Each summer journalists and bloggers report over 100 players that Arsenal are planning to buy – and that number excludes players who the bloggers and journalists suggest Arsenal ought to buy.
Usually only about three or four of these rumours turn out to be true. Also, usually, these truthful rumours normally only emerge a few days before the transfer happens.
So why do the bloggers and journalists do this, when they know they always get it so wrong?
First, its cheap and takes no time. Anyone can create a rumour in ten seconds.
Second, it is easy to escape any blame for being wrong by always adding to each and every report a note saying that the story comes from another blog or newspaper. If you ever trace these back you’ll find the majority of them go round in a circle – A cites B as the source, B cites C, C cites D, D cites A.
Third it is a way of avoiding the main stories of the day. There were, first that for the last two thirds of last season Arsenal improved so greatly they were the second best team in the league. Second that Arsenal used an audacious tactical change last season to achieve their success. Third this success was recognised by figures from Football Observatory at the end of the season showing Arsenal dominating the statistics.
Here are the reports of players joining Arsenal this summer
| No | Player | Current club | Position | Reported by |
| 1 | Max Aarons | Norwich | Full back | Daily Express |
| 2 | Houssem Aouar | Lyon | Midfield | Football.London (FoLo) |
| 3 | Tosin Adarabioyo | Fulham | Centre back | Daily Express |
| 4 | Yuri Alberto | Inter | Forward | 20 year old Brazilian. Inter need the money |
| 5 | Loic Bade | Lens | Defender | Boot Room |
| NEW | Folarin Balogun | Arsenal academy | Striker | All Nigeria Soccer says he is in the party going to USA for pre-season. |
| 7 | Nicolo Barella | Inter Milan | Centre midfield | Anfield Central |
| Update | Sander Berge | Sheffield Utd | Midfield | HITC; Express – he was seen out with Odegaard, Arsenal not willing to pay the asking price. Caught offside: Price dropped. VG says Arsenal interested, so does FoLo. |
| 9 | Ryan Bertrand | Southampton | Left back | Mirror |
| Update | Yves Bissouma | Brighton | Midfield | Africa Football, Express, TBR, HITC, FoLo. No he’s going to Liverpool (Express) – it’s a swap deal with Nketiah. “Fans in meltdown” FoLo. He’s wanting a move (Rousingthekop) |
| 11 | Josip Brekalo | Wolfsberg | Winger | Just Arsenal |
| 12 | Emiliano Buendia | Norwich | Playmaker | Daily Mail, Metro, FL, Boot Room, Sportslens, HITC, TBR, Teamtalk, Telegraph, F365, FoLo, HITC. Told to forget AFC and sign for Villa (Birmingham Live). Arsenal have offered £35m (Star). Caught offside say its on. And HITC. No – he went to Villa |
| 13 | Eduaro Camavinga | Rennes | Midfield | Will cost around €50million, Caught offside. TBR say he is compared to Vieira |
| 14 | Luis Campos | Lille | Sporting director | Would handle transfers. Charlie Watts says good idea |
| NEW | Hakan Calhanoglu | AC Milan | Midfield | Out of contract this summer |
| 16 | Zeki Celik | Lille | Right back | Standard, Just Arsenal, Sports Lens, Sport Review Man U, Totts also interested. HITC say it would be a bargain fee. |
| 17 | Nathan Collins | Stoke City | Defender | Sun, TBR. (Arsenal buying an “uncompromising” Stoke defender????). The 72. |
| 18 | Philippe Coutinho | Barcelona | Midfield | Just Arsenal, FoLo: Arsenal will have to wait. Winterburn says “don’t” |
| 19 | Patson Daka | RB Salzburg | Striker | TBR Football |
| 20 | Moussa Dembele | Lyon (At. Madrid) | Striker | Daily Express, HITC. FoLo: “Fresh Arsenal links” |
| 21 | Sergino Dest | Barcelona | Right back | Bleacher claims he has £343 million release clause. HITC says could be on at lower price! HITC now says it is on |
| NEW | Josh Doig | Hibs | Left back | The Scotsman. £5m. FoLo say Arsenal desperate to buy a new left back. |
| 23 | Oddsonne Edouard | Celtic | Striker | Daily Star. FoLo says Leicester and Milan want him. |
| NEW | Nabil Fekir | Real Betis | Forward | HITC: wants to move to Arsenal. FoLo says it is on. TBR says he wants to join. |
| 25 | Matteo Guendouzi | Arsenal! | Midfield | He’s been in disgrace so long it seems like he’s already gone but Metro is saying he will be given a contract extension & return |
| 26 | Achraf Hakimi | Inter Milan | Right Back | Daily Express, HITC |
| NEW | Alexander Isak | Real Sociedad | Forward | The Athletic says Arsenal interested |
| NEW | Joan Jordan. | Sevilla | Midfield | TBR says Sevilla don’t want to sell. |
| 29 | Kyle Joseph | Swansea | Forward | Wales online: Swansea, Rangers, Celtic also want him |
| Update | Jules Kounde | Sevilla | Centre back | Daily Express, Star, HITC. Sports Mole says offer about to go in. TBR says Arsenal moving in. |
| 31 | Layvin Kurzawa | PSG | Left Back | Sport Witness |
| 32 | Albert Sambi Lokonga | Anderlecht | Midfield | Like Yaya Toure, better than Yves Bissouma. TBR says, could be available on the cheap. Henry recommends. Henry recommends. |
