Arsecast Extra Episode 644 - 18.06.2025

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0:59James McNicholas: a goodly welcome back from holidays? That's a badly, actually, isn't it? It's a badly welcome back from holidays, but goodly for the listener that we're back kind of thing. Exactly. Exactly. But buenas afternoon. Yes. Buenas afternoon. Here's a little story from my holiday. We went and played pool in a pool hall around the corner from where I used to live in Barcelona. And at the end, it's pool hall slash cocktail place. So you play pool and get some watery cocktails, let's say. And at the end, I was paying the guy and we were chatting a little bit. And he said, hey, how come, you know, you speak Spanish, you know, quite well?

1:39James McNicholas: I said, well, you know, I lived here almost 20 years ago now, but I've forgotten a lot of my Spanish. And he said, no, it's still pretty good. He said, where are you from? And I said, Ireland. He went, ah, Ireland. See, you guys try. Not like the English.

2:00Fair. I mean, a fair comment, I'll be honest. We're not renowned for our linguistic skills as a nation. But I'll have a go. I will have a go. And even when people speak back to me in their sort of weary English, as if to say, don't even bother, mate. I will sometimes double down and, you know, carry on with the Castilian. Quite really. Until I'm ejected from the premises.

2:28James McNicholas: Which is usually the case. Did you have a good time? I had a great time. I was in Mallorca, in Poyenza, seeing family and doing fun things, swimming in the sea, all that sort of stuff. Great time. Yourself? Yeah, really good. Really good. Nice. switched off did a lot of walking you know saw the city again because i haven't been there for about five or six years at this point it was pre-covid was the last time i was in barcelona so it was nice to be back in you know one of my former home cities a city i still really really love so we well and drank well and went to the beach went to the sea um yeah had a great time and it was great just to sort of get up read arse blog in the morning discover that there was fuck all going on and then putting my phone away and not really getting stressed by the nothing beyond the sort of like what the hell is whoever's doing the blog tomorrow going to write about it i mean it was considerate of arsenal i think uh to pause transfer activity for the duration of our holiday i don't know how i feel about that i don't like on the one hand i sort of had that sort of nagging professional thing of like oh i hope it doesn't all suddenly happen and i'm away and not able to help and cover it and um you know be across those exciting events on the other hand i also would have quite liked it if i'd come back and there were three new players unveiled and i'd managed to somehow sort of circumvent the entire thing yeah all of the work had to be done by other people Yeah, I get it.

4:09James McNicholas: I get it. Yeah, maybe it was just the pause. You know what occurred to me as well? This thing, a thing that no longer can exist. You know, when you're away on holiday, and I think you need to maybe be the older generation to really get this, is that you're in Spain or you're somewhere and you come across a newspaper, like a local newspaper, and you find out a piece of news that happened two days ago because it takes the newspaper two days to get there. And you're like, what the fuck? But now everybody has their phone. I mean, yeah, when I was a kid, we used to holiday in Marbella. I'm sure I've talked about this before, but you would occasionally, if you went into like the local town, well, Marbella, I guess, you would be able to find like a newsagent, an English newspaper, A copy of The Sun from two days ago for probably, you know, using inflation, the equivalent of about five pounds.

5:10I think you had to pay for such a publication. And then in the back of it, there'd be like results and one paragraph reports from preseason friendlies. And it would be like Giovanni Van Bronckhorst scored on his debut for Arsenal against Stevenage or something like that. and be like, oh my God, we are going to win the league. The other very sort of exciting memory I have around that is 2004. So we're talking like 20 years ago now. I would have been a teenager and Arsenal were trying to buy, or maybe it was 2005, forgive me, trying to buy Julio Batista from Sevilla.

5:52James McNicholas: The saga of the beast. And of course, I was in Spain. So while I couldn't get up-to-date reports on the English media, what I could do is go out and buy Marker and RS every day and get their sort of spin on it. And I was literally like reading it and looking words up in my dictionary because, you know, Spanish wasn't good then and not good now. Like piecemealing it together to try and understand what was happening and, you know, probably putting up on my blog at the time as well. So, yeah, good memories of those. That sort of like when information had like a real currency to it, now it just feels like it's everywhere.

6:36James McNicholas: Yeah, yeah. A piece of information exists for about 30 seconds. It gets aggregated and then it's on to the next thing. You know, why hasn't something else happened? I mean, I did notice that during the week, the sort of spinning plates of Sesko and Jochrez continued to spin because that's what has to happen. And all this language of, you know, transfers these days, sort of admiring and on the case. You know, at some point, if something doesn't happen, they're just going to have to make up new words because they'll have run out of all the words to say the same things over and over. So you get something like Arsenal are said to be sparkling a deal for Benjamin Sesko and they've been very gratinacious about the RB Leipzig striker and they're going to meflunkify a deal in the coming days.

7:31Everyone will be like, meflunkify.

7:34James McNicholas: Things are really progressing here if we've got to that point yeah the other way they could go is like they they continue down this path of the the language of romance so you know like we get um admiring you know sure uh maybe there's flirtation with a deal but how does it develop do we go to sexting or whatever like where do we go on this kind of path um yeah i'm curious to see before full consummation it's yeah there was a whole thing in Portugal again. I don't know. I confess I was probably slightly more across it than my wife would have liked. Um, and were you sexting with Ornstein again on your holidays?

8:19Pretty much, pretty much. And, uh, yeah, there was a big story in Portugal. Maybe it was in Ebola or record. One of the big Portuguese publications about a beard. I think it was premature to continue the romantic imagery. So, yeah, I think we're kind of as we were, Andrew, to be honest with you.

8:42James McNicholas: Yes. I mean, we had a question, actually. Maybe I can do that question while we're thinking about it, before we talk about all the other stuff that's been happening since we've been going. This was a question that was on the Discord. It was to you from Gabby Gabby Gabby Goal, who says, As an Arsenal beat reporter, have you noticed the difference in the leakiness, in inverted commas, of the club under Berta compared to Edu? I feel like I've seen way more cynical Arsenal rumours leaks, for example, simultaneous Sesco and Jokoraz rumours, potentially to drive down prices compared to previously when I feel like we were silent until a sudden transfer announcement.

9:22James McNicholas: Is this just confirmation bias on my end? And I sort of have this feeling, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, or maybe you can't say anything or he don't know anything about this or whatever. But it does, for me, the Sesko-Jokeres things are interesting, but maybe indicative of a bit of misdirection. Would that be fair? That it could be entirely possible that Arsenal are happy for Sesko and Jokeres to play out publicly while they go and do something else. Oh, that's an interesting thought. I mean, I don't know about that. I think that both players are genuine targets. Maybe there are other targets we don't know of.

10:08We know, of course, if they're interested in Alexander Rezac, but I don't see that one developing personally. I think it's too difficult. But what I would say is it sort of suits Arsenal, doesn't it? To have both names out there in the ether. And I think you can characterise it as sort of, oh, dithering or uncertainty or, you know, make up your bloody mind, Andrea, or whatever you want. But I think actually Arsenal are probably in a fairly strong position. I mean, famous last words where theoretically they've got two players who want this move. And I think as long as they can sort of make it clear that they have an alternative, it probably aids their bargaining positions, not just with the clubs, but with the players themselves.

