SPICIEST TRANSFER STORIES
It is negative 14 out here today, very cold. But you know what's not cold? The Arsenal transfer spice levels. It seems very likely Arsenal is going to bring some business forward this window. There's a blend of stories bubbling and some context that is helping us understand where we might land.
The first story is the Cunha one. He's locked in talks with Wolves over a new deal because his current one is due to expire in 2027. Two and a half years is the ideal time when you want to start getting players to put pen to paper. One would imagine he's on really low wages, which might be factoring into his upset.
Fabrizio Romano seems to be following this story a little too closely for there not to be some agent push here. I'd imagine his poor attitude last night might be the first inklings that he knows there's interest from Arsenal. Big clubs don't come knocking every day, and if no one answers the door, they can find other targets and keep you locked at a smaller club.
One to watch, but Wolves are probably in the driver's seat on this one, with safety their primary focus.
Sesko rumors seem to be landing on a hefty number. £67m will apparently do it. I think this number is likely made up. I have extreme doubts that Arsenal will shake Leipzig's best player out of the club in January. I don't know this for sure, but I am struggling to imagine Klopp, who is their football god, is going to strengthen Arsenal this window if he doesn't have to. Sesko signed a new deal and promised to stay for a whole season. They did sign a striker, but it still feels unlikely they'll release him.
You could go through all the prime targets this way and come to similar conclusions.
Semenyo is playing at a high-flying Bournemouth... why would they sell now?
Mbuemo is playing at a Brentford pushing for Europa... why would they sell?
The overarching theme here is it's hard to buy in January, which is why a loan move might be the option.
The issue here? Loans are usually for players that are failing. We're witnessing the problem on our right side right this second. Sterling, on paper, was an excellent signing. Then we got him in the door and realized why Chelsea were so keen to offer his services at a loss. If you go senior and experienced, you might not get motivated. If you loan young and precocious, you might not get the performance. It's a difficult balance to strike, but it might be our best option.
My ideal, like yours, is to bring forward a signing. That might require a premium, but is there a better excuse for that than losing your backup forward for 9 months to an injury he's probably never properly recovering from?
Calafiori and Ethan are back in the mix for the Champions League game tomorrow night. Arsenal are competing to auto-qualify for the last 16, and Arteta knows that.
'So far we've done really well, we're in a really strong position, and now it's time to capitalize at home on the work we've done for many months. We need a strong performance against a really strong side, and we will try to do that.'
It's important because if you manage it, you greatly reduce your three-games-a-week run in February. It's 10 days off after Newcastle. 7 days between West Ham and Leicester. Those gaps give you time to heal and replenish players who are clearly dead on their feet. Man City, who interestingly have all their hard games in that February period where they'd normally have qualified in the top 8, now have to juggle a massive CL game with nightmare fixtures.
Tomiyasu and Ben White won't be far behind, which gives Arteta the opportunity to bring in fresh legs which could help us in the final push for the end-of-season title run... maybe even a good crack at Champions League.
But... Arteta isn't budging on Partey at right back.
'I had no choice, I didn't have another right full-back, just Jurrien, nobody else. Who plays when Jurrien isn't available or his load is too high? The other day was the first time [he moved Jurrien to centre-back] but in relation to the way we have to play, we cannot have a right-footed player defending a right winger. I didn't have another right-sided centre-back.'
Not really sure who else you'd try in that role? Calafiori at centre back could allow you to shift Timber over. But two left-footed centre backs? I don't know. Probably better than Partey, you'd have to say.
Ok, short post today. We'll be back tomorrow. On The Whistle and everything. Have a WONDERFUL day. x
P.S. CHECK OUT THE LATEST AOP