Morning! Today’s blog comes from my garden as I have a cup of coffee in the sunshine. Is summer finally here?
Usually by mid-March I am in shorts at the football. This year I only stick them on with a game to go. It has been a long cold winter. Crazy that we are now less than month away from the longest day of the year. Then winter is coming.
As expected at this time of year, everything around Arsenal is quiet.
The season is over (and I can not be bothered to over analyse it). Players have gone away for a week or two before returning for their national team and management are recharging their batteries before the transfer window opens.
Season ticket renewals are in full swing.
I would advise everyone to check they received their confirmation email as the system broke on Tuesday. Anyone that renewed on Tuesday might find their payment was not taken and they have not actually renewed – even though the option to renew has now been removed from your account. If in doubt, call the club.
I renewed at about 7.30pm on Tuesday and everything went through OK. The issue seems to be for those that renewed earlier in the day.
The lack of any real Arsenal news has led to transfer speculation filling the silence. The top 3 stories on NewsNow are:
It does become tiresome at times going through the made up stories to try and find actual Arsenal news. And days like today when the sun is shining and birds are tweeting, I do not have the energy.
This weekend is a bank holiday. Fingers crossed the sun is out and if it is you might not hear much from me. There really is not too much to say and I have not yet started reviewing what the squad will look like next year.
So my suggestion to you all? Turn the phones off for the weekend. Have 3 days of no technology. 3 days of no football. Give yourself a recharge. You will feel better come Tuesday.
Enjoy your Friday. Enjoy the sunshine. Up The Arsenal.
A new striker is top of our list this summer. Despite us scoring more league goals in a single season than any other in our history, the forward line is an area that can be improved.
After much searching, amateur scouting and watching YouTube clips, Benjamin Sesko is the one I want for Arsenal.
Kai Havertz shows the way
I often cast my mind back to the January window in 2022 as Arsenal searched for a replacement for Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. We were heavily linked with Dominic Calvert Lewin, Dusan Vlahovic and Alexander Isak; three strikers of a very distinct profile.
It was clear at this point that Arteta basically wanted a “more mobile Giroud” to lead his line. Someone who could work a defence with their movement, whilst also provide a physical presence in the box.
After missing out on Vlahovic, Arsenal turned down the opportunity to sign Isak in the summer and plumped for Gabriel Jesus.
Jesus was a completely different profile to the players we were previously looking at. Smaller, quicker, trickier. Although his hold up play is actually underrated.
In 2023 Arteta was focused on signing players that he thought would take us to the top 4. Jesus would be fine if we just wanted a top 4 challenge. But now we are title chasers and that means a new striker and a return to Arteta’s original plan.
In the second half of the season, due to injury and form, Kai Havertz was pushed further forward, replacing Jesus. Havertz would grab himself 8 goals and 7 assists in 13 games. This showed that a bigger, mobile, technically gifted striker is the way to go.
Sesko playing style
I have previously described Sesko as a “more mobile Dimitar Berbatov”.
Whilst he is not an out and out goal scorer or powerhouse forward in the Erling Haaland mould (who is?), he is a technically gifted player who has a great touch, great movement and a decent bit of pace.
He is not too dissimilar to Havertz, but has better instinct in the box and will be able to sniff out those goalscoring positions that Kai does not.
Age profile
In the back end of this season, Kai Havertz showed he is a genuine option as a striker for Arsenal, alongside Gabriel Jesus. That means that we no longer need to look for the “finished article” and that we could look for someone a little bit younger, a little bit rawer.
Sesko is just 20 years old (turns 21 in a week).
With the situation we are now in, we could afford to sign someone like Sesko and take our time developing. The Slovakian can play in tandem with Havertz, rather than be expected to come straight in and replace him.
A very high ceiling
Last summer, Sesko moved from Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig for £20million. It was a huge step up from Austria to Germany.
Sesko started the first half of the season slowly, often coming off the bench for his new team. But as the season progressed, he established himself as their first choice striker and finished the season on a 7 game scoring streak.
14 goals in 31 Bundesliga games might not excite many, but 11 of those came in the last 16 games. Sesko proved he has that ability to step up to the next level.
