By Sir Hardly Anyone
There is a lovely, one might even say a beautiful phrase that has turned up on the a website in the last 48 hours It is the one in the headline above
“reportedly expected to be a transfer target”
I won’t push the point and report who actually published that, but I’m sure when you look at it, you can take a guess. After all, “reportedly” means “someone else wrote this first”. “Expected” means it has not happened yet. “Transfer target” means the club might try a bid for him. Maybe.
So this headline reads
Someone else has said that maybe a club somewhere might in the future decide to try and sign this player.
In fact the player is our Hector Bellerin who “is reportedly expected to be a transfer target for Paris Saint-Germain as they hunt for a new signing in that position”.
And as I meandered around I found this strange semi-sentence turned up in several places. I was stunned! Football websites copying each other’s copy? Whatever next!
Well, what next was that the insert from Google “Translate this page” turned up, which I did think was particularly helpful, but sadly when I clicked on it, it didn’t manage the do a translation. Perhaps the phrase means nothing! Perhaps Hector is not going! Perhaps fourth is not a trophy!
But above and beyond this, or perhaps below this, or maybe in spite of this, the media is continuing to tell us that Arsenal are going to dismantle the entire defence this summer. And this despite having the fourth best defence in the Premier League.
The Express puts it like this, “Mikel Arteta has five starters on Arsenal team sheet next season with six gaps to fill. And those gaps include “Two centre backs a right back and a keeper.” Hmmm.
Basically if Arsenal had conceded one goal fewer in each of four games, we’d be in a European place for next season. And so do we really need to change the entire defence for that – especially since the media endlessly tell us that in the past we have bought all the wrong players. What is going to stop Arsenal buying the wrong players again?
Well, nothing actually. Yet the fact remains that only Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City have conceded fewer goals than Arsenal.
No wonder some transfer rumours are written as a burbling array of mindless gibberish. Anyway according to the Daily Express we need a new goalkeeper, a new right back, a new right centre back, a backup left back, and, actually I lost the will to try and disentangle the rest.
But the demands for a new defence is important because it shows just how the media copy each other. Someone somewhere said we needed a new defence and everyone writes about the new defence being needed, day after day after day.
Anyway, to keep you occupied if you have nothing better to do, here’s a list of a few players incoming.
| Source | Player | From |
| 101 Great Goals | Joachim Anderson | Fulham |
| Kelechi Iheanacho | Leicester | |
| BBC | Raphael Varane | Real Madrid |
| Ali Camara | Young Boys | |
| Caught Offside (6) | Orkun Kokcu | Feyenoord |
| Jesse Lingard |
Man U | |
| Tariq Lamptey, | Brighton | |
| Kaiky | Santos | |
| Nabil Fekir | Real Betis | |
| Alassane Plea | Borussia Monchengladbach | |
| Eurosport | Alassane Plea | Borussia Monchengladbach |
| Pau Torres | Villareal | |
| Express (5) | Yves Bissouma | Brighton and Hove |
| Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | |
| Lucas Vazquez | Real Madrid | |
| Julian Draxler | PSG | |
| Jesse Lingard | Mancheseter United | |
| Eye | Jesse Lingard | Manchester United |
| Max Aarons | Norwich | |
| Football 365 | Jesse Lingard | Manchester United |
| Football League World | Emi Buendia | Norwich City |
| Football London (11) | Emi Buendia | Norwich City |
| David Alaba | Bayern Munich | |
| Yves Bissouma | Brighton and Hove | |
| Pedro Goncalves | Sporting Lisbon | |
| Julian Draxler | PSG | |
| Lucas Vazquez | Real Madrid | |
| Florian Thauvin | Marseille | |
| Hakan Calhanoglu | AC Milan | |
| Jesse Lingard | Manchester United | |
| Martin Odegaard | Real Madrid | |
| Pau Torres | Villareal | |
| FourfourTwo (5) | Sergio Aguero | Manchester City |
| Achraf Hakimi | Inter | |
| Wilfred Zaha | Crystal Palace | |
| Ivan Toney | Brentford | |
| Julian Brandt. | Borussia Dortmund | |
| Give Me Sport | Hakan Calhanoglu | AC Milan |
| Hard Tackle | Wilfred Zaha | Crystal Palace |
| Matheus Martinelli | Fuminese | |
| Takefusa Kobo | Real Madrid | |
| Alassane Plea | Borussia Munchengladbach | |
| HITC (9) | Wilfred Zaha | Crystal Palace |
| Joachim Andersen | Lyon | |
| Emi Buendia | Norwich City | |
| Nabil Fekir | Real Betis | |
| Tariq Lamptey | Brighton and Hove | |
| Yves Bissouma | Brighton and Hove | |
| Jesse Lingard | Manchester United | |
| Kaiky | Santos | |
| Pau Torres | Villareal | |
| Just Arsenal | Bryan Gil | Seville |
| William Zaha | Crystal Palace | |
| Julian Brandt | Borussia Dortmund | |
| Just Arsenal News | Matheus Martinelli | Fluminense |
| London Football News | Seny Dieng | QPR |
| Mail (5) | Achraf Hakimi | Inter Milan |
| Jerome Boateng | Bayern Munich | |
| Folarin Balogun | Will sign a new contract | |
| Alassane Plea | Borussia Monchengladbach | |
| Pau Torres | Villareal | |
| Manchester Evening News | Jesse Lingaard | Manchester United |
| Metro | Dybala | Juventus |
| Jesse Lingaard | Manchester United | |
| Mirror (5) | Wilfried Zaha | Crystal Palace |
| Joachim Andersen | Lyon | |
| Jesse Lingard | Manchester Untied | |
| Orkun Kokcu | Feyenoord | |
| Julian Brandt. | Borussia Dortmund | |
| Nottheoldfirm | Jack Ross | Hibs |
| Shoot | Wilfred Zaha | Crystal Palace |
| Sky Sports | Hakan Calhanoglu | AC Milan |
| Sport | Pau t | |
| Sports Lens | Achraf Hakimi | Inter Milan |
| Seny Dieng | QPR | |
| Sport Review | Alassane Plea | Borussia Monchengladbach |
| Sports-View | Achraf Hakimi | Inter Milan |
| Wilfred Zaha | Crystal Palace | |
| Sun | Hakan Calhanoglu | AC Milan |
| Jesse Lingard | Manchester United | |
| This is Futbol | Emi Buendia | Norwich |
This is only a smattering, but it gives a feeling of which names have been popular thus far.
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