11:04So do I think that this is part of a deliberate leaking strategy from the club to create a kind of fog of war in the market this window? No, I don't think it's quite as sort of deliberate as that. but I certainly don't think it would be in their interest to quash any rumor and say, no, the guy we want above all else is this guy, because that would immediately weaken their hand.

11:33James McNicholas: Of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense. Yeah, I think, you know, there's probably an element of strategy to what we're seeing unfold. And actually, I think, you know, I mean, people might not like this because they'd rather we just bought one of them. I get that. But I can see that there's a benefit to it, to showing in the market that you have alternatives and other options and that you're prepared to walk away if the demands of any deal are too high. Yeah, considered too great. So, yeah, it continues. That's all we can say. It continues. I mean, go on. Sorry if you had something there.

12:12no no i was probably just going to say the sort of thing football reporters say you know something

12:17James McNicholas: about admiring or potential developments or wooing they're gonna woo him they're gonna be they're gonna be um sending nudes to you know whatever wherever you want to go with it um but yeah i i think uh yeah i think i think it's a watching brief for the time being and honestly like i have stayed across things um and i don't i don't get the sense that we've sort of massively moved forward in the last seven days so andrea burta is chatting of the agents still buying one a champagne cocktail here the other a pina colada over there keeping them sweet like a man with two families perhaps so yeah i think um but you know i i i guess that's kind of as we were just saying i i guess there's a sort of logic to that you know not the two families thing i think that's very uh impractical and probably unethical a lot of hard work as well yeah yeah you know i don't recommend it um but um yeah i i think those plates are still spinning and until arsene are in a position where they're sort of comfortable with the parameters of one of those deals it's in their interests to keep them that way all right so the the the main thing that happened today is the fixtures coming out yeah before we discuss those do you think there's any i mean we had a couple of questions and i can't find any here but there were a couple of questions about like, do you think the difficulty of the opening period of the season will make Arsenal speed things up, come to a decision, be more decisive?

14:07James McNicholas: The things I suppose that they are being accused of by people who are a little less relaxed about what's happened so far this summer. People who haven't spent the last seven days, you know, eating and drinking and chilling out, I guess. Exactly, exactly. We might not quite be in step with the kind of general tone of the fan base. Yeah, I mean, that's fair. And listen, I said it today on the blog. I'm still quite relaxed. There will come a point where I'll go, hmm, but when? When are you going to make these signings? Yeah, everyone will have their point. Yeah, exactly. Which is fine. And we're all, you know, individuals.

14:42James McNicholas: We can all come to that point. There is still a fair chunk of time between now and the first game of the season, right? Good two months. I think it was Lewis wrote on the blog the other day. It's still two months. So a lot can happen and will happen, I'm sure, in two months. But, you know, is there any need for revamping the timeframes or the timescales if you're Arsenal? If you look at that and you think, oh, well, that start to the season is quite difficult. Maybe we should do something about the squad. Or is it a case that they'll probably just stick to, you know, what they had planned and things will occur as and when over the course of the preseason?

15:29I'd like to think it might focus minds a bit. You know, it's a really, it's a really challenging start. I mean, people's mileage will vary on sort of the extent to which they think that matters. But personally, I feel the fixture list has been pretty unkind to us in that first couple of months of the season. And they can set the tone, really, for the campaign and certainly have a massive part in influencing the mood of the fans. I mean, we all remember it's just three games, but what are three games it was? And it threatened to cost the manager his loyalty and the belief of the fans, really. So, yeah, I think it matters.

16:26What I would say is that Arsenal have a really good core group, and they will have Zubemendi by then. I'd love to think that we'd have the striker in by then. I mean, I think that would be great.

16:42James McNicholas: Oh, no, you can't. I mean, listen, I know I said I'd come to my point, but you've got to get that striker way before then. I think that guy needs to be, you know, here, bedded in and learning the ropes, so to speak, or getting accustomed to the club and the environment and everything else. I don't think the striker signing is one that you can say, right, well, we'll play it right to the end of the window to get the best deal we can. You absolutely have to get that one done. I think you need to get as much done before the season starts as is possible. And then whatever the market presents over the final couple of weeks where you've got games and the market being open.

17:25James McNicholas: And it does have its own dynamic. As much as people don't want to hear that, things do happen in the final weeks of the window because that's just how the market operates. But for the most part, I think you want everything done. You know, the big ones definitely you want done before the season starts and a good distance before the season starts for me. Yeah. And I think, you know, I think, as I say, I think Zubmendi will be in well before that. I think Kepa will get done well before that. As I say, the nine, as you say, has to get done before that. I think beyond that, there might be a bit more flexibility in terms of sort of when deals happen.

18:09I mean, if you're trying to land a big fish like a Rodrigo, for example, sometimes you have to, it's harder to force that issue. Do you know what I mean? There's certain dominoes that need to fall for that to be the case, or whether it's a Rodrigo or an Anthony Gordon or whoever it is, that there might be dominoes that need to fall in order for that to happen. And I always remember when we got Martin Odegaard out of Real Madrid, that was after the season had already started. When we got Mesut Ours out of Real Madrid, that was after the season had already started. So sometimes with these bigger clubs, I think you have to kind of let things play out a little bit in the window.

18:47but those are the essentials I think that you need before a ball is kicked and um yeah fingers crossed we get them I'm still confident that that we will it is it is a tricky start to the season

18:59James McNicholas: isn't it you look at Manchester United away um you could wonder if after what we've seen from Manchester United this season that's too much to worry about but I do think they're going to spend some money they have spent some money haven't they and probably will spend a bit more um and can they possibly be that bad again. I mean, we all hope so, but maybe, maybe not. Leeds at home, I think a decent way to kick off your home season, to be honest. Liverpool away, always tricky, but we've a decent enough record at Anfield over the last couple of years. As we know, Nottingham Forest home, I think that's decent enough, to be honest, as well as Forest did last season.

19:44James McNicholas: I think they did punch above their weight a little bit. You've got Manchester City at home, which is always going to be tricky, and then Newcastle away. But maybe Manchester City, after playing in the Club World Cup, might be in some kind of a sort of, oh, we didn't have any pre-season, we didn't have any post-season, and we're absolutely fucking knackered. That might be a time to play them. I'm just trying to look at the silver lining. Some people will have their glass half full, some people will have their glass half empty. I'm just... Well, allow me to be the kind of herald of doom here. But the counterpoint to that would be, you know, they've got a couple of quite impressive signings in already.

20:24They'll have had some opportunity to bed them in at the infamous Club World Cup. So they may be a slightly more settled side and strengthened side than others, potentially in that early period of the season. I mean, one thing I do think, and we had a question, it was quite a long question actually. So forgive me if I don't read it all, but it was from a Discord user called Invictus. And they said, well, Arsenal's early fixtures have caused some distress and led to accusations of the schedule being rigged. I hadn't seen those. Is there a case to be made this is the best way the season could unfold?

20:58Think how much psychological attention at Gunner Blog, that's me, gave to Liverpool away last year, which ultimately turned into a nothing burger in terms of importance. I think having big fixtures looming in mid-season has distracted us in the pass from the real work of winning boring fixtures from a rather basic understanding of the probabilities match week one is arguably the best time to have your toughest game lose or drop points um as you'd still have the most number of games left to make up the difference win and you get some glory but more importantly it takes away any looming six point swings off the board for your rivals and pundit discussions.

21:37I know what they mean. I mean, you know, we go to Liverpool in our third league game. That fixture will be sort of relatively free of the kind of title race narrative at that early stage in the season, I think. And there might be something to be said for that.

