Last Sunday I was sat in the garden having come back from a cheeky trip to Paris and I wrote how it would be a big week for The Arsenal.
My prediction was that we would see two, maybe three new signings. Within an hour of that blog going live, the deal for Martin Zubimendi was confirmed.
That deal was followed later in the week with confirmation that Christian Norgaard was an Arsenal player. An extremely cheap deal for a Premier League captain.
As the week continued, talk of Viktor Goryekes and Noni Madueke intensified. Both deals fuelling hatred for different reasons amongst the incel faction of Arsenal‘s fans.
It has to be remembered that damage to the murals in the tunnel was committed by one sad, lonely individual. It is not behaviour representative of Arsenal fans.
Likewise, the disgraceful abuse of Madueke was only by a handful of so called fans.
This is why I get annoyed when the likes of Rio Ferdinand two footed themselves into a debate and make it appear that those handful of individuals representative the club and use it to point score.
Meanwhile, he continues to remain silent throughout the abuse given to Alejandro Garnacho and Harry Maguire. He seems to turn a blind eye to abuse when it is towards a certain kind of player. What is his agenda?
It is ironic that the man who continually cheated on his dying wife continually talks about respect. Luckily his contact with TNT was not renewed and hopefully we don’t have to listen to his sub-par punditry again. He adds nothing to a conversation.
Personally, I would rather these pundits call out the likes of TalkSport, AFTV, Paddy Power et al whose modus operandi is to stir up hatred and anger in fans and rage bait them into generating advertising revenue.
These companies have a reach of millions, continually wind up fans and then sit back and watch the revenue come in.
This week for Arsenal you would expect an early announcement for Madueke. If you were not supporting his transfer, support the player when he is in an Arsenal shirt. If you refuse to support the player, then you do not have the right to call yourself an Arsenal supporter.
The Viktor Groyekes deal will monitor on with Sporting’s loudmouth President continually making public statements. Meanwhile we are acting classy and trying to agree the deal behind closed doors. My bet is it happens towards the end of this week.
The 3rd deal that could be completed before we hole on a plan to Asia is Cristhian Mosquera.
Everything has gone quiet around Mosquera, and my feeling is we put his transfer on the back burner for a bit whilst we completed other deals.
At £15-20m, Mosquera is a bit of a luxury when we do have Ben White and Jurrien Timber who can slot into that right handed centre back slot. Norgaard has also played there and we also have Jakub Kiwior and Ricardo Califiroi as defensive options.
My bet is we have held off spending the money whilst we got closer to completing deals for Madueke and Gyorekes. That £15m-£20m might have been needed elsewhere in the short term.
With Madueke done and Gyorekes nearing conclusion, we now know we have the spare money for Mosquera. A deal done for him would indicate that Gyorekes is in the bag.
After this week, I would expect things to go a little quiet.
Eberechi Eze and Rodrygo are still on the radar, but we would likely need to see some exits first – Reiss Nelson, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Olexsandr Zinchenko first up.
Then I would expect it to be “one in, out” with Trossard departing for Eze and then Martinelli for Rodrygo. If either incoming deal does not happen, then Martinelli and / or Trossard will not depart.
So 3 deals this week hopefully. Then off to Asia with further deals to be completed closer to the start of the season.
Enjoy your sunshine Sunday. Remove hatred from your heart. life is too short.
Keenos