Morning all,
The first transfer window of the summer closed last night and, somehow, Benjamin Sesko, shock-horror, resisted the lure of Saudi club Al-Hilal who were offering him a debut against Real Madrid in the Club World Cup.
Apparently, the 21-year-old wants to stay in Europe – hardly surprising when some of the continent’s best clubs are sniffing around. Interestingly, the striker is currently nursing a knee issue and is being rested by Slovenia at RB Leipzig’s request – a clear sign the Bundesliga side don’t want to take any risks with their prized asset while he’s still on the market.
Anyway, for now, he remains up for grabs, and Arsenal are still in talks with his camp. We can save the panic for another day.
As far as I can make out, just over 30 players moved to or between Premier League clubs in the last 10 days, with Chelsea and Manchester City – England’s representatives at FIFA’s ridiculous tournament – spending around €200 million between them.
Liam Delap (Ipswich), Estevao Willian (Palmeiras), Dario Essugo (Sporting) and Mamadou Sarr (Strasbourg) all made moves to Stamford Bridge, while Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves), Marcus Bettinelli (Chelsea) and Rayan Cherki (Lyon) were snapped up by City. It looks like the latter also has an agreement with Tijjani Reijnders (AC Milan).
The biggest deal of the window was Matheus Cunha’s £62.5 million move from Wolves to Manchester United, while Jeremie Frimpong’s switch from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool, and Caoimhin Kelleher’s move from Anfield to Brentford also grabbed a few headlines.
There were, of course, plenty of departures from the Premier League. Dean Huijsen’s move to Real Madrid was one of the more eye-catching, and Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola certainly has his work cut out rebuilding his defence. Along with losing the Spanish centre-back, the Cherries are waving goodbye to Kepa, now expected to join Arsenal from Chelsea following the end of his loan, while Milos Kerkez is being lined up by Liverpool and Illia Zabarnyi is wanted by PSG.
It’ll be interesting to see what they do with all that cash. Maybe they’ll double their stadium capacity by adding another 100 seats. That one’s for you, Mr. Stillman.
As for why the transfer window is now closed for six days before reopening on Monday, it’s slightly unclear. Sky Sports claims it’s down to a random Premier League regulation that says the summer window must open “at midnight on the date 12 weeks prior to the date on which it is to conclude.” A perfectly fine explanation, until you ask why they didn’t just move the end date forward by six days. Presumably, FIFA’s last-minute calendar meddling played a part?
For what it’s worth, the Premier League point the finger elsewhere. They state: “Because FIFA’s rules stipulate the transfer windows in a calendar year when combined cannot be greater than 16 weeks, a break had to be inserted.”
Anyway, whatever. As I said yesterday, you’ve got a few days to regain your composure.
Or you can spend it swotting up on all the players we’ve been linked with. According to The Athletic’s (£) latest Transfer DealSheet, Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi is high on our agenda – along with all the usual names. He’s a very solid, experienced player, six months younger than Jakub Kiwior, homegrown, and has just a year left on his deal at Selhurst Park. All of which is attractive. He also happens to look like he could be Bukayo Saka’s bigger, meaner brother.
All in all, with Zubimendi seemingly done, Kepa on his way, strong links with attackers and a bit of deadwood cleared out, Arsenal look pretty well placed a month out from the start of pre-season.
Having speculated yesterday about Arsenal’s plans for Ethan Nwaneri, it was heartening to hear the youngster speak so maturely about his situation, particularly his flexibility when it comes to where Mikel Arteta fields him, and how he’s approached limited game time at the end of the season.
Facing the media at St George’s Park ahead of the Under-21 European Championships, he said:
“Going from playing quite a lot to not playing as much is normal in football. So I don’t really take it to heart. I understand Mikel’s got a decision to make at the end of the day, and it’s hard for him to make. He obviously wants to include everyone but he can’t. But I think it’s part of football and it’s those times that can really define where you’re going to be. I think I’ve dealt with it well. I’m in a good place mentally and physically.”
As for his favoured position, he added: “You can see sometimes I’m a natural midfielder, but I think if the manager wants you to play in a position, you have to do it to the best of your abilities. I don’t mind playing there [on the right] because anywhere for the Arsenal first team I’ll be happy playing, and trying to do a good job for the team.
“I’ve played false nine before a few times, actually. I think I can do a role anywhere that the manager needs me.”
Given he’s been around the first team setup for nearly three years, it’s easy to forget just how remarkable Nwaneri’s progress has been. For context, he’s the youngest player in England’s under-21 squad by a full 18 months! Just let that sink in.
I might be projecting, but it feels like Arsenal deliberately kept his media exposure to a minimum since he broke through. Perhaps they’re mindful of the fact that, personality-wise, he leans more towards introvert than showman. By contrast, his close pal Myles Lewis-Skelly seems far more at ease soaking up the limelight.
That said, bit by bit, we’re seeing Nwaneri grow in confidence. He was front and centre at the recent home kit launch, and in this latest interview he handled himself impressively as questions flew in from all angles.
One particularly revealing moment came when he spoke about his body language – something Arteta has specifically challenged him to work on:
“He’s elevated my game, definitely. There’s so much, not even just tactically but mentally too.
“On a personal level, he’s helped me a lot. He’s really big on body language and the way that he presents himself. He puts that onto me. Before, maybe the way that I’d walk or slouch a bit or just the way I’d be sitting, he’s onto everything. That’s helped me just sharpen up in my mind and it’s helped me a lot.”
While Arteta’s level of control might sound a bit George Graham-esque, not a bad thing, by any means, he’s absolutely right to emphasise the importance of exuding confidence. The best players carry an aura, and that presence can be used to unsettle opponents and gain an edge.
Thomas Tuchel may well come knocking for Nwaneri sooner rather than later. By the sound of things, his struggling England side could do with a bit of magic.
I couldn’t bring myself to pay much attention to last night’s friendly with Senegal, but it was on in the background while I cooked and I could hear Lee Dixon, on ITV co-commentary duty, growing ever more exasperated by a rather desperate performance. The Three Lions lost 3-1 at the City Ground and deservedly so. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka played 71 minutes while Myles Lewis-Skelly was taken off so Ivan Toney could run around for 3 minutes at the end.
Elsewhere, Jakub Kiwior got on the scoresheet for Poland but couldn’t prevent them losing 2-1 to Finland, and Oleksandr Zinchenko netted the winner for Ukraine as they beat New Zealand 2-1 in Canada. I’m sure if you search hard enough, you’ll find the goals.
Finally, for today, if you listened to this week’s Arsecast Extra and found yourself wondering which member of the Arseblog team described Declan Rice as someone who “always looks very sweaty and tired” in the player ratings game.
Well, that was me. And I stand by it. He does!
Right, that’s my stint of cover duty over. Thanks for having me. Lewis takes over for the next few days. Catch you next time.
