Tielemans, Saliba Contract, Outgoings and More

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Tielemans

I still maintain we will not be in for Youri Tielemans.

I just can not see the deal happening when we have quite a few “number 8s” now in Martin Odergaard, Granit Xhaka, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Emile Smith Rowe.

Arsenal were in for him early in the summer, I think that is clear and obvious, but as it progressed we moved for someone else (Vieira) and decided to stick with a current player (Xhaka).

Now some might begin having the debate between Xhaka and Tielemans, but it is one that is not worthwhile waisting your breath on.

Tielemans only comes in if Xhaka is sold. And as anyone who has watched All or Nothing will know, Xhaka is the leader on and off the pitch. He might not wear the armband but he is the captain.

Add in the Zinchenko can play in midfield and we are overloaded in the centre of the park.

The only place in central midfield we need to strengthen is cover for Partey. but Tielemans is not that!

And I expect us to go big for a defensive midfielder next summer who can go on to be a long term replacement for PArtey rather than short term cover.

Tielemans will not happen (disclaimer: unless Leicester drop the price to something silly!)

Now Pedro Neto is a deal to keep an eye on…

Saliba Contract

There has been talk for some time that William Saliba has agreed a new contract, and the club are just waiting for the right time time too announce it.

The right time will probably be when Hector Bellerin leaves.

We know that Saliba has half an eye on Bellerin’s Number 2 shirt, and Arsenal do not have a habit of giving a shirt number to a “new” player when the incumbent is still at the club.

Saliba has worn a variety of shirt numbers throughout his career – 4 at AS Saint-Étienne and when he joined Arsenal, 4 at Nice, 17 with France and 2 at Marseille.

With many players wanting to associate themselves with a single shirt number – and build a brand around it – Saliba seems to have his eyes on the number 2 at Arsenal.

With 4 gone (Ben White), 2 could be vacated very soon if Bellerin gets his move away.

It is not too late for Saliba to swap shirt numbers this season so it would not be a surprise if his contract renewal is met with a new shirt announcement.

I only hope if this happens, Arsenal do the right thing and refund anyone that has bought Saliba 12.

Outgoings

Arsenal are still a selling (or loaning) club and whilst we have done well clearing the decks, there are still a couple more senior players that we will look to move on over the next week.

The recent departures have been development loans

Highly rates right back Brooke Norton-Cuffy has joined Rotherham in the Championship.

The 18-year-old right back impressed for Lincoln City last season in League One. Joining Rotherham is another step up in his development.

He should play week in, week out for them and will grow dramatically as a player. Next season expect him to return and compete for a starting place at right back – Norton-Cuffy is a big reason we have not signed a right back this summer.

Also loaned out is Salah-Eddine Oulad M’hand.

The Dutchman joined in 2020, but spent most of his first season out injured.

Last season he was a regular for the youth team and appeared on the first team bench a handful of times.

Rumours are Hull City have an option to buy in the loan deal. This would surprise me as he is clearly a gifted footballer.

But then he also competes with the likes of Charlie Patino (who has joined Blackpool on loan) and as discussed above, plays in a position where Arsenal have a lot of competition.

Not every player will make it at Arsenal (most won’t) and the majority will not even “get their chance”. If the club has decided that Patino is streets ahead of M’Hand and therefore we should cash in rather than offer a new deal to the elder player, then we should back that.

Expect a few more outs between now and the end of the transfer window.

Omari Hutchinson

When youngster Hutchinson left a few weeks ago to Chelsea, there was some negativity about.

Some were concerned that we were letting go a talented young player on free to a rival.

The reality was Hutchinson’s contract came to an end and he joined the club that offered him the biggest salary – Chelsea.

I found it hilarious that Hutchinson was holding Chelsea’s number 7 shirt during the promotion pictures, only to then be given the 82.

He possibily went to Chelsea thinking he would get a chance to play. Reality is he has been sent to their youth team and will end up being loaned out 5 or 6 times.

At the weekend he played against Arsenal’s U21s. Arsenal won 4-1.

As they say, the grass isn’t always greener…

Slow Saka should excite Arsenal fans

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At times last season it felt like if Bukayo Saka did not score or create, we would struggle to score or create.

With 11 Premier League goals and 7 assists, our Starboy led the way in both categories.

And when he ran out of steam in those closing weeks of the season, Arsenal also ran out of steam.

Which is why there is a lot to be excited about with his slow start to the season.

