WINGER BRIEF: EXPLOSIVE G&A MERCHANT

ARSENAL SHIFT FROM CF TO WINGER, WHO FITS THE BRIEF?

I am starting to feel a little bit better about the summer. Sure, it feels like we’re missing out on targets, but the reason it feels that way this year isn’t because we’re rubbish at signing players. It’s because we’re so damn good that it could be career-damaging to move here.

Sesko, one of the hottest striking prospects in Europe, said no because he couldn’t guarantee he’d usurp Kai Havertz. His gentlemen’s agreement will see him leave in the next two years, and who knows, maybe Arsenal bypass the striker issue this summer and kick it to next year. We can afford to do that these days.

The most important position to move on is the winger, and we might run into similar issues there as well. If you sign someone who needs a lot of development, like Mudryk, they might not get those minutes for a team that needs to hit perfection early.

We need to sign an output merchant, and let me tell you, if you want to sign an output merchant under the age of 23 in Europe right now, you are spending a pretty damn penny.

Here’s the top 10:

I went for the full 22.

Jamal Musiala is 21st on the list, and his current Bayern valuation is 120 million euros.

Nico Williams, a player who has had a monster season for G&As, is on 250k a week and wants £300k to move… he’s only 21 years old.

Unfortunately, that’s the price of success. We are very good now, and if the trust pool is to be effectively built, you have to buy players who can compete with the establishment. The establishment is young. That can make it hard to attract names because it takes a bold young player to risk minutes to fight it out in a system that is getting close to the one they have at City.

Lest we forget, City are now benching Jack Grealish. Matheus Nunes didn’t get that many minutes. World Cup winner Julian Alvarez wants out to see more pitch time. When you want to mix it with the elite of the elite, you have to compete at a crazy level. That isn’t for everyone. It certainly wasn’t for Sesko, this season at least.

I’m also expecting the summer to play out in a more fluid way than usual. We can’t escape FFP rules or the reality that we had to loan David Raya to get him into the squad. Arsenal has to sell well to buy well this summer. Otherwise, we’ll be pulling financial levers like Chelsea and Aston Villa. No one wants to be binning Douglas Luiz for Weston McKennie.

We can’t really start dreaming of Bruno, Fofana, or a Luiz-like player if Thomas Partey stays. If we’re looking for an explosive winger, we’ll probably have to lose Reiss Nelson. If no one wants to buy Aaron Ramsdale, that probably reduces the level of backup keeper we can purchase.

A lot depends on our ability to sell this summer. We have a list of very good players that could make clubs better; the question is whether we can move them on. Can Edu actually sell? Can he be a book-balancing merchant?

We’re about to find out in a market that feels sluggish so far. The big spenders are all trying to be big sellers. Clubs like United are telling their fans via the media that the starting budget for new players is £50 million. United’s starting bid over the past five years has been £60 million. The point I’m making here is if United has to be controlled this summer, so does everyone else.

Except Manchester City, who are rumored to be activating a disgusting release clause for Bruno. The optics of that are simply fabulous, I’m sure you’d agree.

Ok, keep your eyes peeled for the latest Thursday Therapy with Jacob, Matt, and Pedro. xxx