The Premier League is a step up from the Bundesliga (gap not as big as Austria to Germany though). Sesko will need to continue working hard and step up again if he wants to be a regular starter for one of the best teams in Europe.
I believe he has the potential to become one of the best in Europe, and his 2nd half of the season form in Germany has shown he has the hunger to work hard on his game.
Again, with Kai Havertz at the club, we will not need Sesko to make the impact on day one. We can afford to take it slowly with Sesko and for Mikel Arteta to build him into the striker he wants.
Cost
My main concern with the links with Viktor Gyokeres was the price tag.
I was not sure paying £70m+ on a 25-year-old who was playing in the Championship 12 months ago made much sense. And as we have seen with other recent Liga Portugal imports (Darwin Nunez), the step up to England from Portugal is huge.
Isak would have been a good option this summer, but considering at Newcastle spent on him (£70m) you can not see us getting him for less than £100m. That would mean less investment elsewhere in the squad.
Finally, I was also always uncomfortable spending big on Ivan Toney considering his age.
Sesko has a £55m release clause, making him the cheapest player I have mentioned in this blog. He is also the youngest and has the highest ceiling. It is a deal that makes most sense.
And what for Kai Havertz?
When we signed Havertz, I always saw his recruitment as a utility forward. Someone who could play in multiple positions.
He has excelled up front in the second half of the season, and considering Sesko’s age and rawness, he will play a big part upfront next season.
Havertz would still remain an option playing deeper (just not with Olexsandr Zinchenko in the same team – a blog for another day) when we want to set up more attacking.
Next season we need to compete on 4 fronts. That means we need to be prepared to play 60 games. There will be more than enough to go around.
And Jesus’s future?
Some reading this might think “Jesus is gone then”. Incorrect.
Jesus joined us from Manchester City after years of being a squad player. He wanted an opportunity to show he could be a regular starter. Unfortunately, injury and form resulted in him returning to that squad role he had with Man City.
The Brazilian basically has a choice – stay at Arsenal and accept a squad role, or push for a move and hope it is “3rd time lucky” in his dream to be a regular starter.
Jesus would still have a big role to play at Arsenal.
Havertz and Sesko would be two similar style strikers. There would be games when we might want an alternative option. Someone a bit trickier and quicker. That would be Jesus. Likewise, he could be a game changer off the bench with the way he buzzes around.
Gabi is also an option on the wing.
Previously, I spoke about need a striker who could also be an option on the wing. Alternatively, we needed to target a new winger. By signing Sesko, it would free up Jesus to play on the wing.
Jesus can play both right and left wing, providing cover and competition for Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard. I would not be unhappy if any of those 4 started out wide.
It also allows us to continue assessing our wing options.
Saka is a guaranteed starter on the right, but the left wing might need to be addressed in a years time.
Martinelli’s tough season can not be ignored, and whilst it is not an issue going into next season it is a situation to keep an eye on. Trossard also turns 30 and will have a year left come 2025.
In 12 months, if Martinelli does not return to form, I would not be surprised if we turn our focus on a new left winger, with Martinelli becoming the cover and competition. By using Jesus outside, it means we do not need to address the issue this summer and can allow Martinelli to continue his develop.
A lot has already been made of Mikel Arteta’s spending at Arsenal.
“Spent €700m in 5-years and only won the FA Cup” is the rubbish being spouted by lazy journalists, opposing fans, clickbait news outlets and those Arsenal fans that never wanted him to be our manager and will never change their tune on criticism.
Yes, Arteta has spent a small fortune on the squad since joining in 2019 – so the 2020 January transfer window onwards. Arsenal have spent around £590m in this time (figures will fluctuate depending on your source).
But this needs to be put into perspective with what other sides have spent in this period:
So yes, critics are correct in saying that Arteta has spent £590m since 2019, but that is still only the 5th highest spend on transfer of all of the top 6.