21:57James McNicholas: Yeah, maybe so. Maybe so. I think it's just when you look at a group of games together and you're like, United, Liverpool, City and Newcastle at whom we have had a poor record of late and that's something we've got to put right next season. You know, it's not great. But then you get through that, you've got West Ham, Fulham, Palace, Burnley, Sunderland making no assumptions. Before then you've a North London derby and then Chelsea, you know. Listen, if you come through that six game period with, you know, four wins and a couple of draws, everybody's going to be absolutely delighted with that, I think.

22:33James McNicholas: It's a really solid way to start the season. I think what it is, is A, there's an element of fear because you just look at those fixtures and you hate those teams and you don't want to be inflicted with any damage so early on in the season. I take the point about being able to respond, that there is more time to respond. But they're difficult teams to play against. So I think it's just a natural reaction. What are the odds that we're sat here? What is it? Saturday the 30th in our third game, we are scheduled to go to Anfield. So it'll be the Monday after that, September 1st. And I'm saying to you, Andrew, it's just three games.

23:17James McNicholas: We've only got nine points, Andrew. Stop getting carried away. We're not going to definitely win the league because we've won those three games. It's just three games. I've got to say, look, Look, I'm trying to find the positive spin, but it is a rough opening period. I hate, I've got to say, that opening weekend fixture of Old Trafford. I think that's a horrible one. Not that they are good, but it's sort of like the nightmare fixture where it feels like you haven't got much to win. Like, they're bad. We should go there and beat them. But if we don't, and if, God forbid, we lose Old Trafford on the opening day, and we haven't maybe done quite as much business as people hope or want.

24:05Oh my God, the mood will be bleak that Monday morning.

24:08James McNicholas: It will be. It will be. Is Ruben Amorim the man to go invincible after one game of the season? That's the kind of shit we'll get. But also, it's sort of a free hit for them, isn't it? It's like, you know, they were rubbish last year. They start at home. It's their chance to get off on a good foot and beat a club that they consider a rival, even though there's a significant gulf in the league. Yeah, I think that's a horrible one. I think that's a horrible one. Maybe so, but it's one that also gets you fucking super focused really early on as well. Yeah. You know, there is that element to it. And also the offset of that is that when you get to May, if we're still in the title race in May, it could be the kindest run-in of all time.

24:58On the other hand, they could be four of the most pointless games

25:02James McNicholas: in our Premier League existence. As Invictus mentioned, sometimes you look at these fixtures in May and you're like, that's a biggie. And then by the time you get to May, it's not anymore. It's certainly not. But yeah, you're right. I mean, what is May is Fulham at home, West Ham away, Burnley at home, Palace away. I think I saw a thing as well that we spent a lot of time in London, you know, towards the end of the season, not huge trips. so yeah I mean I suppose May Fulham, West Ham and Palace are all there Yeah Newcastle at home then Fulham at home West Ham away but that's staying in London Burnley at home Crystal Palace away but that's also staying in London so I'll tell you what I don't like You might still be in Europe so that could be beneficial to reduce travelling What I don't like the one thing well not the one thing but one of the things I don't like is the sort of Spurs-Chelsea grouping so it's Spurs then Chelsea in November and Spurs then Chelsea in the Premier League in February November famously a bit of an annoying month as an Arsenal fan so yeah Burnley away Sunderland away Tottenham at home and Chelsea away this would be a good November to buck that trend for sure but the big question I mean is it fixed Oh, yeah, it's fixed.

26:25Yeah, absolutely.

26:26James McNicholas: Just wanted you to say. And we've got Boxing Day off again. Wow, okay. So we play on the 27th rather than the 26th. Okay. Which, you know, I like Boxing Day football as a tradition. Mm-hmm. So it's quite nice to get an extra day with the family. So can't complain. Look at you thinking ahead. Mate, this is my schedule. Do you know what I mean? Like, yeah, I get this. This is like, right, well, this is where I'll be and when. So that's the calendar. Yeah. Dear family. I've forwarded it to Camille. Yeah. Good luck. These are the days we may spend some time together. Yeah. These days we can't. Yeah.

27:08And it's the press conference the day before.

27:09James McNicholas: Yeah. See ya. Yeah. Haven't told her about the Champions League yet. We'll get around to that. I'm sure she's used to it. Anyway, so, oh, the other Arsenal news, if you're done, are you done with fixture lists? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I don't need to think about that now for another couple of months. Carlos Cuesta? Did you see that news breaking last night? I did. Interesting news because we've had a question, haven't we, a few times in the not-too-distant past, I think we maybe had one last week or before we went away, about whether it's necessary for Mikel Arteta to change up his coaching staff, to bring in new ideas, all of those things.

27:49James McNicholas: And, you know, I think we said, yes, you know, that could work. You could bring in new staff that could do that. But, you know, the guys there have done a good job. But where you do have to make a decision is when somebody is going to go. And that somebody is Carlos Cuesta. It looks like he's going to take over at Parma, 29 years of age. I mean, that's a big opportunity for him at a very, very young age. I think it's quite interesting that there have been, you know, the younger guys like Carlos Cuesta, much as I don't like to talk about him too much, but Fabian Herzler at Brighton, who's relatively young for a manager.

28:33James McNicholas: Guys who are barely in their 30s and they're taking over at clubs. I don't know if that's a trend that will continue. But I do think this is very interesting. you know one to see how Carlos Cuesta gets on at Parma and what kind of yeah 29 years of age and what kind of a coach he will be and you know what if anything from his time at Arsenal he uses or implements or develops or or you know all of those things um you know in his managerial career the more interesting one I suppose from our perspective is what does Mikel Arteta do to replace him so yeah I think when we've had those conversations about coaching staff and possible changes I feel like maybe it was the last show we did together I said you know one thing to watch is that you know does Albert Steubenberg want to be a number one at some point and does Carlos Cuesta want to be a number one at some point and I think that points may become a little quicker than many imagined.

29:38Probably even some people at Arsenal because like the rest of the coaching staff, he signed a three-year extension this season, or the season just gone, along with Mikel. But I think he, I remember hearing a couple of years ago that Carlos harboured a bit of an ambition or a belief that he could be a top-level manager before the age of 30, and he's done it, which is quite extraordinary, really.

30:02James McNicholas: Fair play. Yeah, fair play. I mean, let's see how he gets on. It's obviously a huge challenge and a huge task. But he never saw himself going into like a championship club. I know he was linked with Norwich at one time, but he always saw himself as going to sort of a top division European club. Mudenese have given him that chance. I mean, he's kind of thrived everywhere he's been. He's worked in Italy before at Juventus. Really impressed people there. So we shall see. As for Mikel and Arsenal, I think it's probably a little bit of an inconvenience. I think that clearly, as I say, Mikel signed his contract last year.

30:53The club made considerable effort to keep his staff. And I think they got a pretty decent pay rise, as did Mikel. because they're important to him. And he likes having that continuity. He clearly believes in that group. He'd obviously promoted Carlos when Steve Round moved on. Yes. So, yeah, I imagine he probably is a bit disappointed to lose him at this point.

