By Tony Attwood
There is no doubt things have stalled. The number of new players and new rumours in the last week has been virtually nothing – all we have had is the rehashing of the same old same old. It is by and large a pretty poor show. We’re only on 89 and we need 110 to beat last summer’s total.
But why? What has gone wrong?
The obvious answer is that the journalists who make these stories up know that they have been busted, and realise that they are being laughed at. OK some of the slower one’s haven’t got it yet but many have just given up the chase of mythical tales.
But there is a hilarious version doing the rounds which says that “for a 25 player team (apart from young players), you need 7 british (or considered british) players. Gibbs, Chambers and Jenkinson all fit that profile. Having them leave means a ‘non-british’ player of the 25 has to leave as well unless of course you find a replacement. I guess Walker’s transfer from Spurs to City was so highly valued also because he is british.”
Well, not quite. The rule says that at least eight of the 25 players over 21 must be “home grown” and thus the maximum number of non-home grown players is 17. A team could have no home grown players at all, and still register 17 “foreign” players. So the maximum number of 17 “foreigners” is always the same.
The reason why virtually every team except Arsenal had only 22 or 23 players registered was because they couldn’t find enough home growns for the remaining slots.
But there is a real issue for Arsenal. If they sign more and more players that sends out a signal to their youngsters that they won’t get a place in the squad. While the youth production line at La Masia has slipped up of late, Arsenal’s youngsters just keep on coming through (and they are all of course considered “home grown” irrespective of where they were born.
Still, those bloggettas are always good for a laugh. Here’s the index…
| No | Player | Club | Position | Notes |
| 1 | Tammy Abraham | Chelsea | Striker | Currently on loan to Bristol City |
| 2 | Aguero | Man City | Striker | The deal is that we can have him in return for Alexis! Paul Merson seems to think this is the deal. |
| 3 | Alcantara | Barcelona | Midfield | Has requested a transfer to get more playing time. |
| 4 | Marcelo Allende | Deportes Santa Cruz | Attack m’f | Had 3 trials, training with first team. Signing today! Actually that was two weeks ago. |
| Update | Marco Asensio | Real Madrid | Attack Midfield | Man U, Roma, Liverpool, Arsenal interested with last two battling it out. He’s 21, unhappy at Real Mad. Deal is now on. |
| 6 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Borussia Dortmund | Striker | £80m to replace Alexis. Man U want him |
| 7 | Carlos Bacca | AC Milan | Striker | He’s 32 years old. Was going to WHU |
| 8 | Gareth Bale | Real Mad | Striker | Stan Collymore tipped this one. |
| 9 | Ross Barkley | Everton | Attack mid | Been there since 2010 and played 150 games – does he really want to come? Arsenal fighting Man U and Tottenham |
| 10 | Aymen Barkok | Eintracht Frankfurt | Midfield | According to R E Ports |
| Update | Karim Benzema | Real Mad | F’wd | Definitely going to either AFC or Chelsea. Star says replacement for Alexis. Latest it will be a swap deal |
| 12 | Sander Berge | Genk | Midfield | Everton, Monaco and Sevilla all want him |
| 13 | Andrea Belotti | Juventus | F’wd | Sadly he has just signed a new contract |
| 14 | Yacine Brahimi | Porto | Attack m/field | He’s 27 and plays for Algeria. |
| 15 | Marcelo Brozovic | Inter | Midfield | Arsenal “weighing up a move for the Croatian midfielder” in order “revamp” the team (!!!) Scouts watching him. Wenger likes him. |
| 16 | Joel Campbell | Return | F’wd | Loan period ending; but he’s injured |
| 17 | Iker Casillas | Porto | Goal | To solve our goalkeeping “crisis” |
