It feels like we are getting mixed messages around Thomas Partey right now.

Last week Arsenal published their released list. Mainly youth players (and for some reason players from the girls team), it also included Jorginho and Kieran Tierney, as well as confirming that Neto and Raheem Sterling’s loans were due to end. However one name was not on the initial list. Thomas Parety.

Alongside youth team defender Michal Rosiak and Chloe Kelly, Partey was on a second list of players where discussions are ongoing, and once matters are finalised between all parties, we will communicate in due course.

But then this week, the Premier League published the released players list that had been submitted to them. And on this list Partety was included.

What was a bit of a head scratcher is that Partey is on the list, but Rosiak was not.

Now we have had no news that Rosiak has signed a new deal. Everything points to him still being in discussions. So why was Partey included and not him?

Was it a clerical error? Or is it that talks have not gone well and one of the two parties have made it clear they have no intention of signing of a new contract.

Mikel Arteta would have banked on Partey staying before signing off on the Jorginho exit. Whilst the Brazilian’s contract was also due to expire, Arteta would not have wanted both of his defensive midfield options to depart.

If Partey was always slated to leave, then I am sure Jorginho, who has just married his English wife, would have easily have been persuaded to stay in London. Doing a short term loan deal with Flamengo to allow him to play in the Club World Cup would also have been a possibility.

Instead, Jorginho joined the Brazilian club and is returning to the country of his birth for the first time since leaving at 15 years old.

So what actually is happening with Partey?

It certainly felt that talks were close not too long ago, with Partey’s return to his top form this season cementing himself as the first choice defensive midfielder. And even with the incoming Martin Zubimendi, there was more than enough space for both of them.

Shortly after Arsenal published the released players list, posts were circulating on social media that Partey was considering pulling out of negotiations. The rumour was that Partey was “cautious” about signing a new deal

At 32 years old, and having played brilliantly this season, this contract could be his last big one. His retirement package.

It is likely that either the length of contract or salary offer from Arsenal is not as big as what he could get elsewhere. I imagine we would have been offering him a 2-year deal with an option for a 3rd at around £150k a week. He could get a longer term deal by moving back to Atletico Madrid, or more money by jumping on the Saudi gravy train.

This will leave Arteta with a headache if two defensive midfielders depart.

The plan would have been to have Zubimendi and Partey as the defensive options, and Declan Rice and Mikel Merino as options further forward. If Partey goes, either Rice becomes Zubimendi’s defensive cover, or we need to go into the market and buy a 2nd defensive midfielder. And that is an expenditure we perhaps did not budget for.

Throughout this blog, I have talked about Zubimendi as if it is a done deal. I believe it is.

We have been criticised by opposing fans and those boring Arsenal fans for “not completing a deal we were negotiating for in January”. My bet is all we were waiting for was the Nations League to be over.

Zubimendi’s Spain were in the final of the Nations League. The Spaniard went straight from club football into training camp for his country. He would not have had the time to fly to London, do his medical, undertake the marketing photoshoot, and prepare for playing for his country. It is right that Arsenal allowed him to focus on then Nations League.,

With the competition now over, Zubimendi will either sign today (the last day of the little transfer window), or we will see him sign on 16 June – when the window reopens. We will then use the next 6 days to get the medical done and paperwork in place ready for the announcement.

An alternate thinking is that neither Real Sociedad do not have any UEFA FFP concerns for 2024/25 and would prefer the deal to go into 2025/26 where the huge lump sum profit could be used without issues. Likewise it might suit Arsenal for the deal to not hit our 2024/25 PSR reporting year, and instead go into next.

I would not be surprised if their is an announcement today, or very shortly after.

Back to Partey, his contract does not expire until 30 June. We have plenty of time to try and get a deal done.

At £250k a week, he is one of Arsenal’s highest paid players. If he departs we would then have £22m a year to play with (his wage and amortised transfer fee). That would free us up to sign a replacement for £50m and pay them £150k a week and still save money. However we would still need to find the initial £50m.

I am sure the preference will still be for Partey to sign on lower wages.

£150k a week means the club are spending around £8m a year on him, and his initial transfer fee will be fully amortised. That would then be £14m a year saving on our accounts, and £14m a year we can spend elsewhere without having to increase our outgoings.

And in the most simplistic of terms, signing Zubimendi and keeping Partey costs us less than having Jorginho and Partey on our books.

Enjoy your Tuesday.

Keenos

Benjamin Sesko v Viktor Gyokeres

The week started with it looking like we were in pole position for Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres. It finishes with it looking like Benjamin Sesko is our primary striking target.

As with everything these days, some have tried to turn the situation into a way to divide the fanbase and club.

Some have positioned themselves as “I want Gyokeres, I do not want Sesko”, whilst others have gone for Sesko over Gyokeres. In the mix, they have also tried to write the narrative of it being Arteta v Bertea – with Sesko apparently being Mikel’s favourite and Gyokeres the choice for the new Sporting Director.

Why do some fans really need to turn the situation into an argument? It really is tiresome and a big reason why I have little online presence these days.

Now I am not saying you can not have an opinion or a preference, but some fans take it too far with their divisive language and agenda.

For me, both have positives and negatives.

Gyokeres is perhaps the “ready to go” option. But he is soon to turn 27 and has only performed in the Championship and Portugal. There would rightly be questions as to whether he can take his Portuguese form and replicate it in the Premier League (see Darwin Nunez).