31:23James McNicholas: He did say, he did say, when Carlos Cuesta was linked with Norwich, he did say everyone needs to feel there is a path there is a development plan for everyone people don't want to do the same thing for three four five years you know letting people go is a way of incentivizing and inspiring other people to go and explore you don't really know the limits of a person unless you expose him to certain things so you know he was a guy who started in coaching very young he went from arsenal to manchester city with no coaching experience you know beyond doing his badges and he got like assistant manager to pep guardiola that's a big big job for your first job in football right and similarly with carlos cuesta it it's it's too big an opportunity for arsenal even if it is an inconvenience to stand in his way i don't think they should do that and you know if you do you you just end up with a really unhappy guy around the place you know because i'm sure part of any contract talks they have was like well if this if something comes up and I want to go, will you let me go?

32:28James McNicholas: If you back down on your word in those circumstances, you just have a really unhappy employee. I'm curious to see what he does, though, whether he goes with somebody else who's young and got a lot of potential because it was Cuesta and Miguel Molina, both of whom were in their 20s when they joined up with Mikel Arteta when he joined Arsenal first. He did have Albert Steubenberg and Steve Rand, though, as well, to have those experienced heads around. But, you know, is it a case that he could find somebody else who's got new, fresh, exciting ideas in their 20s? Or is this maybe an opportunity to say, okay, we've been second three years in a row.

33:07James McNicholas: We need to make that final push. There's pressure now. It's beginning to build on Mikel Arteta to deliver silverware and deliver trophies. Do you go maybe with somebody who's just been around the block a bit? You know, somebody with that experience, you know, they can still have good ideas and fresh ideas. But, you know, does that play into the thinking or does it just simply come down to finding the best person to replicate or take on and develop what Carlos Cuesta was doing as a coach at Arsenal? I've got to say, I would love it if Mikel brought in like a real experienced head. Someone who's been there, done it, won things.

33:53For me, that's the move. Like, he's got quite a young staff. You know, you mentioned, obviously, Carlos is leaving, but Miguel Molina. I think behind the scenes, sort of as a technical group, they are relatively young, Arsenal. Steve Round was obviously moved on. He was kind of the elder statesman there. You know, Nico Jova's quite young, for example. I think it would really be beneficial to Arteta to bring in someone who's a bit of a sounding board, a bit of a counterpoint, somebody who can, who has the kind of authority and experience to stand up to him, to challenge him, to push him. advise him i i think he would really benefit from that and i think it would be it would kind of be sort of like the i think that it's the big man move in the situation i think it's the kind of um i think it would show uh what's the right word confidence in your own ability to be challenged yeah yeah because because there has been a you know there are people who say is Mikel comfortable with younger staff because he feels that they don't challenge him or they are people who tow the line now people who've worked there dispute this and say it's a really energetic workplace and Mikel encourages input from everybody but there is just something different to be said from as I say someone who's been there and done it and I don't think there's any shame in saying, let's get a different voice in this dressing room.

35:44And I think after this period of time, the players might need that. You know, this coaching group has been together for four or five years now. And sometimes you just want a different dynamic. And for me, yeah, I think, you know, when Edu left, Mikel publicly really span it as an opportunity for Arsenal to inject fresh blood, fresh impetus, new ideas. I think that this is the same sort of situation with coaching where we've lost a good person, but it's a great chance to bring a new person in. And I think in our particular position as a team on the cusp, finding someone who has that knowledge, who's walked that road and lifted those trophies, I just think that would have a real value to us at this point in our...

36:36James McNicholas: I completely agree with you. I think if you can get the right guy in who, whether it's in the Premier League or somewhere else, has been at a club that has, you know, won things, maybe a club of the stature of Arsenal, which is a big club but not one of the biggest, biggest clubs, you know, in their league but has still gone on to win things, I think that would be, it would be fantastic. Somebody who does have good ideas but has experience, you know, And experiences, not just in the decision-making, in the games, it's what you do on the training ground. It's how you talk to the players, how you motivate the players.

37:13James McNicholas: We had a question from Adrian, who's StroudGreener70. He says, what role will Andrea Berta play in finding a replacement for Carlos Cuesta, or will it be totally down to Mikel? And this is another interesting aspect. We don't really know, do we, about how across all of it Andrea Berta is going to be as the sporting director, people will be going, he's too busy spinning plays, got to fucking sign a striker and a winger and all of this. So it's not down to him. But, you know, will he be part of any decision-making process there or will this sort of not fall solely to Mikel, but, you know, a big part of his remit this summer will be to make the final decision on who comes in.

38:02Totally. I think this is Mikel's domain. You know, the coach's room, that's Mikel's territory. And I think it's important, actually, that it's his selection. You know, as much as I say, I like the idea of this kind of elder statesman, a potential mentor for Mikel coming in, someone who can offer guidance and experience. I'm not, that's not necessarily what I predict. You know, I don't know if I see Mikel going that way with it. But if he did, I think it would be like a positive surprise for me. And I think an indicator of his growth and development as a coach that he now feels so sort of secure and confident and is willing to kind of have somebody in that position.

38:54But yeah, it's a really interesting one. And as I said, a chance for a new impetus. And who knows? It could be a blessing in disguise, but I do think it will be Mikel's call.

39:05James McNicholas: Yeah, yeah. I'm sure they'll have loads of applications, but it's whether they go to another club and maybe poach somebody from there. Someone who's, yeah, been there, done that, knows Arsenal, clubs of that stature, one thing. What's Big Vang up to? What's Arsene doing? Unfortunately, working for FIFA. Ah, forget it then. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we have had like a few questions about, oh, there was a few Cazola questions, you know. Yeah, could he be the guy? There was one from steamyray.bsky.social who says, What do you think? Can we have a... I think Santi will continue to play. Yeah. I mean, he scored a big goal, didn't he?

39:59James McNicholas: He did. Yeah, he did score a big goal. And I don't think he's ready to hang up his boots just yet. Listen, I love Santi. I don't know what skills he has as a coach. If they're anything like the skills he has as a player, you'd say it's a no-brainer. But I'm not sure he's quite ready to step up and be that guy. um yeah also like and listen i know michael ateta loves santi cazula and i know he's on record saying oh he's welcome here anytime and things like that i have to be honest and say like my limited experience of santi cazula and my knowledge of his personality i don't necessarily see that as a fit for michael ateta's coaching staff do you know what i mean like there's a real intense what what characterizes and unifies michael's staff is that searing intensity comes from him and is present in all those people around him and santi is a lovely guy and i don't in any way wish to sort of diminish his football intelligence or ability or anything like that but he is a much more kind of light gentle comedic presence listen maybe that's what we need maybe that is what we need but it's not necessarily the choice i see mikhail making santi cazorla rocking up for the first day of arsenal pre-season training replicating that video he did where they were you know was it going to australia yeah good day mate yeah doing the australian accent in his uh spanish accent it was very funny that's interesting though isn't it i mean sometimes you do want a different voice a different flavor i mean pep's just brought in colo toro um has he I think he has, yeah.

41:50James McNicholas: But he also brought in the Liverpool guy, Pep Linders, didn't he? He has, yeah. I mean, he's really kind of reshaped the backroom staff. But Kolo's back there now. And he, you know, he's obviously a qualified coach. He's been a manager. As coached at Liverpool, I think, certainly at Celtic. but he has a very kind of upbeat, infectious communication style that I'm sure was probably part of Pep's decision as well as his obviously defensive knowledge and technical and technical know-how. His personality will have been a factor. I don't doubt that. I just googled. Googled. Could be googled now. Who cares?