| 18 | Hakan Calhanoglu | Bayern Leverkusen | Playmaker | |
| 19 | Kingsley Coman | Juventus | Wing | On loan with Bayern this season |
| 20 | Max Cruse | Werder Bremen | Striker | Only played in Germany and is “troubled” |
| 21 | Juan Cuadrado | Juventus | New Alexiss | Arsenal made £17.6m bid |
| 23 | Mousa Dembele | Celtic | New Alexis | 32 goals in 48 games last season |
| 24 | Virgil Van Dijk | Southampton | Defence | Helps us play a back 3 all the time. A prime target because “Arsenal’s defence is so fragile” |
| 25 | Ederson | Benfica | Goal | 23 year old to replace Cech |
| 26/27 | Danilo and Silva | Paços de Ferreira | Arsenal scouts are watching them even though they no longer play there. | |
| 28 | Pontus Dahlberg | Gothenburg | Goal | “Being keenly watched” or “do we need another keeper? |
| 29 | Oghenekaro Etebo | Feirense | Winger | Scored 4 goals in Olympics |
| 30 | Cesc Fabregas | Chelsea | Midfield | Daily Mirror says its a deal |
| 31 | Fabinho | Monaco | RB & def midfield | Played 67 times for Monaco |
| 32 | Emil Forsberg | RB Leipzig | Midfield | He’s Swedish and he’s 25 years old |
| 33 | Jose Luis Gaya | Valencia | LB | Man City winning the race |
| 34 | Ben Gibson | Middlesbrough | Centre back | £30m. Tottenham want him. |
| 35 | Aleksandr Golovin | CSKA Moscow | Midfield | Going cheap at £10m. AFC in the final stages of buying him. |
| 36 | Leon Goretzka | Shalke | Midfield | £21m, 1 yr left on contract. Wanted to replace Ozil (Most quoted story by far). He said “I’m not impressed by newspaper reports.” “Arsenal are keen” (Sport Bild). |
| 37 | Robert Green | Leeds | Goal | He was their 1st choice, now they’ve bought someone else, so want to unload him on us!!! |
| 38 | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid | Forward | Man U don’t want him after all. |
| 39 | Amine Harit | Nantes | M’fld | Arsenal have given him a trial. He is 19-years-old |
| 40 | Dalbert Henrique | Nice | Left Back | Inter want him. He’s played 33 times for Nice. Although an old story this one has just popped up again |
| 41 | Lorenzo Insigne | Napoli | F’wd | Liverpool! are on alert! |
| 42 | Jakub Jankto | Udinese | M’fld | To play alongside Xhaka. Arsenal set to sign him. TalkSport say it is about to happen. |
| 43 | Jorginho | Napoli | M’fld | Arsenal warned not to hang about by agent |
| 44 | Naby Keïta | RB Leipzig | Right back | Has refused to sign a new contract |
| 45 | Simon Kjaer | Fenerbache | Centre back | Both Inter and AC Milan are after him |
| 46 | Grzegorz Krychowiak | PSG | Def M’fd | New in the sense that this is the first entry for him this year, but it is the third year he has been tipped to join us. |
| 47 | Koke | Atl Madrid | M’fld | Replacement for Santi Cazorla |
| 48 | Dawid Kownacki | Lech Poznan | Striker | the new Robert Lewandowski’ |
| SIGNED | Sead Kolašinac | Schalke | Defender | The deal is announced by Arsenal |
| 50 | Kalidou Koulibaly | Napoli | Centre back | Because Chambers and Gabriel are both leaving !?!?!?!?!?!?!?! |
| 51 | Gaëtan Laborde | Bordeaux | Forward | He’s 23 and Liverpool want him |
| SIGNED | Alexandre Lacazette | Olympique Lyonnais | Striker | Man City wanted him. At. Madrid can’t sign him Mr Wenger spotted in France. About to sign. Done £45m |
| Update | Thomas Lemar | Monaco | Midfield | Liverpool or Juventus will beat us. No Barcelona are going to hijack the deal. No it’s Man U. No Arsenal are making a third bid NOW! He wants to move. £45m. Yes we’ve made the bid and it’s been accepted. (Star Sun Express Metro), No the deal “stalled” |
| 54 | Mario Lemina | Juventus | Centre Midfield | He’s 23, previously with Lorient and Marseille and is flattered by Arsenal’s interest. “Arsenal’s top midfield target” |
| 55 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Goal scorer | Captain of Poland, scores goals for fun. but is he actually going to leave? |
