Arsenal’s big week starts today

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Does the week start in a Sunday or Monday? I forgot. Regardless, today is the start of a huge 7-days for The Arsenal.

The first team return to the club next week to commence pre-season training.

This is a huge season for Mikel Arteta. One where he needs to turn Arsenal from also-rans to winners. Silverware has to be delivered to back up the huge gains we have made as a club under him.

And to help with the quest for trophies, we need to start seeing players come through the door.

Long term followers of me will know that I am not too concerned when we have a perceived “slow start” to a transfer window.

I do not get my knickers in the twist and do not think we should be signing players early just for the sake of positive PR.

It is better to sign the right players, rather than sign the wrong players just because deals could be done early. And whilst 95% of Arsenal fans realise this, this is a loud minority who cry about us not yet signing anyone beyond a top second class keeper.

All this changes once we are back for pre-season. If we want a fast start we need the bulk of our deals done. Not necessarily done for next Monday, but at least ahead of when we play AC Milan in 17 days time.

But this week we should see at least 2 or 3 new names come through the door to join Kepa. And that could increase.

We have known for some time that Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard were done deals. Must of us expected them to be announced towards the back end of last week, but this was seemingly delayed by the club due to the passing of Diogo Jota.

This shows how classy we are as a club that we delay transfers deals out of respect of the death of another teams player.

Zubimendi and Norgaard will be announced shortly. Maybe even today. And then following them I would expect Cristhian Mosquera to shortly be announced.

Arsenal and Valencia are yet to agree a fee, but it would in would be expect this to be done this week – Mosquera has made it very clear he has not intention of singing a new deal, and has only 12 months remaining on his current one.

Mosquera wants Arsenal. Arsenal want Mosquera.

Another close to be done is Noni Madueke from Chelsea.

Now I am not overly excited by Madueke, however this feels like a market opportunity to sign quality cover for Bukayo Saka.

The Englishman is apparently on just £60-65k a week at Chelsea. Arsenal could easily add £40-50k to that without breaking he age structure for a squad player.

As for the fee, I think it will be done for something in the region of £35m. This would represent a profit for Chelsea and get a player off their books (at last check, they had 31 senior players, of which only 25 can be registered).

I don’t think you are getting much better than Madueke for £35m and £100k a week.T

his certainly feels like a market opportunity and would enable us to rest Saka for 10 Premier League games a season.

Madueke is also both a good substitute to have in attacking and defensive situations.

Struggling to break a team down? Saka not quite doing it? A fresh Madueke for 20 minutes could be devastating. Meanwhile, if we are holding onto a 1-nil lead, he provides raw pace to hit teams on the break if defending deep.

On top of the above, there is still Rodrygo, Sesko / Gyorekes and Eze to talk about.

Rodrygo will only progress once the Club World Cup is over. And even then it will unlikely happen before August with Rodrygo likely disappearing for a few weeks on holiday.

Gyorekes is one that could happen this week.

Whilst I think Sesko was our primary target, my belief is that we have become frustrated with both RB Liepzig and the Slovenian.

We were told 12 months by his people to “come back in a year and he will be ready to move”. That year has passed and it feels like we are in the same situation. There just doesn’t seem to be the motivation from his side to get a deal done.

Meanwhile Gyorekes has been twerking for us all summer.

Rumour has it that he gets paid 10% of any official offer that Sporting Lisbon reject above £60m. I am not sure how true this is and it would be an incredible clause that could change football. A new version of a release clause where instead of clubs having to sell, they have to pay the player for rejecting a deal.

So if this clause is true and we come in with a £65m big for Gyorekes, that will cost sporting £6.5m for the rejecting. And if they are after (say) £75m, then more than half of that extra £10m has been eaten up by their rejection of the initial bid.

I think once we submit an official bid for Gyorekes, it’ll happen quick.

Finally we have Eze.

At first, I could not really see how Rodrygo, Eze and Madueke could fit together as new signings. But all indicators are that none of the deals affect each other and we can sign all 3. That would only mean two things

Number one is that Trossard is out (with his place in the squad taken by Eze). Number two is that Martinelli is gone (to be replaced by Rodrygo). And then Madueke is the Saka back up we have been crying out for for a couple of years.

