by Sir Hardly Anyone
Strangest headline of the day: after months of knocking Mustafi at every turn Goal gives us this one, “Arteta confirms Arsenal looking for reinforcements after Mustafi injury blow”. Two weeks ago an injury to Mustafi would have been hailed in the media as a bonus for Arsenal! Now it seems to be a blow. How times change!
Other good headlines include
Arsenal ‘forced’ to sign a new centre-back after Mustafi injury – Keown
That headline comes from
With 3 days to go the headline Arteta confirms Arsenal in the market for ‘one or two’ signings after FA Cup from the D
The Star also gives us Arsenal slammed by Flamengo chief after ‘changing’ terms of Pablo Mari transfer which means that if Arsenal lose a game it will be the management’s fault. Of course.
Also on the rise once again is the anti-Ozil charge. Just Arsenal come in with
Mesut Ozil is a distraction that Arsenal simply do not need
And we have, on the grounds that it is better to report a rumour late than not at all, from Sports Review…
“Arsenal will rival Everton for the signature of Real Madrid star James Rodriguez, according to a report (Sports Review). Which means the blogs will be set up for the “Arsenal accused of dithering” headlines in the coming days.
And that is reinforced by “Mikel Arteta still undecided” from
So here is our list of 42 players we are going to start signing very shortly
| No | Player | Currently At | Position | Source / Notes |
| ? | ??? | ??? | Centre back | HITC devote whole article to saying we are getting someone but we don’t know who. https://tinyurl.com/quxj5ak Red London now copying this approach. |
| 1 | Nathan Ake | Bournemouth | Centre back | FoLo. Chelsea want him |
| 2 | Max Aarons | Norwich | Full back | £30m; Mail |
| Update | Jude Bellingham | Birmingham | Striker | Football London and Express; Liverpool also want him. Birmingham Live say AFC now making their move. Arsenal will pay £30m. Star say Arsenal have now joined in race. |
| 4 | Jerome Boateng | Bayern Munich | Centre back | Gunnersphere, Football Fancast. Sempremilan says no deal. TBR says it will be a loan. Bavarian Football Works. |
| 5 | Hakan Calhanoglu | Milan | Attacking midfield | Football fan cast say the “fans” have already turned against him. Express says Arsenal’s budget won’t stretch to it. It’s €20million |
| NEW | Emre Can | Juventus | Midfield | Caught offside, citing Bild. Express says he is going to Man U. No he has taken a pay cut to go to Dortmund. |
| 7 | Edinson Cavani | PSG | Striker | Edinson Cavani has handed in a transfer request, TBR Football |
| 8 | Philippe Coutinho | Bayern Munich | Attacking midfield | On loan from Barcelona. Arsenal is a possible destination, his agent is an Arsenal fan and is a friend of Edu, according to the Star |
| 9 | Yan Couto | Coritiba | Defender | A teenager, no less! |
| 10 | Djene Dakonam | Getafe | Defender | Centre back can play right back. Talk Sport have this as a major possibility now! |
| 11 | Merih Demiral | Juventus | Defender £50m. | Fotomc / Sport Witness |
| 12 | Sergino Dest | Ajax | Full back | Just Football. Can play left or right. He’s 19. |
| 13 | Lewis Dunk | Brighton | Centre back | Star |
| 14 | Firmino | Liverpool | Attacking midfield | TalkSport. Even they say this is “Speculation” |
| 15 | John Fleck | Sheffield Utd | Midfield | Football Insider, Burnley Express, Coventry Life. Left Coventry on a free 2 years ago. Shields Gazette say AFC bid £20m |
| 16 | Omari Forson | Man U | Attacking midield | He’s 15; HITC |
| 17 | Bruno Guimarães | Athletico Paranaense | Midfield | Benfica and Borussia Dortmund both want him – The Star. Deal is 95% done – FoLo |
| 18 | Raul Jimenez | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Striker | The dangerous Mexican |
| 19 | Christian Kabasele | Watford | Defender | NBC Reports. |
| 20 | Thilo Kehrer | PSG | Defender | Part swap for Lacazette; Bleacher. |
| 21 | Franck Kessie | Milan | Central Midfield | Mirror, Caughtoffside, Sun, Metro. Sportsmole have Arsenal as favourites to sign him. |