| 56 | Romelu Lukaku | Everton | Forward | Absolute dead cert to join AFC |
| 57 | Kylian Mbappe | Monaco | F’wd | The French press seem sure this is on at around €100m. Man U have bid £120m. James Richardson: “My understanding is that Arsenal are very confident of signing Mbappe.” Mr Wenger: We ain’t made no bid |
| 58 | Max Meyer | Schalke 04 | Attack midfield | One year left on contracct |
| 59 | Alvaro Morata | Real Mad | Striker | To replace Alexis Sanchez – but he is more of a striker than a winger /striker. Pld 26 scored 15 last year |
| 60 | M’Baye Niang | AC Milan | Forward | |
| Update | Rihad Mahrez | Leicester | Winger | He says he has an agreement that he can now leave. Tottenham & Barce want him too. About to sign for Arsenal. Leicester want £50m. We’re only buying if Alexis goes. No, we can buy as Roma have pulled out. |
| 62 | Nikola Maksimovic | Napoli | Centre back | On loan from Torino but not getting regular games |
| 63 | Pedro Neto | SC Braga | Left wing | £17m release clause. Arsenal made bid. Battling with Man U. |
| 64 | Henry Onyekuru | KAS Eupen | Forward | He’s 19 usually plays on the left, one for the future. Not going to WHU, but is off to Dortmund |
| NEW | Bright Osayi-Samuel | Blackpool | Winger | Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and Everton wand him |
| 66 | Oguzhan Ozyakup | Besiktas | Midfield | £20m is the fee being quoted. He says he wants to come to Europe. Roma have offer £13m |
| 67 | Florentin Pogba | St Etienne | Defender | Brother of Paul at Man U |
| 68 | Sokratis Papastathopoulos | Borussia Dortmund | Defender | Chelsea and Arsenal are after him according to the increasingly unbelievable Sun |
| 69 | Leandro Paredes | Roma | Midfield | A story from last year now resurrected |
| 70 | Jordon Pickford | Sunderland | Goal | Although Mr W has said he is not looking to sign a keeper. Man U, Everton and Liverpool want him. “Bid expected” |
| 71 | Danilo Pereira | Porto | Midfield enforcer | Juventus also want him |
| 72 | Pizzi | Benfica | Playmaker | Liverpool and Juventus want him |
| 73 | James Rodriguez | Real Madrid | Midf/wing | Juventus Milan Man U want him. Bid made |
| 74 | Ivan Perisic | Inter | Midf/ wing | Man U desperate for him |
| NEW | Davison Sanchez | Ajax | Cent def | Arsenal about to hijack Tottenham deal |
| NEW | Jadon Sancho | Manc C | Left wing | Refused to sign Man C contract and Nelson urging him to come to London |
| 77 | Kasper Schmeichel | Leicester | Goal | The man to solve our goalkeeping “crisis” |
| 78 | Patrik Schick | Sampdoria | Centre forward | ‘Next Ibrahimovic’. Expected to go to Juventus but they have not finalised the deal |
| 79 | Michaël Seri | Nice | Midfield | Tottenham, Barcelona and PSG want him. |
| NEW | Ryan Sessegnon | Fulham | Left back | Tottenham had a bid rejected. |
| 81 | Leandro Miguel Pereira Silva | Académica | Midfield | He’s on loan from Porto – and the info on him is confusing. I think not |
| 82 | Chris Smalling. | Man U | Centre back | Played 153 times for Man U. |
| 83 | Wojciech Szczesny | Roma loan | Goal | Mr W. said that he is not looking to sign a keeper (allegedly) so everyone assumes it is Szcz’s return; but he didn’t – he left |
| 84 | John Terry | Chelsea | Nasty | This story from the Daily Mail. He went to Aston Villa |
| 85 | Corentin Tolisso | Lyon | M/fld or F’wd | French international, dreams of Arsenal. Still being mentioned. £30m & is ready to leave |
| 86 | Arda Turan | Barcelona | M’fld | He’s 30 years old |
| 87 | Wellington Silva | Fluminese | Buy back and sell on at onceto Bordeaux | |
| 88 | Jack Wilshere | Bournemouth | M’fld | 75% of guys in the pub want him back |
| 89 | Joshua Zirkzee. | Feyenoord | Forward | scoring 33 goals in 27 games to attract the interest of several big clubs. |