It would amount to a huge turnover in attacking players, but it could work.

The combined fees of Eze and Rodrygo would like be £140m (£60m for Eze, £80m for Rodrygo). That would easily be supplemented by Martinelli and Trossard exciting to Saudi.

We would likely expect £80m for Martinelli, and £20m for Trossard. So upgrading them to Eze and Rodrygo would cost us a net £40m.

I do not want to see Martinelli go. I would prefer to keep him as the cover for Rodrygo. But we might need the sale to make this window work.

And if he departs, and we get the deals done, we would be left with Saka, Rodrygo, Madueke, Eze and Nwaneri as our wing options. That is a huge upgrade on last season.

This week could be huge.

Keenos

State of Arsenal report: 2025/26

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With all the debate around incomings, one thing has not yet really been spoken about this summer – how the squad is looking in terms of numbers.

Every year, I write a State of Arsenal report. Rather than focusing on positions we need to improve on, etc, the report is takes on how many players we have in the squad, how many of these are non-home grown and how many do not require registering.

Once you get an understanding of the squad places available, you then realise how many players Arsenal could sign, what country they can come from, and who we need to sell if space is needed to be freed up.

Now this is being written on Friday 27 June, before any new players have been signed. I have excluded those players (including Thomas Partey) whose contracts are expiring on 30 June.

By now, you should know the rules. But in case you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years, here are the Premier League rules are:

  • Teams may register up to 25 players
  • No more than 17 “non-home grown” players may be registered
  • You do not need to register Under-21 players who been born on or after 1 January 2004.

So what does Arsenal’s squad look like?

Now what is interesting straight off the bat is just how small the Arsenal squad is right now.

Including Miles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, who do not need to be registered as they are U21, we have a first team squad of 23. This increases to 24 if you include teenage keeper Tommy Setford. However, only 21 players need to be registered.

This is further proof as to why the likes of Kepa (2nd choice keeper), Christian Norgaard (4th choice midfielder) and Cristhian Mosquera (Saliba back up) are essential signings this summer.

Whilst they might not be the big names some were after, and none are the forwards we need, they were signings we needed to make.

Those 3, alongside Martin Zubimendi, will take our squad to 27 players (I have excluded Setford as he is 4th choice keeper). 25 of whom will be registered.

That leaves us no more room for a new left winger or striker. We would also be bang on the non-home grown requirement. However we need to factor in outgoings.

Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riess Nelson are two players that are very obviously “surplus to requirements”. I think we would all be surprised if either of them pull on an Arsenal shirt next season.

Just those two sales bring us back down to 23 registered players. However, with only Zinchenko departing as a non-home grown player, we would only have one free space on that side of the squad.

That would mean of the striker and winger we need, one would have to be home grown – which is why the links with Eberechi Eze are perhaps popping up. The alternative is we sell further players, or do not register than.

Albert Sambi Lokonga is another who will likely be told to look for a new club (once Norgaard is signed), whilst Fabio Vieira is another that will likely depart. One of these two departin will clear the space for us to sign a striker and winger from whichever country we like.

On top of that, you have Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Jesus. Both men are long term injured. Again.

Gabriel Jesus is not expected back until “late 2025”, whilst no update has been provided for Tomiyasu. Due to their status on the medical table, I would be surprised if either are sold this summer.

The likelihood is they will be registered to play if the squad space is available come 31 August. If it is not, expect them both to be left unregistered. I imagine both would then be moved on in the summer.

So that State of Arsenal? We are in a good place. We do not really need to sell to buy initially to free up space. and we have some very obvious candidates that will likely be moved on to free up space.

Enjoy your Saturday.

Keenos

Arsenal getting it right in the transfer window

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“Another defensive midfielder”
“Another goalkeeper”
“Another defensive midfielder”
“Another centre back”
“Arteta has a fetish”

It is baffling that Arsenal are criticised for not signing players, then when deals are done (and just awaiting to be announced), are then criticised for saying players.

Whilst we all know we need a striker and a winger, we also needed a new defensive midfielder, which became two when Thomas Partey decided not to sign a new deal. Right sided central defensive cover for William Saliba was also essential, as was back up for David Raya.

