Arsecast Extra Episode 648 - 14.07.2025

0:00Your favorite friend group is back. FX is Adults follows five roommates living in New York, leaning on each other to navigate love, work, friendship, and family, while tackling pressing questions of your 20s like, what if the person who inherited your fake ID is cooler than you ever were? Why does being around your family make you regress into your worst self? And how do you tell your roommates that you have other friends? FX is Adults, all episodes now streaming on Hulu.

0:46James McNicholas: Hello and welcome to another Arsecast Extra. As always, with James from Gunner Blog. James, good morning to you. Good morning, Andrew. How are you doing? I'm all right. You know, it's been a beautiful weekend here in terms of weather in Ireland. And as everybody knows, the only thing you can do when the weather is good in Ireland is, well, drink lots of beer and cocktails and wine. So I'm feeling it a bit today on a Monday morning. But apart from that, I can have no complaints. How about you? I'm good. Yeah, I think slightly fatigued. No one slept well in our very hot flat overnight. But there's lots on the Arsenal agenda to sort of energize me for this podcast.

1:29James McNicholas: Yeah, that's true. There's a fair bit going on. What's happening with all these Sunday drops? Last Sunday, it was all Zubermandy, and then there was something else going on. And then this Sunday, we're getting a striker. It's all for the podcast, Andrew. Thank you. Thank you, David Orenstein, for sorting that out. He's, what can I say? He's a pal. Yeah, no, I mean, it's good. It's good. You know, it would be very annoying if we'd recorded this 24 hours ago. Yeah. It would be out of date even more quickly than our stuff goes out of date, usually. Yeah, this will be out of date by the time you're listening, I'm sure.

2:08James McNicholas: Yeah, yeah. By the time we finish this, there'll be another... We'll have fought three more Chelsea players. Every Chelsea left back is signing for Arsenal. Listen. That's a horrible thought. It is. Of Marco Corella. We do not want, we can't have that. I cannot sanction that buffoonery. Just cannot. Yeah. But yeah, there is a lot happening and a lot going on and a lot that's going to take place this week, it seems, before the team and everyone goes out on the tour to Singapore and to Hong Kong for some preseason games. It feels like things have accelerated in order to get these guys ready and on the tour.

2:46James McNicholas: I'm not sure if Madweke will go on the tour, will he? Because he'll probably need a holiday or something. But maybe. Maybe they'll figure something out different there. But obviously the big story is that an agreement has been reached with Sporting over the signing of Victor Jokerez. Big Vic in. Big Ben. It's not chiming for him this summer. So, yeah. So, I mean, the striker. The striker. We've got a striker, James. yeah it happened finally happened well sorry it's happening yeah yeah let's get our tenses right um it's happening and yeah we are there's some sort of very specific wording isn't there about it which is like we're in the final stages of finalizing the deal we're we're mixing the concrete to get the concrete on the pathway to finalizing the deal in principle with the concrete yes i mean i think effectively the broad scope of the deal is agreed and it's probably the very nitty-gritty in terms of when certain payments arrive or or on what criteria they arrive um but effectively it's a done deal and obviously the player side has been done for a little bit of time um and he's played his part in making this happen forcing this through uh and i think arsenal will probably be pretty happy with the deal that they've got and the numbers involved i mean you know it's it's not that much more than we paid for noni madueke well there you go there's a discussion i think we might have a bit later on in the show because there's been well quite a reaction to to that deal in particular um but yeah to to spend 50 million plus whatever it is on a striker with some add-ons there was a suggestion that the agent waived his fees in order to get this deal through well what's a charitable bunch yeah we all we know that we know that um i mean i think he'll he'll i'd be staggered if he doesn't do right somewhere along the line For sure, for sure.

4:58James McNicholas: I mean, it does strike me that maybe there was, you know, an element of his fee might have been waived or whatever it was. But yeah, nobody's working for free in football, are they? Well, I suppose, you know, agents on a deal often get paid by the player, but they also get paid by the club. And they don't actually get paid by the player. The club often pays them on the player's behalf. And the player just has to pay the tax on that, which they're always delighted about, in my experience. And so he will have made some money on this as he made maybe less than he might have visaged, perhaps. But I think, yeah, what are the numbers saying?

5:36£54.8 million as the kind of fixed fee for the£8.6 million in potential add-ons. Feels like a very reasonable price. I mean, it's kind of not, you know, I mentioned Noni Madueke. I mean, what did we pay for Alexander Lacazette way back when?

5:55James McNicholas: Yeah, it was 50 million at least, wasn't it, for Lacazette? And that was back in the summer of whenever that was. 56 million for Bemiang in 2018. So it would have been the summer of 2017 then when we bought Lacazette. Yeah, that's 46.5 for Lacazette. So this is a fee, I think, that sort of, you know, sits alongside those two quite neatly. When you compare or consider the inflation in the market since then, I think Arsenal have got themselves a pretty good deal here. Does it make it easier to live with what you might consider a less good deal when you do get another good deal in on top of that?

6:42James McNicholas: Can you look at things in that kind of isolation or can you compartmentalize them? You know, I saw people, we had a question. I apologize. I think it was on the Discord. Oh, yeah, it came from Gary on the Discord. He said, if we paid Chelsea 10 million less for Madweke, but instead paid 10 million more for Kepa, would you feel better about the Madweke signing, even though it's the same total amount of money going to Chelsea? He says, I know I would. It doesn't really work like that, but you can see how people are. Yeah, I can say hand on heart, I think I would. and you know that's how the club must look at it um they look at the totality of business as compared to the budget obviously every deal is different and i can sort of say in a pithy way oh it's about what we paid for madueke but there are reasons that madueke has cost more money i think we'll get on to that because like it's his own conversation isn't it but yeah yeah i do think Jokeres looks like a really, really reasonable deal.

