Category Archives: Arsenal

Arsenal confirm biggest transfer since Alan Ball

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We all knew it was coming, but last night Arsenal finally confirmed the signing of Kai Havertz.

With everything that has been going on with Declan Rice, it feels like the Havertz deal has gone under the radar. And I do not think people realise how big a deal it is.

We have gone to Chelsea with a bag full of cash and walked back to North London with their best player.

Ignore what Chelsea fans are saying. Last season Havertz was their best player.

And has probably been their best player of the last 3-years since he joined.

Signing the best player from a rival at home is something we have not done in god-knows how long.

I honestly can not remember the last time we went to Manchester United or Liverpool and signed their best player. And we have certainly not done it since Chelsea got their Rubles.

Some will say “Sol Campbell”, but Tottenham were not a top club then (and are not now!).

Even if you extend it to abroad…

We had Alexis Sanchez. A fantastic talent playing for Barcelona. But he never really became a mainstay on the Barcelona first team, often being rotated in and out.

In 2014/15, the Catalan side signed Luis Suarez so Sanchez became surplus for requirements. Suarez joining Neymar and Lionel Messi.

Mesut Ozil is another big name signing. He joined the year before Sanchez. But like Sanchez, his club no longer wanted him.

The German had started just 23 La Liga games the season before for Real Madrid. And in the summer of 2013, Madrid signed Isco and Gareth Bale. Ozil was moved on.

In both Ozil and Sanchez’s case, they were no longer wanted by their clubs.

They were not first team regulars in their final seasons, their clubs were looking to cash in and upgrade, and they were being touted around Europe. Havertz is not the same.

Last season, no Chelsea player played more games than Kai Havertz.

Of the 50 games Chelsea played, Havertz played a part in 47 of them, starting 38. Only goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga played more minuted.

Havertz is also one of the first name on the teamsheet for his country. And we are not talking about some tin-pot nation. We are talking about Germany.

Since making his international debut in 2018 he has:

  • Played 38 games
  • Been left on the bench 8 times
  • Missed 11 games due to illness or injury
  • Not been selected when fit on 1 occassion

So of the 47 games he was available for, he has played a part in 80% of them.

We then go further back.

Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira and more were not at the level Havertz is when they joined.

In 1995 we broke our transfer record Dennis Bergkamp. Two years before he joined he was runner-up in the Ballon d’Or. 1992 he finished 3rd.

But the Bergkamp of ’95 was not the World Class talent of 1993.

His move to Italy had been a disaster and Inter Milan were looking to get rid after just two seasons.

Havertz time at Chelsea has not been the disaster that Bergkamp’s spell at Inter was.

We potentially have to go back to 1971 for the last time we signed a player who was at the top of his game for a rival club. Alan Ball.

Ball was the youngest man of England’s 1966 team. His performances at the World Cup saw Everton sign him from Blackpool. The transfer was a record fee paid to an English club.

As part of the “Holy Trinity”, Ball would play an instrumental part as Everton won the league in 1970.

The season after, Everton struggled (like Chelsea), and Arsenal won the double. In December 1971, Ball joined Arsenal for a record fee.

The current champions went to the previous champions and signed their best player.

Ball was 26-years-old at the time and at his peak. A few years after joining he would be named club captain and play over 200 games for Arsenal.For a long time he would also be Arsenal’s most capped England player.

In modern day terms, Alan Ball was a wonderkid who fulfiled his potential and became World Class.

In any other summer, we would be celebrating what a coup signing Havertz is. But with the focus on Rice, we have secured his transfer inconspicuously.

Arsenal’s team flying to Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga’s wedding to take the promo photos barely caused a ripple in the media or on social media.

The way the Havertz deal was done was how all transfers should be done. Quickly, professionally and in the interest of all parties.

I am comfortable in saying that Kai Havertz is the biggest transfer Arsenal have done (in terms of signing a top player from a rival) since Alan Ball – let us know in the comments if you disagree.

Keenos

Omari Hutchinson warning for Ethan Nwaneri

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The grass is usually not greener on the other side.

It is crazy that the future of a 16-year-old footballer with a single minute of professional playing time under his belt has become a national story. But that is exactly what has happened with Ethan Nwaneri.

Nwaneri became the youngest ever player to appear in the top flight of English football back in September when he came off the bench in second half stoppage time against Brentford.