42:36James McNicholas: The stuff they spit out is terrible. Colo Touré chooses special song for Man City initiation. This is on Yahoo Sports. Do we have any inkling what this song might be? I don't know. The Birdie song? I don't know. Colo Touré. There was only, oh, it's his song, of course, his chant. Oh, is it? Okay, of course, of course. To the, to the. There's no limit. Exactly. Two Unlimited. There's another great one. That the internet age could not sustain a rumour that Two Unlimited were dead. Do you remember that? I think that may be before even my time. Wow. There was a rumour when that song that was out, Two Unlimited, No Limits.

43:23James McNicholas: When was that song? That must be... Early 90s, like... Yeah. I'm going to guess 93. 93. So I wasn't in school. Is that right? It is 93. So I'd left school by then. So how do I have it in my mind that the rumor went around my school that two unlimited were dead in a bus crash? I think every generation has their one of these. For my generation, it was Cal from Keenan and Cal. Are you aware of Keenan and Cal? Yeah, yeah. My daughter used to watch Keenan. So there was a big rumour in schools in London and the sort of home counties, I guess around the turn of the millennium, that Kel had died. And I think because of the way their respective careers kind of went after that, I mean, Keenan Thompson became a mainstay on SNL and a well-known name, well i guess globally but particularly in the states whereas i don't think kel's career has had the same kind of prominence so that i imagine there are lots of people of my sort of age walking around now who believe that kel did indeed die um he's not but he's alive and well he's alive well he's alive well as are two unlimited maybe a reunion tour kel are we sure they're are we sure they're alive two yeah i'm pretty sure they They are.

44:51James McNicholas: If they actually died in a bus crash and it wasn't. I think if that's what happened, Andrew, I'll make an exact decision. We'll probably take this bit out.

45:02So past members on Wikipedia.

45:05James McNicholas: No, they're all all right. I don't see anything. I'm just going to, no, there's no reference to bus at all on their Wikipedia page. So I think we're fine. Okay, good. They're still going strong. They are. Then good luck to them.

45:22That's got to be part one, hasn't it?

45:24James McNicholas: It definitely has to be part one. We're going to take a little break here. We'll be back with your questions and more in part two right after this.

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48:43James McNicholas: Welcome back to the ArseCast Extra. This is part two of the show where we answer the questions that you send to us on bluesky at gunnerblog.bsky.social and at arseblog.com. Also on the ArseBlog Discord chat server, which you get access to if you are an R-Spog member on Patreon. What about this one to kick us off? It comes from Wcampo33. And he says, it seems trivial compared to the previous question. Oh, fuck, what was the previous question? Fucked that one up anyway. Was it, would you rather fight 100 man-sized chickens? Or the ghost of Kel from Kenan and Kel. Yeah, yeah. So it seems trivial compared to that.

49:25James McNicholas: It's definitely trivial compared to that. But he was asking for our predictions, summer transfer window predictions, ins and outs, et cetera, as we usually do. And given that we haven't - Have we not done this? No, we haven't done it. And - Oh, shit. I know. We've got like a bit of an advantage this year because we kind of know a couple of deals already before they've even happened. So for example, I think we might spend five million pounds on a goalkeeper, James. Okay. Okay. So are we going to do this? Yeah. I've had no warning, guys. So this could be batshit, what I say in this. You're just doing it to keep people off the hunt.

50:05James McNicholas: Yeah, of course. Exactly. That's what Stan Kroenke pays me to do. That's it. You're creating the fog of war. People think it's Arsenal. I like that phrase. I'll be using that a lot over the summer, I suspect. Okay. I've created a spreadsheet. Already? Yeah, mate. Google Sheets. just at the click of a button all right andrew and so transfer predictions 2025 um it's good to write this down so that we never look at it ever again exactly you feel you'll forget you even did it you know uh so andrew okay right and then james will put here so let's do it by position shall we so i i also think we're going to spend five million pounds These are our ins, because don't forget we've got to do outs as well.

50:57Oh, okay. I prefer an innie to an out. No. Yeah, I do. I prefer. I have no preference. In transfer terms, I prefer an innie. Right. Depends who the outie is, though. And we're saying who it is as well. So I guess, I mean, I did a lot of the reporting around Kepa. So believe it or not, I think Kepa is going to be that goalie.

51:19James McNicholas: I was talking to this guy who does a podcast and he also told me that Kepa was a guy who was coming in yeah yeah yeah I'm a tier one source on Arsenal goalkeepers according to Reddit so I'll take it okay so what next? Stryker come on let's just get into the nine I'm going to categorize it okay I think it'll be I mean I don't know nobody fucking knows at this point

51:52James McNicholas: um what if i said just to keep things interesting it'll be

52:04it's a more fun game if we can't pick sasco or yukras okay i'll ollie watkins listen i saw elliot did a scouting podcast the other day of ollie watkins and i i can't keep up with Elliot anymore.

52:20James McNicholas: He's gone crazy. He's gone insane. The guy has gone crazy. He's out of control. I love him dearly, but he's lost his fucking mind.

52:29Listen, I'm not...

52:32James McNicholas: And I'm going to say 36.5 million. I love this. It's so specific. And if that happened, Andrew, I wouldn't be that sad. I'm not Team Watkins, but I'm Watkins adjacent. Yes. Yes. But you're not particularly, are you? No, I mean, I think it would be underwhelming, but good. Good, but underwhelming. You know? Yeah. Ultimately, good player, will score goals, could actually really help us. But you just want something a bit more exciting. That's all. Yeah. Okay. So hand on heart, I don't know who it's going to be. That's what someone spreading the fog of war would say.

53:27Stan is behind me now. He's got a gun to my head. He's like, don't you dare, mate.

53:32James McNicholas: Say a fucking word. I'll tell your brains out. And people say, like, he's not that invested in the day-to-day of the club. He's come to Muswell Hill. to stand behind me while I record this podcast. I don't know who it's going to be. And I also don't want to say make a choice between them because I feel like people will infer things. So I'm going to toss a coin. Okay. And are you going to go with a fee? You're going to go... Yeah, I'm going to go with a fee. Hang on. So heads is Sesco. Okay. Tails is Yokeres. Make of that what you will. Right. It's Yokeres. Oh, the Cisco fans are going crazy now.

54:19James McNicholas: So what do you think we're going to pay for Yacarez now that you've made the decision? Well, I flipped a pound. Do you think that'll do it?

54:31James McNicholas: I suspect they might hold out for just a little bit more. I'm not so good on the numbers. What's their president been saying? He wants, like, a lot of money. Yeah. A lot. they all want a lot don't they but

54:5151 million that's something about the agent 70 million euros yeah you should be able to do it for that shouldn't you yeah what's that 70 euros is 50 60 million pounds basically i'm gonna let's go with that 60 million quid it's victor yokarez okay Okay.

55:15James McNicholas: I'm going to go out on a limb here now and say we're going to spend something in the region of£50 million on a defensive midfield player. 50? Ish. Oh, yeah. I've just remembered who that is. Yeah. I did, Randy. Okay. So I think that's going to be 65 million euros. So that's – which is 5 million more than the clause. So that's 55.6 million. That sounds like very informed. I can't comment on that. No.

55:53Okay. Okay. So that's three in. They're the three that I'm like, that's the bare minimum before the season starts. We're now into possibly like the, you know, the more fun stuff, I guess.