Whilst Kepa and Christian Norgaard might not be the most exciting names, both are experienced Premier League campaigners who are ready to go from day one. The pair played regularly for mid-table Premier League sides last year, with Norgaard captaining Brentford.

I have always said a “squad player” at a title-chasing team needs to be good enough to start regularly for a mid-table team, and Kepa and Norgaard are that. And the fact that we are getting them for just £15 million combined is shrewed business.

We could have signed more exciting players as backup dancers. Spent £20-30 million on each of them. But they would unlikely have been better than Kepa and Norgaard. And every penny over the £15m we have spent on the pair would have been a penny less than we would have to spend elsewhere.

And ultimately, the club need to sign the players they think will improve us, whilst understanding the bigger picture and impact each deal will have on other deals. They do not sign players to appease cry-arsing fans.

It has to be remembered that, with Norgaard, he is replacing Jorginho in the squad, and not Thomas Partey.

The Ghanian is our first choice defensive midfielder, and he is being replaced by Martin Zubimendi.

Taking into account Partey’s fitness problems over the 5-years at the club and his huge wage, it is hard not to see Zubimendi as an upgrade.

Zubimendi is Spain’s second best defensive midfielder behind Rodri, and was being chased by Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona. He chose Arsenal because he believed in Arteta and adds an aspect of control in the centre of midfield. A fabulous signing.

And then last night it broke that Arsenal were close to securing a deal for Valencia centreback Cristhian Mosquera.

I will be honest, I do not know much about Mosquera beyond that he was first choice for Valencia last season, is 21 today, has been playing at the Euro U21 tournament and will cost less than £20m.

Reports are that he is quick and strong, and therefore should be natural cover for William Saliba.

Last season, Saliba’s cover was a mixture of Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu. None of whom are a specialist centreback. Bringing in Mosquera would mean we have specialist cover in that area.

An eye also needs to be kept on Saliba’s contract – his current deal expires in 2-years and there has been little talk of a new one. Taking into account how Real Madrid have operated in the transfer market recently, I would not be surprised if they are already in his ear about a move in 2027.

If Mosquera is rated highly, getting him in now will give him 2-years to grow and settle before potentially replacing Saliba. Of course, I do not want the Frenchman to leave but this deal does feel like it could be future proofing our defence if he decides to depart.

So there we have it. 3 squad players signed (or on the brink of signing) for a combined £35m, and a first choice defensive midfielder for £55m. £90m spent, with all 4 likely to be announced next week (it was always said that we would start announcing deals from 1 July).

And if you are still unsure why we signed those players:

The graphic above really highlights the impact of the signings have had on the midfield down. We now have proper quality squad depth from goalkeeper, through the defence and into the midfield. 2 players for every position.

If you do not think the players we signed we essential, cross them out of the graphic above and see what you are left with….

And finally, yes we need a new striker, and a new winger. But this is not FIFA or Football Manager. You can not sign players in a “certain order” just for good PR.

A deal for someone like Rodrygo will not be done until after the Club World Cup. And it might take a few weeks after as he will want to go straight on holiday and turn off his brain. I would not be surprised if we do not see his situation resolved until August.

In the meantime, we are looking at alternatives, and Eberechi Eze is a name that has broken recently.

With his release clause, Eze would be a quick deal to do. But signing him would mean no Rodrygo.

Rodrygo needs to be our number one target, and we just need to be saying to Eze that if the deal for the Brazilian is not done by the first week of August, we will pivot to him. Now whilst some might say “why would Eze join if he knew he was second choice” – get in the real world. Most players realise when joining a new club that they were not first choice.

And in August, if Rodrygo joins, Eze would still have plenty of options on the table elsewhere.

As for the striker, the situation is unchanged with Viktor Gyorekes and Benjamin Sesko. There is still brinksmanship between Arsenal, sporting and RB Leipzeg.

I beleive Sesko is our first choice, but the sticking point is the fee. RB Leipzeg apparantly need to make some sizeable sales before 1 July, so Arsenal will be hoping to use this to drive the price down. And if the deal is not done by then, I think we will quickly pivot to Gyorekes.

All in all, Arsenal are getting it right this transfer window.

We have recruited squad players without breaking the bank. Players that raise our floor. And we are still continuing to work on a couple big name signings that will raise the ceiling. But these bigger deals take time.

Keenos