by Sir Hardly Anyone
Sometimes the media find the whole notion of transfers a little difficult to grasp. Take Sport Witness who report Edu flew to Brazil in their report to escort Pablo Mari back to London amidst “widespread confidence a transfer was sealed.” And here we pause. “Widespread confidence” among whom? I imagine they mean among those highly trained always accurate people who publish transfer news in the media some of whom said that the deal was a loan. According to Sport Witness this so confused the men from Brazil that they told the player to fly back at once. So then Arsenal had to renegotiate, and now the player is returning again. At least he’s getting some airmiles.
Except, for this story to be true you have to believe the media which this window have had us transferring some 44 players to Arsenal. If you do believe the media, then fine – this story is just made for you – and it feeds the endless “incompetent Arsenal” narrative that is so beloved by journalists. Oh except some of them have said the player had already signed anyway.
The Daily Canon tell us that Mykola Matviyenko has signed as well. So that’s two.
The Emre Can story which hit the chart a couple of days back has supporters as well including the Sport Review who say that we are up against the Tiny Totts on this one.
Southampton are reportedly open to the idea of selling right-back Cedric Soares before Friday’s transfer deadline according to the Daily Echo. Others say it is done.
In fact the consensus is that it is not MM but Soares and Mari. And indeed Arsenal.com is confirming Mari.
And I’m not sure if FootballFanCast was being ironic but they are running a piece that says Cedric Soares is injured.
And FoLo, so far behind the time that I think their journalist team has fallen off the edge of the world and are waiting for it to come around in its orbit next year before jumping back on, tell us that Gary O’Driscoll is leaving. Oh. Didn’t I read that last month?
Here’s the table…
| No | Player | Currently At | Position | Source / Notes |
| 1 | ??? | ??? | 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. |
| 2 | Nathan Ake | Bournemouth | Centre back | FoLo. Chelsea want him |
| 3 | 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. |
| 5 | Jerome Boateng | Bayern Munich | Centre back | Gunnersphere, Football Fancast. Sempremilan says no deal. TBR says it will be a loan. Bavarian Football Works. |
| 6 | 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 |
| 7 | 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. |
| 8 | Edinson Cavani | PSG | Striker | Edinson Cavani has handed in a transfer request, TBR Football |
| 9 | 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 |
| 10 | Yan Couto | Coritiba | Defender | A teenager, no less! |
| 11 | Djene Dakonam | Getafe | Defender | Centre back can play right back. Talk Sport have this as a major possibility now! |
| 12 | Merih Demiral | Juventus | Defender £50m. | Fotomc / Sport Witness |
| 13 | Sergino Dest | Ajax | Full back | Just Football. Can play left or right. He’s 19. |
| 14 | Lewis Dunk | Brighton | Centre back | Star |
| 15 | Firmino | Liverpool | Attacking midfield | TalkSport. Even they say this is “Speculation” |
| Update | 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. Fleck says no. |
| 17 | Omari Forson | Man U | Attacking midield | He’s 15; HITC |
| 18 | Bruno Guimarães | Athletico Paranaense | Midfield | Benfica and Borussia Dortmund both want him – The Star. Deal is 95% done – FoLo |
| 19 | Raul Jimenez | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Striker | The dangerous Mexican |
| 20 | Christian Kabasele | Watford | Defender | NBC Reports. |
| 21 | Thilo Kehrer | PSG | Defender | Part swap for Lacazette; Bleacher. |
| 22 | Franck Kessie | Milan | Central Midfield | Mirror, Caughtoffside, Sun, Metro. Sportsmole have Arsenal as favourites to sign him. |
| 23 | 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) |
| 24 | 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) |
| 25 | James Maddison | Leicester | Playmaker | Football Insider |
| Signed | Pablo Mari | Flamengo. | Central defender | 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. Arsenal tried to bully Flamengo – Express |
| 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) |
| 28 | Dries Mertens | Napoli | Striker or winger | Metro, FoLo. WHU want him also. |
| 29 | Thomas Meunier | PSG | Right back | World Soccer Talk. |
| NEW | Noni Madueke | PSV | Midfield | Arsenal considering a swoop for PSV’s 17-year-old England starlet Noni Madueke Express |
| 31 | Thomas Partey | Atletico Madrid | Defensive midfield | Express |
| 32 | Leandro Paredes | PSG | Central midfield | Part Swap for Lacazette; Bleacher |
| 33 | Adrien Rabiot | Juventus | Midfield | Star. £25m |
| 34 | James Rodriguez | Real Madrid | Midfield | Loan deal, Everton also interested. Daily Mail. Arseanl have entered the race (Sports Review) |
| Update | Cedric Soares | Southampton | Right Back | The Athletic, 4th Official. Previously appeared in Telegraph, Arseblog, Express, Metro, Saints Marching, Footballfancast says he’s injured |
| 36 | Boubakary Soumare. | Lille | Midfield | Read Arsenal |
| 37 | John Stones | Man C | Central defence | Sun, HITC |
| 38 | Dominik Szoboszlai | Red Bull Salzburg | No 10 | FoLo |
| 39 | Samuel Umtiti | Barcelona | Centre back | Sport Witness |
| 40 | Cengiz Under | Roma | Winger | The Boot Room. £34m |
| 41 | Dayot Upamecano | Leipzig | Central defence | Express. France u-21 |
| 42 | Jannik Vestergaard | Southampton | Defender | TBR say Leicester are going for him but Arsenal could be interested. |
| 43 | Kevin Volland | Bayer Leverkusen. | Forward | World Soccer Talk |
| 44 | Wilfried Zaha | Crystal Palace | Forward | Football.London, who seem to be re-running the summer transfers to save them making up anything new. |
And here’s a good one to finish with. On the news accumulator services we have the headline…
So we click on the story and we find the headline “Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Brighton are all said to be trying to sign Emmanuel Adebayor who is currently a free agent.”
Was something lost in translation?
@Nitram
the analogy of the cars works well.
Let’s take a hypothetical situation. Arsenal were to sign Lambo Mpappe (spelling?), and sold, say, Porsche Aubameyang. That would be an upgrade on the squad, IMO. It wouldn’t guarantee an improved league position (Mpappe mightn’t get as many goals as Auba, he might get injured, disrupt the dressing room, Spurs might sign Neymar and Griezmann, who knows.
But signing Mpappe even at the cost of losing your top scorer would, IMO, make sense.
With Mpappe in the side, Arsenal’s current squad just might win the league, in the same way Maradonna took an average Napoli to the title.
So signing Mpappe wouldn’t guarantee anything and might result in a lower league position. But it would still be the right call. And it could only be achieved by a huge spend.