56:09James McNicholas: Yeah. So over to you, Andrew. I don't know who because that's just impossible. I think we will sign another forward. Yeah, a winger? Yes. And I think we'll spend something in the region of 40 million on that. 40 million on that winger. Do you want to give us a name just for a laugh? And just so that if it happens, you can claim to be all clever and stuff. an ITK I know how important that is that is very important to me it's my life everything it means everything to me that and your blue tick that's exactly that I didn't ask for that I didn't fucking want foisted upon me a blue tick see I have a funny feeling about Anthony Gordon but you don't get him for 40 million that's what I was thinking 40 feels more like I don't know who you're getting for 40 Who are you getting because you're not getting Nico Williams It sounds like you're not getting Nico Williams whatever happens He's another Joanne Garcia Barca bound, it sounds like Yes, moment of silence for Iñaki Kenya please, Joanne Garcia is officially a Barcelona player Amen So maybe you've got to pay how much did newcastle pay for anthony gordon probably paid i think more than that i think 45 right so they'd want to make some profit which felt like a lot of money at the time it was 45 million i remember because i remember being like 45 million for him it was in the sort of early flush of saudi money where people were like yeah all right you can have him we want 45 million and they paid it.

58:04I think you're not getting him out for 70.

58:07James McNicholas: No, you're not. 70, God, I don't think I'd pay 70 million for him though. That's the only thing. So I don't know. I don't know. I'm going to say 40 million on A and Other. Okay. Don't know who. How tall will that player be? Oh, I hope not that tall. 5 '9"? I'm just trying to sort of get it a bit more specific. Okay. The player will be five foot ten and be right footed. Okay. Love it. Love it. What about you? What are you thinking on a winger? Hang on. I've got to toss some more coin. No, I think.

58:53Well, they do like Rodrigo. They do really like him.

58:57James McNicholas: Yeah, but it's going to cost a lot. I mean, the thing about Rodrigo that I keep coming back to is, does he want to leave? You know, does he want to leave Madrid? Now, maybe he's starting places under threat, blah, blah, blah. Does he want to come and play in England? I don't know. Unless Mikel gets into his DMs. Does he want to come and not be an automatic first choice on the left? Because isn't that part of the issue with him playing on the right in Real Madrid? he sees himself as the guy on the left. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is he a massive, massive, massive upgrade on Martinelli for the money that you were paying?

59:34James McNicholas: I don't know. Do you think he is? No. Not massive, massive. It's hard, that. I haven't watched him consistently enough to say. I will... Yeah, sorry. For the sake of sort of intrigue, I'll say him. I'll say him. Right.

59:58James McNicholas: Rodrigo with a Y. Do I believe that, Andrew? Because why are you talking like... Because this is prediction, isn't it? This isn't what I want to happen. Yeah, this prediction. I think... I think I'm going to back down from that. It could happen. Let's get that on the record. Anything can happen, right? Anything can happen. Yeah, I just think I can't see the numbers quite adding up. I've said that before in posher words. Me either in terms of the fee and the wages. But 40, you don't get anything for 40, mate. Could you get Semenyo for 40? I don't even think you can. Right. Maybe you can. I don't know.

1:00:43I mean, what are United supposed to be paying for Burma? That's like 55, is it? Something like that.

1:00:49James McNicholas: Yeah. He has twice as many goals.

1:00:55James McNicholas: this is hard it is hard no wonder they've got nothing done they can't fucking figure out how to do it either well presumably like this is something they have to think about like presumably this is sort of i mean not exactly like this andrew but this is the sort of conversation that's going on where they're like well if we do sesco maybe that means we can't get this guy but if we do your careers perhaps we do you know what i mean like there's all these permutations yeah um okay i can't think of i mean you know we we know they're like nico williams it seems that ain't happening we know they're like anthony gordon we don't like his face we know they're quite like the dortmund lad kittens he's going to chelsea after that you know what i'm gonna do some enio all right what do you what are you paying 45 i'm gonna right well the rumors are that he's gonna cost spurs 70 million i hope he doesn't go to spurs i quite like him million they're talking about yeah like a fee between 60 and 70 million for Antoine Semenya.

1:02:10That is steep, isn't it?

1:02:12James McNicholas: I think that's steep. I like him. I think he's a good player, but... I don't think that's true. I don't think they'll get that. I'm going to say 55. I hope he doesn't ruin his career either by going there. I'm going to say 55. I don't believe that Bournemouth are turning down 55 million for Antoine Semenya. Okay, that's fair enough. So we've got quite a bit spent... Sorry, Rodrigo fans. I couldn't quite commit to it. So we've got 5 million on a goalkeeper, 55 million on a defensive midfielder. You've gone, what, 70-ish? I've done 60 on Yucarez and 55 on Semenya. So I'm 110, 115, 175 down already.

1:02:57Right. Wait, there's more, though. Because you're not. You're, I'll tell you what you are. I'm a little bit lower. 125 plus 36.5. Some people would say you create a spreadsheet so you don't have to do this sum. 131.5.

1:03:14James McNicholas: Right. That leaves me more room to wiggle with. You've got a lot more. Listen, if you like wiggling, you're in luck because there's room to do it here. Yeah, because what if, you know, for example, you were to buy another midfield player? Yeah. Some rumors of that today. A guy at Sevilla. I saw that one. Being linked with a move to Arsenal. And, James, would it be an Arsenal summer without signing a defender? Yeah, and I think those are both on the table. We obviously don't know what's going to happen with Thomas Partey's contract.

1:03:57If he was to go, he'd have to be replaced.

1:03:58James McNicholas: I think there's a good case to be made that we need a sort of versatile Tommy Esu-esque defender. Yeah, I think there is that case, certainly. You know? Do you want to add any more ins? I'm 175 million down. I'm going to go another 40 million on a defender. I mean, they bid that, or more than that, for the Bournemouth boy. Howson. Howson. I like that in football when people say the Bournemouth boy. The lad at Bournemouth. Yeah. Makes me feel like a man when I say stuff like that. Okay. So you're going for a utility defender for 40 million. How tall is he going to be? He's going to be six foot three.

1:04:51James McNicholas: Tall boy. Yeah. He likes him tall, Mikael. So that brings you basically in line with my expenditure, around about 170 million. Yeah. Am I adding it? Are you adding a midfielder as well?

1:05:07James McNicholas: Yeah, fuck it. I'm adding a, like, what, they had a pretty decent price for that guy at Sevilla that they were talking about. I don't know if he's any good. I'd never heard of him until today. But could you get, like, a sort of 20 million euro midfielder to play a depth role in your squad, given that you already have, for example, Zubimendi can play six. Declan Rice can play six as well. You've got this guy if he comes in. And then for your eights, you're looking at Marino. You've got Havertz. You've got Rice who can play there as well. We've talked about Ethan Weneri and where he's going to play next season.

1:05:49James McNicholas: So can you take a little not-too-expensive punt on a guy who can come in and give you a bit more depth. Yes. I think so. So I'm going to go with a 20 million midfielder in there. Okay. Hang on. Right. You've gone midfielder. Wow. So you've now gone. So that's like a young utility midfield player. Yeah. Sort of like the new version of Albert Sambi-Lokanga, but hopefully somebody who has a better impact or a greater impact. Okay. I love it. I love it. I don't understand how this spreadsheet works. So you're now at 191.5 million, I think. We spent that basically the summer before last on Rice, Havertz and Timber.

