinchenko, fee around £30m. Personal terms are still discussed. ⚪️🔴 #AFC
Salary and length of contract, in negotiation – key step to complete the agreement.
But then, if true,, Omari only worth £3m?? Better have sell on clauses…
So poor in selling …