Who Arsenal are in for, and who will be displaced from the squad

 

 

• Threats against players reach a new level; that could slow the market down
• Man C accept their latest punishment: what does that tell us?

Once upon a time newspapers and blogs used to spread stories that Arsenal were “in for” this or that player, and then when the player went somewhere else (as he was always going to do) there was a second story that, “Arsenal miss out on” the player.   Having done that a third story would emerge saying that Arsenal were always “too slow” with the implication that the club was staffed with a load of dilettantes who were more interested in knocking £50 off the price than closing the deal.

But these days we have most certainly moved on with the fantasy journos as often as not following up a story about an alleged transfer that is absolutely not going to happen (as 97% of them never do) with another such tale, knowing that each new transfer rumour is destabilising to the squad as players already within the club fear losing their places, and will be permanently benched.

Thus we have “news” that “The arrival of Calafiori could be bad news for Jurrien Timber and Jakub Kiwior, both of whom are hoping to start either in central defence or left-back.”  That is according to Sport Bible.

Now there are a couple of important points here.  First off players are used to being in the febrile world of transfer rumours, and all have agents who, if they are any good at their jobs (and most agents handling Premier League players are good at their jobs otherwise they wouldn’t have Premier League players on their books) are in touch with those they represent concerning developments and rumours.

Second, there is the utterly obvious fact that the clubs know how disruptive transfer rumours can be for players – players who of course need to be psychologically fit as well as physically fit for the start of the season.  So clubs and agents have confidentiality agreements which in part include the club keeping the agent informed as to what their real intentions are.

A club that then goes back on its word without discussing the matter with the agent gets a reputation for that sort of thing, and then finds it harder to deal with agents.  After all a player who finds himself not kept informed of what is going on by his agent, will then find himself a new agent, and that is the last thing agents want.

So Timber and Kiwior going around worried about the arrival of Calafiori, is nonsense.  They will know what their position is in the first team squad and in the first team itself.   Timber missed the season after his injury and will know what he has to do to get regular football.  Kiwior also knows exactly what his position is: he started 18 games last season in all competitions.

But of course there is more to this transfer business as is suggested by SportBible who tell us that there is a hidden reason “why Newcastle may refuse to sell players to Arsenal as Gunners abandon bid for ‘top target’.”

First the alleged top target.  That is supposedly Alexander Isak.  Or at least he is “among the top ones.”

The point made here is that Arsenal have been outspoken about state-owned clubs, of which of course Newcastle is a prime example, and so in return Newcastle will not deal with Arsenal.

The Independent says that Arsenal “have been at the forefront of moves within the Premier League to restrict the potential financial power of Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City and Saudi Arabian-owned Newcastle,” which I for one have very much welcomed.

But the implication in the Indy is the wrong way around.  Arsenal are against what Newcastle are, and it is Arsenal who refuse to deal with Newcastle.   That suggestion that it is Newcastle who refuse to deal with Arsenal is just part of the Anti-Arsenal media standard, suggesting as ever a set of double standards, in which Arsenal will criticise Newcastle’s financial position, but still do business with them.  It makes Arsenal look two-faced and weak in fact.

Arsenal are indeed the forefront of the fight against clubs like Newcastle and Manchester City – clubs that are run by family-owned nation states.  

The same sort of negativity comes with the notion that Arsenal are “reportedly showing interest in Brighton forward Joao Pedro as they consider potential replacements for Marseille target Eddie Nketiah.”  That comes from Football  365 and suggests a vagueness about the club.  Do the writers really think Edu has done nothing but watch matches from the stand and only now pondering who the club might buy?

In fact, the column inches are filled with names of players that Arsenal might buy, and as we know from the last ten or so seasons, the number of transfers that Arsenal make is normally around 3% of those the media suggest they are looking to sign.

Indeed perhaps the most interesting factor in all this is that some people do actually believe the rumours even though each year 97% of them are untrue.   Now why that happens would make an interesting thesis for a psychology student.