1:06:37James McNicholas: So I think that's a reasonable outlay for a club after another season in the Champions League with the semi-final money and the need to make progression. I think that's a decent outlay, not too unreasonable outlay, especially if we sell a couple of players and get a bit of money in. Well, we have the outs to come. The outies are still to come. I'm going to...

1:07:04Experience of doing these year in, year out tells me that generally less happens than we expect.

1:07:12James McNicholas: Yes, I think that's true.

1:07:16So what have I got? I've got a goalie in Kepa, a nine in Jocherez, Zubimendi, and I went for Semenyo as my winger. And now I've got, do I bring in someone else? Yeah, I'm going to say that we don't do the defender. I'm going to say that we stick with what we've got at the back and, you know, Jakub Kivijor stays, essentially.

1:07:43James McNicholas: Okay. And I will say that we do do a development project in midfield, a kind of Lekonga-ish player. And I will say that will be, I don't know, hopefully about£15 million, I will say. So that would take me to£190 million, which is actually pretty much identical to your expenditure, be it for one less player. Right now on the Arsenal website, there are five midfield players listed. Partey, Odegaard, Jorginho, Marino, Rice. That could easily be three. And then there is the one area discussion to be had because he's not listed in the first team squad at this moment in time. Neither is Lewis Kelly, by the way.

1:08:27It's just the way it's gone.

1:08:30James McNicholas: Okay, so what about outs? Outs.

1:08:39James McNicholas: I mean Zinchenko Zinchenko yeah he'll go I think we can agree on that much right but for how much

1:08:51less than we imagine

1:08:53James McNicholas: well I'd written down 15 million so less than that you're saying no I think that's a fair price isn't it I can imagine it being less Oh, I could easily imagine it being less. Unless. AC Milan are reportedly interested, aren't they? Right. I don't know. I've been away since that broke, so I don't know the sort of veracity or mooted fee. The lay of the land. Yeah, let's have a look. Zinchenko fee, what are people reporting?

1:09:26Correola, Della Sport, think around 10 million pounds. I'm going to go with 10. I think that feels...

1:09:34James McNicholas: Last year of his contract has barely played for 18 months. Yeah. What do you think? Do you stick him with 15? No, I'll go with 10. If we get 10, we're doing all right. If Corriera del Sport are saying it, we'll just nick it off them. The lads at Corriera del Sport are saying it. For the Ukrainian boy. The Ukrainian chap, yeah. Okay. I'm going to go on the squad page, you know, because like... Yeah. Yeah, I think, I think. Marquinhos is gone. Yeah, he's gone. We've already got that 2.5 million. Sweet, sweet 2.5 million in the bank. I gather it could be, Andrew, it could be as much as three. So we break even.

1:10:21So we break even on Marquinhos, which frankly, I wasn't always sure would happen. So we'll take it. He's gone. I think... I'm going to look at the first team squad now. Raya, Saliba, White, Gabriel, Timber. I'm not having another defender go because I didn't buy a defender.

1:10:44James McNicholas: There's only two players, I think, in the squad who I would say are possible departures as sales. Is that Martinelli and Trossard? Hmm. Well, Trossard was one. Kivior. Kivior and Trossard were the two I was looking at because I don't think Martinelli should be. You think he's better than Rodrigo. I didn't say. That's what you said in part one, isn't it? I said, I don't think Rodrigo is a massive, massive upgrade on Martinelli. You said Rodrigo can't, he's not fit to scrub Martinelli's boots, you said. That's right. That's what I said. No, I don't think he should. I don't think he should be sold.

1:11:33Yeah, okay.

1:11:35James McNicholas: Had this conversation. Next season, different, different. I'm going to go out on a limb and say, of the players who were with us last season, apart from the ones with contractual situations like your Sterlings or your potentially Partey, obviously Jorginho is gone. I don't see another significant sale from that group.

1:12:01I'm squinting to see it and I can't quite so I think we're into the territory of like players who are out on loan, for me but you can have some, so would you

1:12:13James McNicholas: see I've brought a defender in so I think a defender is going to go on top of Zinchenko and I think Kivior might well look for a move because he is good enough to play yeah that would be that for me would be the most obvious one but i didn't buy a defender so you can't do it i'm gambling that not everything we think could and would happen happens and that that's one that doesn't happen okay okay i do think if we bring in the trussard thing could trussard go i think trussard could maybe be a late window situation maybe yeah and it's kind of a weird vibe with this contract where it's like as far as i understand it it's like here's a new contract but there's not really any elongation of the terms it's just a pay bump it doesn't give him necessarily the security in terms of length that he might want at this stage or get from somewhere else get from somewhere else so yeah cute yeah that's all fair so so kivior you're going to sell Well, all you're going to say goes, sorry, this is not your choice, this is what you predict.

1:13:25And how much do you think we get for Jakub Kivion?

1:13:27James McNicholas: £30 million. That would be a pretty good return. It would be good. I mean, we paid about£22, didn't we? So it's not huge profit, but I think, you know, he demonstrated in the final part of the season that he is more than capable of playing at a high level. And I think he will want to do that. And I think there will be clubs who will take the opportunity to give him that chance. I mean, we also should mention Nuno Tavares is gone as well. That was, what, 10 million? Yeah. Are we including that in this year's accounts? Let's do that. Yeah, I think that's fair. Why not? They're not our accounts, and we're just making this shit up anyway.

1:14:01Yeah, I don't know what we're talking about.

1:14:04James McNicholas: Albert Sambi-Laconga, is he a departure? I should hope so. Bloody hell. Well, he's not going to play, is he? I wouldn't have thought so. I mean, maybe the sort of new Albert Sambi-Laconga that we signed is actually just Albert Sambi-Laconga. We've both got that wrong. Maybe. No, I think he'll go. I think he'll be a pretty low fee. I'm saying five million. I'll say eight. That's pretty generous, isn't it? Okay. Rhys Nelson? Surely. I mean, Rhys Nelson, every time you think he's gone, he's back at Arsenal. And we haven't, neither of us signed a right winger as a backup sacker, by the way. That's why they call him Boomerang.

1:15:00So, but I think he will finally go. I don't say that with any sort of ill feeling. We all love Rhys Nelson. Gave us one of the greatest moments of our lives against Bournemouth.

1:15:10James McNicholas: Yeah. and he's a hail-end boy but I think he's got to and I said last week that you know Fulham liked the idea of bringing him back how much would Fulham pay 15 million yeah that seems about right surely I mean 20 is your top isn't it I think on that yeah you might get 15 plus stuff we did pretty well out of Fulham for Smith Rowe I think I'm going to say we might get 20 okay what do you think I'm going to stick with 15 Okay. I'm sticking with 15. I've been more optimistic than you on the sales figures here. Yeah. Anybody else? Are you going to say Trossard goes? Bear in mind, you didn't buy a right winger.

1:15:54James McNicholas: No, I'm going to say he stays, but I think he's a potential departure, depending on what else happens. What about Monsieur Vieira, Fabio? Yeah, I've got no idea. I was trying to think about, like, should we sell him? I think we should probably sell him. There's our backup right winger, guys. There's another option. He has played there. And midfield is pretty light as it is. And we talked about not having an Odegaard replacement last season, even if that might be one area this time around. But, you know, yeah. So sometimes there's no market for a player. Well, that's where I was going next. It's like, I don't quite know who's going to be in the market for Fabio Vieira.

