- Just in case you missed it, here’s the Levekusen match in full
- German champs give a lesson in how not to arrange pre-season; Arsenal saunter through.
By Tony Attwood
Arsenal have been having quite a time releasing players this summer – a total of 20 have gone, mostly from the academy.
- Mohamed Elneny
- Cedric Soares
- Mauro Bandeira
- James Lannin-Sweet
- Omari Benjamin
- Luis Brown
- Catalin Cirjan
- Noah Cooper
- Henry Davies
- Taylor Foran
- Ovie Ejeheri
- Hubert Graczyk
- James Hillson
- Henry Jeffcott
- Tyreece John-Jules
- Alex Kirk
- Kamarni Ryan
- Kido Taylor-Hart
- Lucas Nygaard
- Reuell Walters
So far just one first team squad member has left on a transfer as I am sure you will know Emile Smith-Rowe.
Meanwhile three players have gone out on loan: Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares, and Jack Henry-Francis
Inward bound we have David Raya (having been on loan last season), Tommy Setford and Ricardo Calafiori. Tommy Setford is an 18 year old goalkeeper from Ajax.
What is interesting is that this is a completely different scenario from Manchester City who have released no details of any young players departing but declare only that Sergio Gomez has gone to Real Sociedad, Liam Delap to Ipswich and Savinho has come in from Troyes. Mahamadou Susoho has been loaned to Peterborough.
Arsenal’s situation is interesting because it is out of line with a number of other top clubs. Taking the table at the end of last season but looking at the player situation since then, rather than the traditional wins, draws and defeats we have the table below. “Players loaned” is players loaned out.
Figures come from the Premier League’s official site.
| Team | Players released | Players sold | Players signed | Players loaned out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Arsenal | 20 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Liverpool | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Aston Villa | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Chelsea | 2 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
| Newcastle United | 4 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Manchester United | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
What makes these figures so interesting is the variation between them. Arsenal have released 20 players including two senior players,Mo Elneny, and Cedric Soares. At the other end of the scale Manchester City have not released anyone as yet and Chelsea released two.
As for selling, top of the selling league is Aston Villa closely followed by Chelsea, with eight each. Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, the three top teams from last season have released one or two each.
Arsenal have signed four players which is a midway position: Lucas Nygaard, Riccardo Calafiori, David Rayam and Tommy Setford.
What these figures show is some very different approaches to the game. We might well expect the Manchester City figures since they have had the same manager since 2016/17 and therefore given his success it is not surprising that he has only a limited amount to do this summer. Chelsea on the other hand has a list of managers that looks like something I just made up. But I didn’t – I got it from here.
Chelsea’s managers.
| Manager | In | Out |
|---|---|---|
| Antonio Conte | 1 July 2016 | 12 July 2018 |
| Maurizio Sarri | 14 July 2018 | 16 June 2019 |
| Frank Lampard | 4 July 2019 | 25 January 2021 |
| Thomas Tuchel | 26 January 2021 | 7 September 2022 |
| Graham Potter | 8 September 2022 | 2 April 2023 |
| Bruno Saltor | 2 April 2023 | 6 April 2023 |
| Frank Lampard | 6 April 2023 | 30 June 2023 |
| Mauricio Pochettino | 1 July 2023 | 21 May 2024 |
| Enzo Maresca | 1 July 2024 | Present |
It is fairly obvious that a manager does need a few years to turn a failing team around. It is also obvious that from the start a manager will have his critics on blogs and in the media generally. Even so eight managers up to the end of last season, since 2016, is a bit over the top.
And of course what changing managers means is buying players, and given that Chelsea then started putting players on eight year contracts in order to spread the cost and allow them to buy more, their finances are pretty scuppered. Not just because they have spent so much but because everyone knows Chelsea have to sell, and that reduces the price other clubs are willing to pay. Chelsea don’t need the cash, but they need to sort out their FFP arrangements.
In reverse, when a club brings in a new manager, player prices quoted to that club go up because everyone knows he will want to buy in order to put his own mark on the club.
Arsenal’s approach suggests the club travelling in a different direction. The players tipped by the journalists and bloggers are generally not bought, while some of the players who are bought have had their position and playing style changed. The most obvious is Havertz, whose opening displays led to demands for Arteta to be sacked for spending the club’s entire budget on one useless player.
He actually ended up as Arsenal’s second-highest scorer, with most of his goals coming in the second half of the season as he got used to his new role in the team. He also had the fourth-highest number of assists.
And just by way of conclusion, we might notice the number of players Arsenal had scoring seven plus goals in the league, in the last two seasons: it was five each time. No other club has done this – I will see if I can gather these figures together across the league for a future article.
