Author Archives: keenosafc

Calafiori, Kimmich, Kiwior, Raya, Lokonga and More…

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I feel like I write a blog like this every year. Do not worry that Arsenal have not signed anyone yet.

We are barely in July and the Euro’s is still going on. Edu and Mikel Arteta have their plans and they have done enough over the last 3 years to have earned our trust.

Yes, Premier League clubs have spent over £500m already. But what have they bought? A load of rubbish. And the majority of what has been spent is to circumnavigate PSR. Clubs selling a player for £30m, whilst also signing a player for £30m from the same club. It is artificial spending.

Talk of yesterday is that we are close to doing a deal for Bolonga’s Riccardo Calafiori.

This all feels a bit like Manuel Locatelli, when Juventus were in poll position but we began being linked with him. Journalists on the payroll of agents then begun linking us with him, with a deal reportedly close. Then Locatelli signed for Juventus.

I had no idea about who Riccardo Calafiori is before the links two days ago. It shows I do not watch much football anymore and have hardly watched any of the Euros. His recruitment would be a surprise though as we have Gabriel and Jukub Kiwior in that left centre back position.

My only thinking is that Kiwior could be off, and Calafiori could be his replacement.

Kiwior was signed for £20m on a 4 and a half year deal 18 months ago. Whilst he has been a decent acquisition, he has constantly been linked with a move away. If we can upgrade on him without increasing our outgoings too much, it will probably be a good deal.

There might also be a feeling amongst Arteta et al that Calafiori could be a bit of a Ben White, and offer us a more solid option at left back. Who knows.

The only other transfer news is around David Raya and Albert Sambi Lokonga.

Expect the Raya permanent deal to be announced once the Euro’s are over. Whilst I would expect us to raise between £10-20m for Lokonga, and basically break even.

Some will label Lokonga’s time at Arsenal as a flop. Whilst he has not reached the heights you would have hoped, you need to take these risks at the lower end of the market otherwise you will never unearth a gem.

Another name doing the rounds is Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich. I will probably write a longer blog on him if speculation increases as his recruitment would be huge.

Normally I would be against signing a 29-year-old. But he plays like a Luka Modric / Xabi Alonso in that he has never relied on pace or power, but technique and vision. He could have another 4 or 5 years at the top (especially if you get someone all energy like Declan Rice in and around him!)

Enjoy your Thursday!

Keenos

Premier League clubs spend over €500m on “bunch of Uber drivers”

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This morning’s blog was initially planned to be a discussion about how the PSR reporting date had become a new influencing factor when it came to transfers being completed.

Summer tournaments such as the Euro’s have always lead to slow starts to the transfer windows. In my mind, the slow start to this transfer window had been exacerbated by PSR.

Deals completed by 30 June 2024 go into the 2023/24 reporting window, whilst deals completed on 1 July 2024 do not need to be reported until 2024/25. If a club was on the brink of breaking the rules in 2023/24, they would be keeping their powder dry until 1 July before completing any deals.

During my research for the blog, I was surprised to read that Premier League clubs had already spent over €500m on new players. That is an incredible when you consider the spending by other leagues in the summer of 2023:

Ligue 1: €910m
Serie A: €878m
Bundesliga: €735m
Premier League: €520m – 2024 to date
La Liga: €443m

With 2 months still left in the transfer window, Premier League sides have already spent more than every La Liga team did in the summer of 2023. And they are over half way to the total expenditure by French teams last summer.

What is even more incredible about this figure is the Big 4 have yet to spend a penny – Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool have seen no new arrivals yet.

Surely I am not alone to think that this transfer window has had a slow start?

It might be that the lack of business by big clubs has influenced my mind, or it might be that I just do not care anymore about transfers and the transfer window – it does drag on!

But my theory is a lot of money has been spent on not very much. A lot of “PSR deals” pushing up the total expenditure. And a lot of average players going for €20m+

Ian Maatsen – €44m
Archie Gray – €41.25m
Elliot Anderson – €41.2m
Yankuba Minteh – €38.8m
Igor Thiago – €33m
Lewis Hall – €33m
Omari Hutchinson – €23.5m
Luis Sinisterra – €23.4m
Luis Guilherme – €23m
Taylor Harwood-Bellis – €23m
Omari Kellyman – €22.5m
Ibrahim Osman – €20m

That is nearly €366m on big money transfers, and I do not know who most of them are! In months down the line, fans will be complaining about PSR and how their club is being punished. When the reality is they have spend millions on average players!

This is not clubs spending sensibly.

I could jump in my cab in the morning and not batter an eye lid if any of them were behind the wheel. It is literally over €500m spent on players who would be no more recognisable than an Uber driver!

It still feels like a slow start to the window, and I think that is because a lot of money has been spent on crap. No marquee signings. No big name incomings. Just cash changing hands to try and circumnavigate PSR.

I am happy that we have not made a signing yet. The big, better signings will come once Euro’s is over. The only players available at this time is the average clowns mentioned above!

Have a good Tuesday!

Keenos

“Next Bukayo Saka” departs Arsenal

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It was only a couple of years ago that Amario Cozier-Duberry was labelled “the next Saka” by some fans, and being tipped to follow Bukayo into Arsenal’s first team

The 19-year-old now finds himself without a club after Arsenal announced his departure.

Cozier-Duberry highlights just how big the jump is from youth football to senior, and whilst there was a contract on the table from Arsenal, he has decided to progress his career elsewhere.

Considered by many as the best of his generation, Cozier-Duberry’s progress has stalled over the last 12 months and has been overtaken by the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri.

His departure will lead to some fans complaining that “Arteta never gave him a chance”, but you have to remember Mikel and his team see these kids day in day out. And when you are in a title race you can not really give minutes to a kid to develop.

The situation reminds me a lot of when Henri Lansbury was cast aside.

Lansbury never really got his chance at Arsenal, despite generating a lot of hype as he came up through the youth system. Just as he got on the brink of the first team squad, and 16-year-old Jack Wilshere burst onto the scene. Suddenly there was no opportunity for Lansbury as Arsenal had a generational talent on their hands playing in the same position.

In Cozier-Duberry and Nwaneri, we have two players of similar attributes, playing at a similar level. But Nwaneri being 2-years younger is the differenc emaker when we decide which one we will focus developing.

The Cozier-Duberry departure comes on the same day a former Arsenal “wonderkid” also departs his club.

At lot was expected of Omari Hutchinson. Then 2 summers ago he decided to turn down a new contract and join Chelsea. He was apparently unhappy that we were proposing to loan him out rather than have him as part of Arteta’s first team plans.

What followed was a year of sitting in Chelsea academy, before joining Ipswich Town on loan. He basically lost a year of his career by moving to West London.

His performances with Ipswich were good enough for the Tractor Boys to spend £22m on him, but not at the level that Chelsea tried to keep him and progress him to their first team.

Everytime a good young player leaves a club, the likes of Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho are mentioned. But for every one of these that go on to be a global superstar (sort of!), there are hundreds of others that just drop down the league.

Whilst I wish Cozier-Duberry all the luck with his career, he is more likely to be playing for Bristol Rovers in 3 years than Bayern Munich.

And the same goes for Chido Obi Martin.

The club have also announced that Reuell Walters is also departing.

Arsenal have an abundance of full backs, so this one came as no surprise and highlights just how far we have moved forward under Arteta.

Two seasons ago I was talking about how Walters could be a good understudy for Takehiro Tomiyasu at right back. These days Tomiyasu is our 3rd choice right back and Walters would need at least 3 players ahead of him injured to get a sniff.

Enjoy your lunch!

Keenos