1:16:38Yeah. I mean, it's all very well us saying, well, we'll sell Nelson for 20 and Fabio for 20, but they've got to be clubs who want to pay that.

1:16:46James McNicholas: Well, I mean, Fulham do seem to want to. They do. Do they like him to the tune of 20 million? I don't know. Let's see. But Fabio, he did okay, didn't he? From what I understand. It was okay in a league where Jokeres is scoring 70 goals. Yeah. You know?

1:17:11Would Sporting Lisbon like him? Could we chuck him in that package? What would that be like politically? I don't know.

1:17:17James McNicholas: I don't know. They never happen, those deals. Yeah, the old make-weight type stuff. We'll give you this much money and this player and this player and this player. Listen, people are going to hate this. I'm going to say he gets loaned. I'm going to say he gets loaned with an optional plus one year and his contract to retain his value. Seems the most likely, yeah. That's what I'm going to go with. You? I would agree with that. Carl Hain? What about Carl Hain? I think. Loan and signs a 20-year contract. And we have this conversation about Carl Hain every summer until we are both dead. James, what do you think is going to happen this summer?

1:17:58James McNicholas: with Karl. What about bringing Karl? Yeah. The year is 2053. Inyaki Kanya is trying to buy another goalkeeper for 30 million pounds. You and I are in an old people's home suggesting we bring Karl Hayne back from some obscure loan he's just had. Yeah, he's a via de Lid. He did well at via de Lid last season. Yeah, I think loan. I think loan. Okay. So how much have we generated? Is there anyone else? Couldn't you sell like, yeah, you can't sell Gabo Jesus. You can't sell Tomi Asu. You can't sell, I mean, you could sell Calafuri, but I don't know that they will. Do you want to do a Thomas Partey prediction, stay or go?

1:18:47Don't know. It doesn't make any difference to these numbers. So let's say we don't know. So you have recouped 10, 13, 43, 53, 58, 63, 73 million, I think.

1:19:07James McNicholas: That's pretty decent. I've recouped. That means you've only spent 120, which is only just a little bit more than a Declan Rice. I don't think people will be satisfied with that kind of spending. How mad does that sound? Mine was a meager, a measly£51 million, I believe. Yeah. Basically because I didn't sell Kivio. That's it. And I think what people need to remember after us doing this for half an hour at the start of this. Is that we're wrong every year? We're completely wrong all the time and nobody should pay any attention to our predictions whatsoever. Yeah. I think that's totally fair. Like, hand on heart.

1:19:49Like, and this is probably not a very good thing for a reporter to admit. I don't know what's going to happen. Like, I know stuff, but it's the market.

1:20:00James McNicholas: You're a reporter, not Mystic Meg. That's true. You know? That's true. I don't have a crystal ball. No. Unlike David. He's got one. He's got two. He sent you pictures of those. in his special barbers that he goes to and shouts out strikers names um okay so there we go so so you so just to conclude you had us making one two three four five six signings for a combined 191.5 million i think although again i get these sums wrong every year yeah i had us buying one, two, three, four, just five players for 175 million. I then sold somewhat less than you. I sold 51 million, but you sold 73. So I think our net spends are basically the same.

1:20:58Our net spends are, let me just do the quick sums, 191.5 as if anyone gives a shit.

1:21:10They're like, we better hear the the number at the end. I want the exact number

1:21:14James McNicholas: with the.5. We've come this far. 118.5. So your net spend was 118.5. 175 I was minus. You definitely shouldn't need to do these sums. 124. Yeah. I don't think people are going to be very happy with that at all. Really? Yeah, they'd be like, a team that's got ambition to win the league would need to spend a lot more than 118.5. million pounds and i think i probably agree with that a net spend i should say don't talk to me about spend buddy talk to me about net spend i think no i'm being slightly i think i think our in i think our expenditure is probably a more accurate guess than our what we recoup yeah our revenue like every year we do this and we're like yeah we'll get 50 million for balogun or something you know what i mean or something mad like that and then every day it's deadline day and fulham have come with like a bag full of two peas for burned leno you know yeah yeah yeah that's the way this goes and and every year like we're saying oh yeah sambi will be sold will he or will he go on loan with an option an option for someone to buy him.

1:22:39And then we won't know for 12 months.

1:22:42James McNicholas: Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi-Laconga and Carl Hain just, you know, sent off with a packed lunch. The Lone Rangers. The Lone Rangers, that's who they are. That's who they're going to be. But that was fun anyway. Yeah. Can't take this stuff too seriously, you know. Yeah. And as I say, we will now forget about those and never refer to them again. Mm-hmm. And that is a guarantee. Forget about what? Exactly. Exactly. Okay, what about this one to finish us off? Because we've been going a while and you're just back from holidays. I don't know if you can tell. But here's one from Gunnar Walker on Blue Sky, who's at AFCWalker49.bsky.social.

1:23:29James McNicholas: I'm choosing this one rather than a question about Thomas Frank going to Spurs because we don't need to talk about that. So he says, now that the fixtures are out and we know who our first games are, who's going to get these firsts for us in the 25-26 season? First goal. First goal in the next season?

1:23:53I'm going to say... Saka.

1:23:58James McNicholas: Okay. Yeah. I'll go Kai Havertz. Okay. Yeah, that's fair. Because he'll be starting up top. Yeah, I like that guess, to be honest. Assist. Can Saka assist for himself? No. I think I'll cover my bases and say Saka. Okay. I will go for Odegaard for the first assist. Okay, Odegaard. Yellow card. First yellow card.

1:24:29Oh. Oh, Mars Lewis Skelly. I don't know why I had to think about it.

1:24:37James McNicholas: I will go with, hmm. I'll also go with Kai Havertz. Yeah, okay. He likes yellow cards. What game is this? This is Old Trafford, right? No, but it's over the course of the season, our first year. I mean, nobody might get booked at Old Trafford, you know. Yellow card for time wasting.

1:24:59You're looking for time-wasting.

1:25:02James McNicholas: I mean, it's got to be a right-back, so pick either Timber or White. Yeah. That's how it goes. I'll go Timber, I guess. Okay, I'll go with White. First red card of the season.

1:25:18I think I'll say Kai Havertz, you know.

1:25:24James McNicholas: He's got an eventful season coming up. He's got it in him, hasn't he? Has he been sent off for us yet? If he hasn't, he's had a few close calls. No, I don't think so. But a few people said he should have been for that challenge in the Newcastle game. Newcastle game, yeah. That was quite bad. I am going to say... I'm going to say David Raya. Sent off. Okay. That positioning going to catch up with him eventually. Yeah, it's Kepa's big chance, you know. Okay. And then final one, first foul throw.

1:26:07I'll say miles.

1:26:08James McNicholas: I'll go with timber. I'll go with timber on that one. That's going to be a hell of a game at Old Trafford. Yeah. That's all I can say. All I can say. It'll be a very busy one. Okay. We will get this out for people because they've been waiting a little while. We are overdue. Thank you for being patient. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for allowing us to have a little bit of time off. But things should get back to a fairly regular schedule from now on. There is because this is Wednesday. There won't be an Arsecast on Friday. A, because fuck all will be happening. And B, I'm going to be in London anyway this weekend.

1:26:46James McNicholas: And so we will pick things up again on Monday with another Arsecast Extra, at which point, hopefully, something will have happened over the weekend. And we can talk about that for now, though. Take it easy, folks, and we will catch you on the next one. Bye-bye.

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