Ben White to miss start of the season as Arsenal’s preparations ramp up

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Ben White is expected to complete his transfer to Arsenal this week ahead of the Mind Series game against Chelsea.

The centre back will not be expected to take any part in that tournament having been given an extended break following England’s exploits at the Euro’s.

With a later than normal start to the season (Arsenal’s first game is August 13th), White will have an outside chance of getting back match fit for the Brentford game, however it is unlikely.

Most of this week will be taken up with medicals and promotion shots, so White is unlikely to join his new team mates for training until the later half of the week once his deal is completed.

That would leave 2 weeks until the Brentford game.

Arsenal could rush White back. A couple of weeks of intense training. But this would risk injury.

Slow and steady wins the race, so Mikel Arteta is more likely to start the season with Rob Holding with White to make his debut in the League cup 2nd round.

On the League Cup. It is the first time since 1995 that Arsenal have played I the 2nd round of the competition.

Traditionally those teams that qualify for Europe do not join the League Cup until the 3rd round.

As we know, this is the first time in 26 years Arsenal do not have European football. And the result is a 2nd round game.

Since English sides were readmitted to European competition for the 1990/91 season, this is only the 3rd year we would have not been in Europe – 95/96 and 1992/93 the other two.

Whilst that is an incredible record, we have come away from 27 seasons in Europe with just one triumph – the 94 European Cup Winners Cup.

We have lost 4 European finals in that time (I do not count the Super Cup as a defeat as it is a friendly trophy. Not a competitive match).

Our European failure really is a black spot on the club.

So other than the Ben White signing, what else can Arsenal expect this week?

We will probably play another friendly behind closed doors prior to Sunday’s friendly against Chelsea.

I imagine it will be a bit like the Millwall game where we are only told of opponents after the game, and the club will probably “delay live stream” the game again.

In terms of transfers, I would be surprised if other deals are confirmed this week.

Arteta and Edu are building a squad. We have other targets in sight but it is too early to make the decision to move on from them and aim for other targets.

I would still expect us to make another 2 or 3 signings – a new keeper, new central midfielder and new attacking midfielder. But we have a month to make these signings.

Would not be surprised if we are lining up with Thomar Partey and Mo Elneny in midfield for Brentford.

Enjoy your day.

Keenos

Emile Smith Rowe Easter Eggs

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This will be geekish but did anyone else spot the Easter eggs in the Emile Smith Rowe contract announcement?

Firstly we have the new number announcement. Number 10.

This announcement was made on the anniversary of Arsenal’s last great number 10’s testimonial game – Dennis Bergkamp.

Not only was it the number, but look at the length of the video.

32 seconds.

Smith Rowe’s old number? 32.

It will mean nothing to most and the majority won’t care. But stuff like that I love.

Have a good day.

Keenos

Abraham, Willian, New Keeper and More

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Tammy Abraham

Will write a bigger blog on Tammy Abraham at some point but a quick few thoughts:

  • Abraham is a good striker and would be an alternative option as 2nd choice
  • He reminds me of Danny Welbeck in that he can play both as a hold up man and run in behind, but is not particularly spectacular at either
  • Personally I would rather give Gabriel Martinelli and Folarin Balogun the chance to back up Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang if Alexandre Lacazette leaves
  • But if Mikel Arteta decides to play either Martinelli or Aubameyang on the left wing, we probably do need another striker
  • Just not sure we should be spending £40million on Abraham

Willian

Read an article yesterday which described Willian as a “prisoner” at Arsenal.

The story went that Willian wants out of Arsenal, but teams are reluctant to match his current contract of £220k a week.

Arsenal would probably be willing to let Willian leave for nothing. We are not forcing him to stay.

It is Willian (and his representatives) that will be demanding any new club match his current Arsenal contract.

If he really wanted a move away, he would accept a lower salary.

It is his choice to remain at Arsenal as a “prisoner” earning £220k a week then move elsewhere and earn half of that.

New Keeper

The pendulum seems to have swung back towards Aaron Ramsdale from Sam Johnstone.

At the weekend the feeling was Arsenal had switched their focus towards Johnstone, believing they could get him a lot cheaper than Ramsdale, but it seems that is not the case.

The rumoured price for Ramsdale seems to have dropped from £40m to £30m whilst the Johnstone price is hovering around £20m – certainly not the cut price Arsenal would have hoped.

As for André Onana, Arsenal have been put off by his drug ban and African Cup of Nations representation.

The Ajax keeper would not be available to play until November and would also miss 6 weeks at the beginning of 2022.

Whilst he is hugely cheaper than Ramsdale and Johnstone, we probably would have only done a deal for him if Bernd Leno left.

The English pair are seen as number 2s, whilst Onana would expect first team football.

Martinez

With use linked with Ramsdale at £30million, a few critics have been saying “let Martinez go for £20m only to sign Ramsdale for £30m”.

Those saying this ignore the differences in the transfers.

Martinez had a year left on his contract, wanted to leave to be number 1 and only really Aston Villa were interested in him. Arsenal were not in a position to strong arm Villa into paying more.

The fact Martinez still talks about Arsenal in every interview whilst barely mentions Villa shows he probably regrets leaving us.

Ramsdale at £30million is too expensive, but the £20m we got for Martinez was a good deal.

Leeds and Villa

Seen a few Leeds and Villa fans “mocking” Arsenal in recent days, saying we are no longer a big club, etc, etc having finished 8th.

Reality is they would celebrate finishing 8th (would be Villa’s best season in a decade and Leeds United’s best in 20 years) as a huge success.

And that is what makes us a big club and them still having Championship mentality.

For us, finishing 8th is failure. For Villa and Leeds it is a success.

Keenos