When Arteta took over we were sitting 10th in the table. He has spent £590m taking us from 10th to 2nd. Meanwhile:
Chelsea – £1.25bn spent to go from 4th to 6th Man U – £640m to go from 6th to 8th Man City – £630m to go from 3rd to 1st Tottenham – £600m to go from 5th to 5th Arsenal – £590m to go from 10th to 2nd Liverpool – £425m to go from 1st to 3rd
Only Manchester City and Arsenal are higher in the league now in comparison to where every club was in December 2019, when Arteta took over. And none of the “Big 6” has climbed more places.
Man City have spent £630m to go from 3rd to 1st in the league. But that £630m was on top of already heavy investment in the squad.
In 2019/20, Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ederson starting more games than any other City player. The likes of Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and John Stones were also at the club. That is nearly £300m worth of talent, which they then spent a further £630m adding to creating a squad that cost them nearly £1bn to take them from 3rd to 1st.
And it is the same at Liverpool.
Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Allisson, Trent-Alexander Arnold and Andrew Robertson were all key that season as Liverpool won the league. That is the worlds most expensive centre back and goal keeper.
Those 5 players cost Liverpool close to £200m.
Of the players that started 10 or more league games in 2019/20 for The Arsenal, only Bukayo Saka remains.
The likes of Ozil, Auba, Laca, Pepe, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Bellerin and others were all dumped gone without raising a penny for us. It was not Arteta’s fault that we had a huge amount of ageing, underperforming players on huge wages that no one else wanted to spend money on. Which brings me to my next point.
So Liverpool spent £425m, adding to £200m worth of world class players, Man City spent £630m, adding to £300m of existing stars. Arteta has spent £590m, adding to £0m of existing players. And this is the problem when you pick an arbitrary date to make point; it discounts the previous heavy investment that already exists.
So instead of looking at total spent since 2019, why do we not look at total spent on each squad?
Chelsea – £888m Man City – £802m Man U – £740m Arsenal – £582m Liverpool – £575m Tottenham – £55m
Note: Previous figures were for total spend, the above is for existing squad costs which excludes players who have been signed during that period and since been sold on.
It has quickly been forgotten about that by shedding a lot of senior players, Edu and Arteta reduced Arsenal’s wage bill by nearly £100m. So whilst our “net transfer spend” might be comparable (and even higher), than our wages, the total outgoing by the time you factor in what each club is paying in wages leaves us a long way behind.
The above infographic is taken from clubs ACTUAL ACCOUNTS, and not guesstimate from people that basically use Football Manager for their source. Of course, it is up to their 2023 accounts, which takes us to the end of the last season. This years accounts will not be out until back end of this year to spring next.
So yes, whilst Manchester City and Liverpool might have a lower “net spend” than Arsenal since 2019, both clubs have spent £500m+ more on wages during that period. Their increased wage expenditure vastly oustripes the difference between players signed against players sold.
Arteta has rebuilt a squad, spending just £590m to take us from 10th to 2nd whilst cutting our wage bill dramatically. This has put the club in its best position since 2006 – both on and off the pitch.
We are finished for the second time in 2 years whilst maintaining the 5th highest wage bill during that period (my estimation). It is a huge overachievement.
What we now need to do is build on it.
A second year of Champions League football, and the revenue that brings in, alongside increasing commercial deals (companies that wanted nothing to do with us in 2019 are now lining up outside Highbury House) will allow us to continually invest and improve.
Arteta has shown that there are some squad players he does not trust (Nelson, Smith Rowe, and others). They will be let go and we will spend big (again), on 3 or 4 new players he does trust.
Whilst that expenditure will be big, in an attempt to take us from 2nd to 1st, it will be a lot less than what Man City have spent taking them from 2nd to 1st since 2020.
New contracts are being given out to secure the future of players that were on 5th placed wages and have proven themselves to be title contending stars. And we will keep moving forward as a club.
But even with spending more, recruiting better players, and Arteta evolving as he gains experience, it will still not be a failure to finish 2nd behind City.
City are state owned with near limitless resources. For every pound we can spend, they can spend 100. They already have some of the best players in the world, they have the best manager in the world, and will also spend big this summer (lets remember they outspent us last year, again).
The future is bright for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. But that future also contains Manchester City. And they will not be easy to overtake.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 