At the time, Nwaneri was stalling over signing scholarship with Arsenal – and reports of Chelsea and Manchester City circulating.

Some felt that Mikel Arteta giving Nwaneri game time was to show that he had a path to the first team. Others claimed it was financially driven; playing a senior game (even just one) is taken into account when compensation is determined.

Nwaneri, who has been with Arsenal since he was 9-years-old, disappeared from the Arsenal first team scene after making his debut. He was not selected in another match day squad. Not even as Arteta rested and rotated for the Europa League and League Cup.

This Friday Nwaneri is free to sign scholarship terms with whoever he wants, and it is unlikely that team will be Arsenal.

Chelsea and Manchester City and still leading the way, and he is expected to sign on for whoever gives him the biggest deal. At just 16, it is sad that a player is focused so much on who will pay him the most rather than who will be best for his career.

City and Chelsea might dominate youth football, but this is more due what they invest in recruiting the best young players from around England. Both clubs pay huge money to these young talents.

But just because they have the best youth systems, it does not mean that they produce the best senior players.

The last Man City youth team prospect to go on to become a regular first team player for them was Phil Foden. He made his debut oin 2017.

Two other youth prospects saw some game time this season – Rico Lewis and Cole Palmer. Lewis certainly has the potential to become a squad player for City. Maybe more.

What is interesting about both Lewis and Palmer was they were not “recruited in” at a later age.

Palmer and Lewis both joined Manchester City at 8-years old. Like Foden, they have only ever been in Man City’s academy.

In that time, City have signed hundreds of kids at the age of 15/16 from clubs in and around England. Jadon Sancho is the only one to have made an impact – and he needed a move away to get his chance.

Chelsea are no different.

Non-league football is filled with players Chelsea poached from other clubs. They all follow the same path.

Chelsea sign them at 14/15/16, they dominate youth football, get loaned out 4 or 5 times, then drop down the leagues.

A lot was made about Chelsea’s youth system when they won the Champions League final in 2021. And it was impressive.

Chelsea’s match day squad contained Reece James, Mason Mount, Andreas Christensen, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Billy Gilmour. All of whom spent different times at the club. Tammy Abraham also saw a lot of game time that year.

By the end of this summer, James could be the only one plying his trade in a Chelsea shirt.

This explosion of Cobham talent was more by luck than design – a transfer ban in 2019 forced Frank Lampard to have to promote the likes of James and Mount, and rely on Abraham upfront. A year later, they had all progressed to become key components of Thomas Tuchel’s squad.

But as new players have come in under new owners Clearlake Capital, it is the academy players being discarded.

You would be very surprised if Mount, Ruben Loftus Cheek, Conor Gallagher, Hudson-Odoi or Trevoh Chalobah were still at the club next season.

Like City, there best young talents were with them as youngsters.

Lewis Hall, Gallagher, Mount, Loftus Cheek, James, Chalobah and Hudson-Odoi were all at the club as U8s.

Andreas Christensen is probably the last player recruited at a later age into the Cobham set-up to make an impact at the club.

Nwareni will not be the first teenager to leave Arsenal. In fact one made the exact same journey last season as Nwaneri

12 months ago, Omari Hutchinson decided his future was away from Arsenal and joined Chelsea (ironically he was released by them at 9-years-old)

Maybe it was because he feared he would get little game time at Arsenal with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli on the wings. Or maybe it was down to money. The official line was that he just saw Chelsea as the better fit for his future.

Arsenal wanted to loan him out for a season to a Championship side to help with his development. Chelsea reportedly informed him that he will be part of the first team squad.

Last season, Hutchinson played jsut 2 games for Chelsea – a total of 49 minutes. It is likely he will now join a Championship side on loan.

He has basically wasted a year of his career by moving to Chelsea.

Had he agreed a new deal with Arsenal, he would have spent 2022/23 on loan and, if performances justified, could have been part of Arteta’s first team plans this year.

Instead he is going to be sent on loan a year later. And Chelsea have bought so many players in the last 12 months he will unlikely ever pull on their shirt again for a senior game.

We predicted exactly what would happen with Hutchinson 12 months ago.

Over the years we have also seen the likes Stephy Mavididi (Juventus) and Marcus McGuane (Barcelona) move to pastures new, turning down scholarship terms.

Nwaneri leaving will be a big story. It will be reported that we are losing one of our best young players and Arsenal will be highly criticised when he leaves.

