Effectively, right here we go once more.
Mikel Arteta will meet the press for the primary time forward of a Premier League sport because the 2024-25 season kicks off. To be honest to the supervisor, he’s been doing the rounds this week. There was a giant interview on Sky Sports activities, and a pleasant one with our pal Rog from Males in Blazers, and all through the messaging has been comparable.
A lot chat about mentality and the way this crew goes once more after final season. Creating the proper of setting, one which challenges the gamers to do even higher than final trip. Simpler stated than executed, after all, but when we all know something about Mikel Arteta that’s what he’s going to demand from everybody.
I believe there will likely be questions on transfers which he’ll play with a straight bat, giving nothing a lot away both about departures or arrivals. We’d get a line about how we’re open to doing extra enterprise, however that’s so far as it’ll go. Then we’d get a bit about accidents and who is out there, how good Wolves are, and after that permit’s wait and see what else crops up. There’s very hardly ever something too juicy, fairly intentionally too, so I don’t count on that to alter at this time.
Trying round on the information, it appears as if Bournemouth’s curiosity in Eddie Nketiah is over after they agreed a deal for Porto striker Evanilson (Andoni Iraola insisting he can ‘Carry me to life’). He arrives in England on the again of 25 objective season for his membership, together with some Champions League targets, and it makes Eddie’s return of 6 in the identical marketing campaign look considerably meagre. What now for Eddie although? Your guess is pretty much as good as mine.
I don’t assume it’s past the realms of risk that our need to promote needs to be matched with the truth of the market. If a late bid from someplace emerges, nice – however proper now, I believe we have now to be open to the thought he ought to go away on mortgage, with the hope {that a} first rate season some other place means there may be extra curiosity subsequent summer time. It’s not best, however what else is there? I don’t assume it does him, or us, any good if he stays. Which isn’t to say I don’t assume he’d do his finest or work onerous, after all he would, however like Reiss Nelson, he’s at an age the place he ought to be enjoying usually someplace, and barring some form of harm disaster, it’s not going to be at Arsenal.
In the meantime, the Mikel Merino talks proceed with some suggestion he’ll be omitted from their squad for the weekend sport towards Rayo Vallecano. One other one to only wait and see what occurs, however what’s clear is that what we have now proper now’s what we’ll have towards Wolves on Saturday, and as Arteta has stated repeatedly, his first job is to get essentially the most out of the gamers at his disposal.
Elsewhere, I assumed this was an fascinating little video on the official website with Martin Odegaard chatting to Ethan Nwaneri. It pushes the 17 yr previous just a bit extra into the highlight, and I’m so curious to see how he’s used this season. He’s had an actual style of first crew soccer through the summer time, enjoying with (and towards) males in entrance of massive crowds, and he – and the opposite children – are going to be hungry for extra.
There have been tales about Odegaard has been mentoring Nwaneri behind the scenes, and I like the thought of that. He was a star at 15 earlier than he selected Actual Madrid; Nwaneri made his debut on the identical age – making him the youngest ever participant within the Premier League. That’s all the way down to expertise and onerous work (and a little bit little bit of alternative), however think about your self again while you had been 15 and having that form of a landmark occasion in your life. To have somebody like Odegaard in your nook to supply recommendation about the way to cope with it on and off the pitch should be implausible, and I believe it speaks very extremely as to how holistic the strategy is on the membership proper now on every kind of ranges.
For some additional studying this morning, right here’s the standard Arseblog Large Season Preview 2024-25. I’m joined by Andrew Allen and Tim Stillman to evaluate the state of the squad because it stands from entrance to again, and provides an general view of the place we predict we’re (making an allowance for the window remains to be open). These had been all written individually to make sure all ideas are our personal, nevertheless it’s fascinating to notice some widespread floor in sure areas.
Afterward, we’ll have our first preview podcast of the brand new season over on Patreon, so please do be part of us for that as we look forward to Wolves, and run a watch over the remainder of the weekend’s fixtures. Apart from that, there’s a brand new Arsecast accessible beneath, during which I chat individually to Amy Lawrence, Nick Wright (Sky Sports activities), Adrian Clarke and Dara O Briain in regards to the new season, and a great deal of different stuff too.
We’ll deliver you all of the press convention stuff on Arseblog Information in a while too. For now, have a very good one.
