Morning and happy Sunday.

Feeling a little rough this morning. Ran out of beer whilst watching the cricket last night. Found some cans of Strongbow Dark Fruits in the back of the fridge. Their best before was July 2021. Tasted alright. But feeling it this morning.

This time time next week we will all be getting ready for the Community Shield game.

Long term readers of the blog will know that I think the game is no more than a glorified friendly. A semi-competitive run out to round off pre-season.

Last season, Liverpool ran out easy winners against Manchester City. That led many pundits to predict the Scousers for the title.

Liverpool finished 5th, 22 points behind Manchester City.

It will be a good day though, a chance to shake off those last few cobwebs for both players and fans.

I will be doing my tried and tested pre-Wembley routine; Meet in the White Swan, overground to West Hampstead, toilet break on Billy Fury Way, grab a can from the off licence before getting on the underground to Wembley. As I type this, I should check there are no strikes or other train issues!

Yesterday’s blog mentioned a lack of relevant Arsenal news floating about, and today is even quieter. It is to the point where those news outlets that rely on clickbait are really trying to twist some old stories into new ones.

Much of the news is from a Paul Merson interview where he predicts Harry Kane to be top Premier League goalscorer this season.

It is not too ludicrous of a shout, if you ignore the fact he is probably going to join Bayern Munich.

What I find laughable is those outlets who have used this in an attempt to mention Arsenal.

“Arsenal pair don’t get close to incredible Tottenham star” says Arsenal legend, was one headline I saw.

During the interview, Merson mentions Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. He says that “they couldn’t have played any better and didn’t get close to Haaland or Kane”.

Well that is probably because they are wingers and Kane and Haaland are out and out strikers.

Put Kane or Haaland on the wing and they would not get close to what Martinelli or Saka did last season. It really is a pointless comparison.

I imagine this week we might see some more speculation on departures. I do find it surprising that we have not seen more than just Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari leave. But then it does feel the transfer market has stalled a bit.

West Ham have got a big chunk of cash from Arsenal, but seem unwilling (or unable?) to spend it, whilst Brighton are unlikely to spend much more than they have already until they sell Moises Caicedo.

Leicester City got a decent fee for James Maddison, but having been relegated they are unlikely to be a destination for any of our players.

Newcastle’s spending spree has not begun yet, whilst others such as Crystal Palace seem to need to sell before they can buy. And this all leads to statement.

I think once a few more deals begin to go through (Caicedo, Michael Olise), we will then see these lower clubs start to make their signings.

With new loan rules in place (a blog for another day), we could be in for a hectic transfer deadline day as clubs try to secure themselves a bargain.

The likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and others could be in a situation where they have players they can not loan out as they have hit their limit, but also no longer want. This could lead to their transfer value plummeting. More on this another day I think…

Enjoy your lazy Sunday. Should be a good day for the cricket. Max Verstappen will win the Belgium Grand Prix. And that’s your lot.

Keenos

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