Ignore the noise. Myles Lewis-Skelly has signed his scholarship. And many at the club beleive he is the better player.

Keenos

Saudi Pro League is dumping ground for unwanted European former-stars

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In a recent blog, we spoke about the impact the Saudi Pro League could have on European football.

Since I wrote the blog, it has become clear how European clubs are using the Saudi Pro League – they are dumping unwanted players on huge wages on the Middle East nation.

Chelsea have recently attracted controversy due the relationship between the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia and their owners, Clearlake Capital.

PIF recently bought 4 Saudi Pro League clubs and are financing the recruitment drive. Questions were asked as to whether this was just a way to circumnavigate FFP with them targeting Chelsea players to help them get high earners off the books.

The truth is, every club in Europe is currently looking to dump older players they no longer want on Saudi Arabia, and Chelsea simply have a lot of players they do not currently want that fit the profile.

The problem a lot of clubs face when looking to move on a 30-something is finding a club to take on their wages. Arsenal faced this when trying to sell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil.

These sort players would have (likely) have signed a 5-year deal at their peak at around 28-years-old. They would be on huge wages. Come 30/31, they are beginning to decline and clubs begin to look for younger alternatives.

The problem is when a player in on £150k+ a week, and on the decline, there will be very few sides that would look to sign them.

The players, usually with 2-years still to go on their contract – would not be happy taking a pay cut to reflect their declining ability, and this leads to a stalemate.

Selling clubs either have to subsidise the salaries of players no longer on their books, or have to accept a pittance in transfer fees so that the buying club can then afford to match the wages.

So you might end up in a scenario where the buying team agrees to buy Player A, offering them £80k a week. The selling club will then subsidise the wages for the next two years, topping the player back up to their £150k contract. Basically spending over £7m across 2-years on wages for a player no longer at the club.

Alternatively, they will have to reduce their asking price by a similar amount so that the buying club can then pay their new acquisition a nice bonus that covers their wage drop.

So instead if receiving £30m, the selling club might have to accept a reduced £23m so that the players wage drop can be covered by the buying club.

The Saudi league has provided a solution to selling clubs problems.

They are matching (and in many cases increasing) players wages, whilst still offering clubs a decent transfer fee.

Take Thomas Partey.

Partey is on around £200k a week. Now 30-years-old and with his injury issues, no club will match that salary unless they “get him on the cheap”.

Juventus were (and still are?) sniffing around Partey, with a deal in the range of £17m mentioned. This low transfer fee would allow Juventus to match Partey’s wages.

And then you have Saudi Arabia.

The offer reportedly on the table from the Middle-East is £35m – almost twice as much. And Partey will still have his huge wages matched.

It therefore makes a lot of sense that Arsenal are encouraging bids from Saudi Arabia and will probably try and push Partey in that direction.

And that is what all clubs are currently doing – on the phone to superagents who are working on behalf of PIF to encourage bids for their unwanted players. I would not be surprised if Nicolas Pepe has been spoken about.

Chelsea are looking to move on Edouard Mendy, Romelu Lukaku, Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech. All are 30+ and on huge wages. Expected transfer fees for all ranges from £20-30m.

Inter Milan are to cash in by selling Marcelo Brozović. Another 30-year-old that will also go for a fee within that £20-30m.

Some players will still have ambitions to play top level football – Bernardo Silva, the aforementioned Lukaku and others. But if they do this, and seek a move elsewhere, they might have to accept the lower wages.

Selling clubs will now be saying to them “why would we accept a bid from a European club when a Saudi team is offering twice the fee”. That then puts the ball at the feet of the players as to where they want to go.

Stay in Europe, they will have to accept less wages which will enable the buying club to pay bigger transfer fees. Move to Saudi Arabia, the higher transfer fee will be paid and they get to keep their wages.

Whilst Saudi Arabia officials have been contacting clubs about players, I am sure the majority of the chatter is being instigated by European clubs. Official at Arsenal, Chelsea, Inter Milan and more contacting those working for PIF in an attempt to cash in on their unwanted, highly paid, ageing stars.

I imagine if the Saudi Pro League was relevant in 2020, Arsenal would have looked to sell them Aubameyang, Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi, Saed Kolasinac and more.

And this just highlights the hypocrisy in football.

Teams will try and block PIF from investing in Newcastle, with Human Rights claims, but will then court the oil money for their own benefit. But that is a blog for another day!

Enjoy your Tuesday.

Keenos