TRANSFER RUMOUR SQUASHED

Two very reliable internet sources on the TWITTER countered the stories about Onana joining Arsenal in January. The chatter is thought to be taking its fuel from agents keen to move on a top performer from an Everton in a bit of a mess.

My view on this remains the same. I don’t get it. If we’re eventually replacing Thomas Partey, a player we’ve missed, shouldn’t we be looking for someone who can at the very least match what he does on the ball? Onana might be far better than I give him credit for, but was he Thomas Partey levels in France for Lille? Have my doubts.

That said, all the ‘sources’ seem to indicate we’re interested in Onana to some degree, which leads me to maybe believe that we will target a physical powerhouse who is a defensive specialist and an outrageous press monster. We’re the second best in the league at creating shot-creating actions from tackles in the opponents third. Onana would be very good at that. I just don’t know how a player like him or Paulinha factor into our biggest problems, which is breaking down deepblocks against 85% of the teams we play. Partey helps move the ball from midfield to attack with amazing one touch passing, he can also pass around corners, and he can cover a lot of ground defensively. He’ll be hard to replace, but we should at least try.

Still, Billy C reckons he’s a bit special.

‘Imagine trying to score against a team with Rice and Amadou Onana in midfield, and Saliba/Gabriel/White behind. There are few players whose development has impressed me more than Onana. In addition to the best set of base characteristics imaginable, he is adding all kinds of subtle little details to his game, honestly looking more Rice-like by the day: a bit of carrying and box crashing, a bit of turning and line-cutting, and a whole lot of pure destruction. You look for unicorn profiles at this level — stuff that a top club can’t easily match with money — and a Rice/Onana pivot would be almost impossible to replicate. He should also be very expensive.’

One to watch. Fancy it’ll be Zubimendi if this goes to the summer. Also worth noting

Our January is very much the same as every other transfer window when it comes to exits. We don’t really attract much interest. The latest is that Ramsdale won’t get a move this window, with Chelsea and Newcastle preferring to wait until the summer. On the one hand, it’s great to have a keeper of his level as back-up, on the other, it’s annoying because we can’t buy if we don’t sell.

Smith Rowe doesn’t seem to have many suitors lining up (for obvious reasons I’d imagine), the Eddie rumors feel very summerish because even if we do sell him, we won’t have an option to buy. Then there’s Reiss Nelson, who will never leave Arsenal because that’s just how it’s going to be.

Arteta begging fans to be nice to the players we have was probably quite a tell when it comes to how we’ll move in January.

The players landed in Dubai. There are pictures of Saka enjoying a Sunkist beverage through a straw on a lovely padded bed overlooking the water. That’s how I want him for the next two weeks. Take him to Cirque Du Soleil, see if there’s a Celine Dion Concert, bring the restaurants to him. Make sure he has the best time so he can come back refreshed, ready to skewer the online incels attacking him in H2 of the season.

Dubai is going to be interesting. I’m sure the players are absolutely fried after a hectic start to the season. Going away on a very pleasant retreat to a nice relaxing country sounds nice to you and me, but frame it in accounting consultancy terms. You’ve got a two-week gap on the work calendar after a brutal 5 months, and your boss forces you to go on a work retreat with your colleagues to talk about trust-the-process-2024 in the morning before going to a group meal with a special magician who was once on X Factor to lift the spirits in the evening.

Still, once you get over having to share a hotel room with Jesper from Facilities, you can find ways to have fun. 10* luxury and training in the sun can work wonders for the mind, body and soul. We have to hope for more thought. Arsenal needs to wipe the memories of December Men In Black style and move onto more positive thinking. They need to get over their collective form dip and come back on fire.

Palace and Forest are the games we need to target to for wins. Get those under the belt, we then have the third game which is Liverpool. They’ve already lost TAA for a few weeks, which could be good news for Arsenal. Chances are Mo Salah will make the AFCON QF, so he’ll be out. Liverpool now play 5 games before they meet Arsenal again. That is quite the run. It could be a very interesting home game for us. If we play like we did at the weekend, we’ll win. If we win, would you take that over an FA Cup 4th round? You would, don’t even lie to me.

Beating Liverpool will put us back in the title race. That has to be the main target. We’ll have Thomas Partey in contention by then, Zinchenko will hopefully be ready to play, and Gabriel Jesus will be in the mixer. Those are three massive players to be missing. People giving out about Liverpool missing names seem to forget what our first team has lacked this season.

Ok, short post today. See you in the comments. x