| 22 | Layvin Kurzawa | PSG | Left back | The Sun “according to reports” in France Football, say he’s signed a five year deal from next season. PSG says no (Caught Offside). Or yes, contract agreed (Caught Offside). Free transfer in June (Mail). Or £4.2m now (FoLo). He’s going to Juventus (Metro) |
| Update | Thomas Lemar | Atletico Madrid | Left Wing | Read Arsenal. Team Talk says as part of Lacazette deal. FoLo says its a loan deal. No Fo Lo says £33m transfer close! Star says Arsenal are at the front of the queue. HITC says some fans don’t want him at Arsenal. FoLo says “All roads lead to Arsenal”. Sport Witness says “close to signing” Bayern want him (Mail) |
| 24 | James Maddison | Leicester | Playmaker | Football Insider |
| Update | Pablo Mari | Flamengo. | Central defender | FoLo (its confirmed), Star. Spotted at airport with Edu. HITC say fans are denouncing the move as player is “another Mustafi”, FoLo – he’s gone back to Brazil. Arsenal changed the terms of the deal at last moment Star. Deal is on ESPN. |
| Update | Mykola Matviyenko | Shakhtar Donestk | Central defender or left back depending on source. | 4th official, Metro. He’s a Ukraine international, talks have begun. Loan then purchase for £22m (Daily Canon.) No, cash offer made! (HITC). Metro, Arseblog. Sky Sports confirm and say cost is £30m. Metro say Arteta was recommending player when he was at Man C. “All roads lead to Arsenal” FoLo. Arteta sets stance (FoLo – whatever that means). He is our first signing (Express, Arsenal Station) |
| 27 | Dries Mertens | Napoli | Striker or winger | Metro, FoLo. WHU want him also. |
| 28 | Thomas Meunier | PSG | Right back | World Soccer Talk. |
| 29 | Thomas Partey | Atletico Madrid | Defensive midfield | Express |
| 30 | Leandro Paredes | PSG | Central midfield | Part Swap for Lacazette; Bleacher |
| 31 | Adrien Rabiot | Juventus | Midfield | Star. £25m |
| Update | James Rodriguez | Real Madrid | Midfield | Loan deal, Everton also interested. Daily Mail. Arseanl have entered the race (Sports Review) |
| 33 | Boubakary Soumare. | Lille | Midfield | Read Arsenal |
| 34 | John Stones | Man C | Central defence | Sun, HITC |
| 35 | Dominik Szoboszlai | Red Bull Salzburg | No 10 | FoLo |
| 36 | Samuel Umtiti | Barcelona | Centre back | Sport Witness |
| NEW | Cedric Soares | Southampton | Right Back | Telegraph, Arseblog, Express, Metro, Saints Marching, |
| 38 | Cengiz Under | Roma | Winger | The Boot Room. £34m |
| 39 | Dayot Upamecano | Leipzig | Central defence | Express. France u-21 |
| 40 | Jannik Vestergaard | Southampton | Defender | TBR say Leicester are going for him but Arsenal could be interested. |
| 41 | Kevin Volland | Bayer Leverkusen. | Forward | World Soccer Talk |
| 42 | Wilfried Zaha | Crystal Palace | Forward | Football.London, who seem to be re-running the summer transfers to save them making up anything new. |
Even a broken clock is right one time within a 24 hr period! I suspect half of it is being fed to them from dud or fake agents and their acolytes, and the rest is just pure speculation to generate eye-balls. But many times they overreach with some stinkers. The Cedric Soares is prime example,you just know this is the work of an agent trying to drum up interest by linking him to arsenal, wouldn’t be surprised if West Ham signs him up!
OT
Only the League Cup tonight so ref more lenient on Leicester. 15 fouls per card……….
In other news, apparently Mustafi is an “Ace” according to some media and bloggerati at the moment, since he may (or may not) have a long term injury. If he’s injured it will probablt be described as a crisis, despite the same outlets having almost nothing but negative writings about the player in the past.
Oh how they change with the winds…
OT just watched a program with Mike Dean celebrating his 500th match as a referee (StarSports India). Came across like candy in a pik n mix. So sweet and cool, ‘butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth’ (as my mother in law would say).
Went into the VAR studio and briefly explained what and how things were done (Professional Games Match Officials posted on the walls). Definitely good evidence that the Laws are out of the window.