| 33 | Noussair Mazraoui | Bayern Munich | Right back | 101 great goals |
| Update | Riyad Mahrez | Manchester City | Forward | Daily Mail, Leicester Mercury, Football London, Sport Review, TBR. AFC pushing forward to deal. HITC says he has announced he is not going |
| NEW | Ruben Neves | Wolverhampton Wands | Midfield | Dail Mail: Wolv. wanting £41m; TBR “move is imminent”. Swap for Maitland Niles (Mirror) |
| 36 | Neto | Barcelona | Goalkeeper | Caught Offside |
| 37 | Andre Onana | Ajax | Keeper (currently banned for one year) | Caught Offside, Mail, Telegraph. Mirror says Arsenal’s keeper coach prefers him to Leno for immediate change. Teleg says we’ll buy no matter what happens in court. Hard Tackle: deal close. HITC says he wants to join but Arsenal offer too low |
| 38 | Paul Onuachu | Genk | Striker | Sport Witness |
| 39 | Michael Olise | Reading | Midfield | All Nigerian Soccer |
| NEW | Charlie Patino | Arsenal Academy | Defensive midfield | 17 year old. Maybe going to under 23s first. HITC |
| Update | Aaron Ramsey | Juventus | Midfield | Just Arsenal News says cash plus Bellerin will do it. Mirror says it is on. Mirror – its swap for Bellerin plus cash |
| 42 | Emerson Royal | Real Betis loaned from Barcelona | Right back | Sport Witness; could happen this week (31 May). Not happening “despite relentless speculation”- HITC commenting on its own news coverage. |
| NEW | Guido Rodriguez | Real Betis | Defensive midfield | HITC |
| 44 | Kays Ruiz-Atil | PSG | Midfield | Just Arsenal News |
| Update | Manor Solomon | Shakhtar Donetsk | Winger | Football.London, HITC. “Looking for a house,” TBR. Arsenal put in bid. HITC |
| 46 | Raheem Sterling | Manchester City | Forward | Daily Mail, TBR. the Hard Tackle Cost £49m. Sport Review. HITC says Ferdinand says he’s unplayable. |
| 47 | Edmond Tapsoba | Bayer Leverkusen | Defender | Caught offside. |
| 48 | Tiago Tomas | Sporting CP, Metro | striker | May not come as we don’t have Europe |
| 49 | Wojciech Szczesny | Juventus | Goal | Sport Witness; Szczesny counts as home grown and that could be the key point. |
| 50 | Edmond Tapsoba | Bayer Leverkusen | Centre back | HITC, Just Arsenal News (twice), Daily Cannon (may be too expensive). TeamTalk suggest it is on. FoLo – its £60m or nothing. Chelsea, Man U beating Arsenal. |
| 51 | Tiago Tomas | Sporting Lisbon | Forward | 442: 60m euros agreed. But player refused Arsenal |
| 52 | Ivan Toney | Brentford | Forward | Brentford say no. |
| 53 | Pau Torres | Villareal | Centre back | Football London |
| 54 | Kieran Trippier | Atletico Madrid | Right back | Star |
| 55 | Cengiz Under | Roma | Right wing | HITC: In exchange for Xhaka |
| 56 | Dusan Vlahovic | Fiorentina | Striker | Teamtalk, FoLo. This is futbol: “he’s not going” |
| NEW | Ben White | Brighton | Centreback | Givemesport say £50m |
| 58 | Wilfried Zaha | Crystal Palace | Wing | TBR. Same story as for the last four transfer windows |
you got Tapsobe twice son
xhaka’s off to rome
so much for my favored 2021-2022 XI (3-4-3):
leno
chambers-holding-tierney
mniles-willock-xhaka-saka
pépé-lacazette-smithrowe
it’s a huge loss; he was our most reliable player, and i urge all of arsenal “fans” who have doubted him at some point, to watch again our facup semi-final against city on our way to the 14th
like many of arsenal fans i suppose i try to figure out what our squad will look like at the start of next season
granit, in his very specific role as a left-footed, deep midfielder, lacking pace but with a truly exceptional vision and passing ability, not to mention his bravery, mental as well as physical, or again his professionalism, which is very likely to account for the ludicrously low number of times he got stucked in the “physioroom”, well … to me, he looked like the only player with no actual backup.
of course, i’m no professional scout, but i don’t see who, on the market, might fill the gap
bissouma’s certainly not the one, imo; camavinga would be, but i seriously doubt we can afford him; bukayo is so versatile that he could too, of course, but our wonderkid has to be given the possibility of wreaking havoc in our opponents’ backlines, which he couldn’t do in that position
the young cottrell would excel there, but i’m quite certain this won’t even be considered … i know i’ve not mentioned partey: the lad really, really failed to convince me – but maybe, just like pépé, he needed time to find his feet, let’s hope so – but given what his qualities are (they’ve not escaped me), he won’t make up for granit’s loss, anyway
we’ll see, but this is a sad, sad day
I am still looking for the confirmation that Xhaka has joined Roma.
Despite the unwarranted abuse he has received from sections of our fans, he is one player I really rate and I hope he stays. I believe his midfield partnership with Partey will develop into something awesome if they continue to play together.
Pls let this be another fake rumour.