Meanwhile, the feeling is Sesko has a higher ceiling, but right now is a rawer talent with the Slovenian only turning 22 tomorrow.

Gyokeres (at his age), would surely be coming in as first choice striker, relegating Kai Havertz to the bench. But there is no proof that Gyokeres will outperform Havertz, and the German is a huge salary to have sitting on bench.

Meanwhile, Sesko, who will likely command a lower salary, could dovetail with the criminally underrated Havertz whilst he continues to develop.

Regardless of your opinion on either, it is undeniable that both would improve the squad.

Myles Lewis-Skelly

Some fake news floating about around Myles Lewis-Skelly.

“According to Guardian Sport”, Lewis-Skelly has interest from Real Madrid following his new contract negotiations “not going well”. Except no such story exists on the Guardian Sport webpage, and they no longer post on X.

It seems the story is entirely made up by a fake social media news aggregator in an attempt to gain hits and monetise their account ahead of the transfer window.

Gabriel

A year ago there were some strange links of Gabriel to Saudi Arabia. I never really understood them.

Whilst William Saliba is the classes player, I have always felt Gabriel was our better defender. He is the leader at the back. The organiser.

News today is that we are close to a new contract with the Brazilian defender, taking him through to 2030.

If it is done and dusted, the contract will take Gabriel to 10-years at The Arsenal and over 400 appearances (depending on fitness). And I see no reason why he could not go on for another 5 years after and end up in our top 10 for most appearances for the club.

All Gabriel needs is the trophies, and he is well on the way to becoming a club legend.

Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson

A narrative has been written that Arsenal were wrong to let Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson depart last summer. The same people have probably spent a decade moaning that we keep Hale End boys too long, crashing their transfer value rather than cashing in.

Smith Rowe had a brilliant season for the club back in 2021. But since then he struggled for form and fitness and it was clear that he needed first team football for his career to kick on. and he was not good (or fit) enough to play week in, week out for The Arsenal.

Moving to Fulham for £27m was a deal that suited all parties.

Arsenal got a chunk of cash which was 100% profit (for PSR) for a player who was 4th choice winger. Fulham got decent, mid-table Premier League proven player, and Smith Rowe got (almost) guaranteed first team football.

Smith Rowe’s place in the squad was taken by Ethan Nwaneri. The increased game time for the 18-year-old saw him kick on and he is now quite clearly ready to be the understudy for Bukayo Saka. Nwaneri would not have got the minutes he did if we kept Smith Rowe.

Meanwhile, Nelson was loaned out (also to Fulham).

In the Premier League, Nelson made 14 appearances, starting 5 games. He scored 1 goal and got 1 assist. Not sure why anyone would think a player who failed to play regularly for Fulham would have an impact for us.

I expect Nelson to be sold this summer. Like Smith Rowe, he is not title challenger quality.

Keenos

Two BBC headlines followed Arsenal’s exit to Newcastle which highlighted how vast the expectation gap is between the two.

If Newcastle win the League Cup, their players will become legends. Meanwhile, had Arsenal progressed to the final, the headline “Arteta’s Asenal can assume legendary status forever” would not have been written.

Winning the League Cup and finishing 2nd would not be considered a hugely successful for The Arsenal. Meanwhile for Newcastle it will be open top bus rides, calls for knighthood, and players going doing in history as legends.

Howe has been at Newcastle for 4 years. In that time he has won nothing and spent £500m. He is on the verge of becoming a club legend. Meanwhile Arteta has been at Arsenal 5-years. Win the FA Cup. And spent just £30million more than Howe since the Englishman joined the Saudi regime. The media (and some fans) write about Arteta as if he is a man under pressure.

And it is the same with Tottenham.

If Spurs win tonight, and go on to lift the trophy, Ange “I always win something in my second season” will be an instant Spurs legend. the same would not be said for Arteta were we 14th in the table.

All thus highlights is that Arsenal are, rightly, held to a higher level of expectation than lesser rivals.

It has often been written that Tottenham’s ceiling is our floor. And the expectation level of both clubs proves this.

For clubs like Arsenal, winning just the League Cup is not something to overly celebrate. It is our 5th most important target of the season (Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Top 4, League Cup). With Newcastle and Tottenham, winning the League Cup will be their teams greatest achievement of the decade.

You can also throw Aston Villa into the mix. Another club whose fans act like they are big boys, but have not win in decades.

And this is why it is laughable when Newcastle, Tottenham or Aston Villa fans try and talk their club up as if they are on the same level as Arsenal. If they were on our level, then they would have the same level of expectation.

All 3 sides would roll out the red carpet in their slums to celebrate winning the League Cup. Meanwhile for Arsenal, winning the League Cup would be yesterday’s news the day after and we would be rolling up our socks for the next battle.

What really sums this up is our 5-year trophy drought is talked about as if it is the same as Newcastle’s (56 years), Aston Villa (29 years) and Tottenham (17 years).

And when in our doldrums in that 8-year trophy drought under Arsene Wenger, no one went into the 2011 League Cup final talking about how winning the trophy would make our players legends, or justify poor league positions under Wenger.

Newcastle deserve to be in the final. Good luck to them. And their fans might finally get to celebrate something in over half a century. But they need to stop pretending they are a big club. If they were, they would be held to the same level of expectation as Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Keenos