With zero goals and zero assists although he did force an OG on the opening day of the season) from the opening 3 games of the season, a lesser man would be worried by his “poor form”. But then I am no lesser man.

Arsenal have scored 9 in the opening 3 games of the season, leading to 9 points out of 9.

In Martin Odergaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka we have a fluid front 3 that have produced plenty of chances in the first 3 games.

Against Bournemouth, Odergaard – who some had been criticising in the opening 2 games – scored twice. That went with Martinelli’s opening 2 goals in the first 2 games and Jesus’s brace against Leicester City.

Such is the threat of Saka, he is now often double or even triple marked by opponents. This leads to space being free across the pitch.

Arsenal have threats all across the front four. And that means despite Saka’s quiet start, Arsenal have not struggled.

Some will begin to question Saka. The odd fellas that decide to find negativity in a 100% start to the season. Ignore them.

At some point, Saka will come good. Likewise Martinelli, Odergaard and Jesus will go off the boil.

Add in Emile Smith Rowe (who was 2nd in our goal scoring charts last season) and we have a variety of attacking talent.

Arteta has options up top. It is no longer down to Saka to be the main main.

Sharing is caring.

Keenos

Martin Odergaard silences Arsenal-incels

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The Arsenal-incels picked their new victim.

The weird little kids on Twitter (who in all honesty I should just ignore) decided that club captain Martin Odergaard will be the next individual to feel their wrath.

Despite claiming to be “fans”, Arsenal-incels hate everything Arsenal.

They were born out of the memory of Mesut Ozil.

Most were never really Arsenal fans, but Ozil fans. They worshiped the ground that the former-World Class player walked on. And anyone that dare criticise their God would fee their rage.

Eventually, Mikel Arteta had enough of the distributive, overpaid, underperforming Ozil and, backed by Edu, encouraged the club to pay him to leave.

This made Arteta and Edu number one targets. How dare they dump a player that was not any good anymore.

The Arsenal-incels were fuming. Arteta and Edu had become incel enemy number one.

Anyone they thought Arteta liked to as instantly added to their spreadsheet of “players we must hate no matter how they perform”.

Incumbents include Ben White, Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale.

At the same time they also went OTT in their praise of anyone they though Arteta did not rate – you will still find them online repping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

They loved Matteo Guendouzi and many of them “began supporting Marseille” and how the Frenchman was joined at the club by William Saliba.

Saliba was their new poster boy. They told mistruths that he had been loaned out because Arteta didn’t rate him. They compared him to Virgil van Dijk. Claimed he was already amongst the best in Europe. They hoped that he would leave Arsenal and join Marseille.

Likewise they ignored all of the issues Guendouzi has created everywhere he went. They acted like he was the reincarnation of Cesc Fabregas. Reality is he was a child in a man’s body whose own attitude will mean he never fulfils their talent.

Nicolas Pepe was another they showed their support for.

Constant comparisons between Pepe and Saka. Having a go at the young Englishman just because Arteta picked him. You can pretty much better their stance would do a 180 if it was Pepe playing week on, week out. They’d be crying that Arteta can’t develop youth and Saka should look for a move away. Probably to Marseille.

The decided Odergaard would be their early season target.

Made captain by Arteta – and playing in the same position as Ozil – Odergaard had no goals or assists from our opening 3 games. This led the Arsenal-incels to quickly get on his back.

Two games in, we were 6 points from 6. We should all have been on cloud 9.

But there were the incels spending their mental energy criticising Odergaard for not yet scoring on assists.

The obsession about G/A for midfielders is an odd concept as they have many more important output metrics.

Odergaard had a fantastic start to the season and was key in our fluid build up play.

It didn’t matter that he had not scored or assisted. The game is bigger than the a couple of statistics of an individual.

Against Bournemouth he scored twice.

I wondered if Odergaard would be getting this criticism if he was not made captain by Arteta? Probably not.

Likewise he plays “10” (although is more than an 8, whatever that means) which lets the Ozil fan boys make further comparison.

It is really time these people stopped building their opinion on players based on their hatred of the man that dumped Ozil. They are look like an ex that won’t let go.

Whilst Arsenal are marching on, their hero is somewhere in Turkey and really does not care about them.

If you can not support Arsenal after 9 points from 9, then you really are not a fan of the club.

Odergaard is the captain, it’s Arteta’s red and white army. Get behind him or go follow Marseille.

Keenos