With the FA regulations and procedures guiding the recruitment of players that will make the senior 25 man official list of any Premier League club as it’s highlighted in this article posting, but I don’t know if the number of the none home grown players in the current Arsenal senior 25 man list is saturated already or not. But assuming that Lucas Perez, Mathieu Debuchy and Gabriel Paulista are successful sold this summer, then of course there will be 3 rooms that will become vacant to lodge in 3 more foreign top quality player signings this summer in the Arsenal 25 man list after haven lodged in Kolasinac and Lacazette already early this summer. So, as regarding the maximum 17 foreign senior team squad players allowed by the FA, Arsenal can still do 2 – 3 more senior foreign player signings this summer before the window closes on 31st of this month but if they sell the 3 foreign Gunners I’ve mentioned above.
But haven said my aforesaid, the future of 3 top Gunners who all have only a season left on their current deals at the club to rundown before it’s expired, and who are being hyped by the media to leave Arsenal this summer is not yet certain. For, it’s only when this summer transfer window is shut we will know for certain if they’ll remain at Arsenal for this current season campaign at least up to the end of December this year if they haven’t renew their deals at the club by then when Arsenal could take a final decision to sell the trio in January widow but at a lower price than if they sell them now this summer. But if the club is looking to be winning the league and the trio are playing a vital role in that regard, Arsenal could decide to keep them till the end of the season but lose them on the free if the club can still not get them to renew or extend their staying at the club.
But as for the 8 senior players who must be British in the Arsenal senior team squad, I believe that is the main reason behind Le Prof wanting to keep Oxlade Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere at the club this summer but could still sell Gibbs and Jenkinson. I think the 8 British senior players that will remain in the Arsenal 25 man list for official registration this summer should in my thinking be: Macey, Chambers, Holding, Bramal, Ramsey, Wilshere, Chamberlain and Walcott. From the look of things in the context of the 8 British senior players Arsenal must have in their official 25 man list with the FA this summer as we can see, it has become imperative for Le Prof to keep Chambers this summer unless he has other solution to solve the problem.
Samuel,
The rule is that a squad can contain no more than 17 overseas players. To get to the 25 one can then include home-grown players. These are players who are qualified to play for England or Wales or who have been with an English or Welsh registered academy for a minimum of three years before their 21st birthday. If you have more than 8 home-grown players over 21 years old the number of places available in the 25man squad for overseas players reduces accordingly.
Thus players like Bellerin, Coquelin who joined Arsenal before their 18th birthday count towards our Home-grown numbers.
Fabregas still counts as a home grown player due to the time he was with us before he turned 21. Once you get the home-grown status you don’t lose it.
Hope this helps
@Andrew Crawshaw, thanks for the explanations. I was of the thinking that the 8 home grown who have clocked 21 and above must be British in the 25 man list. But with what you have explained, and as Coquelin and Bellerin being counted as home grown, does that means their inclusion into the Arsenal 25 man senior team squad this season in which they will certainly be included could jeopardize the inclusion of Chambers and Bramal in the 25 man list? For me, it will be a shame if these duo are not included in the final list.