7:49And I think probably Arsenal will feel that their strategy has paid dividends here in terms of keeping their options open for a relatively long period of time, exploring different deals. Who knows? Perhaps that's what pushed Victor Jokeres to really make his case and agitate for the move and say he was prepared to do whatever it took. And it's worked out.

8:15James McNicholas: Any thoughts on that? You know, I know he was due to report for preseason training on Saturday and didn't. Where do you stand on players, you know, people will say from this side, well, he really pushed for the move. You know, he really wants to join Arsenal. That's great. You know, well done to him. But on the flip side, if one of our players behave like that, given what we've seen in terms of some of the reaction to, you know, a player who's done nothing wrong, right? Whatever you think of the Madweke deal, he hasn't done anything wrong. And yet it provoked this kind of reaction. Is it relevant at all?

8:57James McNicholas: Do you worry about it? Do you think it was just, well, look, this is what it takes at the business end of a deal like this. there's no point in him going back to sporting when he wants to join Arsenal like a day or two days later it's all pretty much done and dusted so it's not like he's been out on strike for weeks and weeks no and um there's a pretty good history of Arsenal players going on strike to get their moves or non-Arsenal players as they were at the time I mentioned to you in a text the other day Sylvain Wiltord was one that was I think much more um a bit more attritional and sort of more problematic in terms of his relationship with, I think it was Bordeaux at the time that he came across from.

9:40And in Jocares' defence, you know, the reason for the strike is that he believes an agreement was reneged upon, you know, that there wasn't a deal. I think it was for 60 million euros plus 10 million euros he could go. And he was told that and sort of shook hands on it, as it were. Get it in writing. Always get it in writing. And he felt that that was not being honoured. And so he felt a bit betrayed by that, hence the strike. So there is a bit of mitigation. And also, Andrew, like, he's desperate to come. You know, he's 27 until such a time as he'll be 28.

10:28James McNicholas: But that'll be next year, so it's fine. He's only just gone 27. So, okay. He's still 27. But like, this is a guy who's had an astonishingly productive time in Lisbon, but, you know, he'd had a bit of a journeyman career before that. He's had spells at Brighton, at Swansea, at Coventry, St. Paulie. and for him at this age to get this move to a club of this size competing for the biggest prizes it is too good an opportunity for him to allow to pass by and so not only do I understand his position I think as an Arsenal fan you're kind of excited by that you're kind of like well he really wants to be here and that's what we want to hear isn't it?

11:24James McNicholas: Sure I guess yeah I mean I'm not against what he did really but if the shoe is on the other foot I think we view these kinds of scenarios a little bit differently albeit we've lost players down the years who we maybe didn't want to lose and it's difficult to come to terms with that and from a sporting perspective as well I think you know they're champions the last two years in no small part because of the goals that this guy scored so i i get why they were you know holding out for as much as possible for their best player basically so yeah exactly and and clearly like there's been a sort of time pressure element to this i mean arsenal have obviously wanted to get it done before the tour um they probably have made the player aware of that so he he wants to be there as well um and i think that probably explains some of the kind of antipathy we might have observed in the negotiations that it was a bit fraught and there was a bit of pressure to get it done quickly but they've arrived in the right place yeah i mean it is the big decision of the summer isn't it where you know we've been desperate for the striker and other deals have happened and people have been you know happy enough with those deals and happy enough with those signings but I think as long as this one was undone there was that fear uh that it was not going to happen you know I met a neighbor of mine walking down the road the other day he's an Arsenal fan he was like are they going to buy a striker I was going yeah I think so I think they'll buy they'll buy the Yacarez guy he's going yeah I don't know they said they were going to buy one last year they said they were going to bio in the year before you know so even though it's been pretty obvious people i think have been waiting for this one to get over the line properly before being able to relax and as much as football fans can relax these days do you think this will release some of the the low level anxiety that's been permeating throughout this summer i think so i think so and again it's not in isolation right It looks like it might be completed before tour, along with at least one, possibly two other transfers.

13:44You know, which, as I said to a colleague, I think at this point we're talking a spree, aren't we? This is a spree.

13:51James McNicholas: Yeah, yeah, I guess so. Because when you look at what we've got so far, I mean, I got the blog out this morning before the news about Christian Mosquera dropped. dropped Zubimendi, Ariza Balaga, Norgard, Madweke, Jokoraz. Now Mosquera looks like he's going to be coming in. So that's six signings and probably an outlay, you know, in the ballpark of£200 million there or thereabouts. That's a lot of money to spend. Yeah. It is a lot of money to spend. Higuain done, Rooney next. Blimey. Arsenal Twitter heritage then. Yeah, it's a lot of money. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of the incoming side done.

14:39I wouldn't even say, to use the cliche that the checkbook is closed. I think there'll probably be a bit of flexibility in terms of what happens in the remainder of the market. I know people are still hoping for a wide player. I think there's a possibility of that, but perhaps later in the window and maybe depending on what other business comes in. But yeah, Arsenal have really, I think they've done well to get to assemble this clutch of signings ahead of kind of the significant portion of pre-season. And, you know, I'm sure it was always the plan, But I can't help but think that fixture list draw in the middle of June really must have sharpened minds.

15:32James McNicholas: Yeah. When you look at the start that we've got. Yeah, maybe so. And look, we talked about having the striker in and how important that was. You know, that was of all the signings that we were going to make this summer. That was the one where we absolutely had to get it done as quickly as possible, you know, to get that guy settled in and know his new teammates and find out what he can bring to the team. But when you look at it, at the back, the goalkeeper is sorted. It looks like the defense is going to be sorted midfield. Two players have come in there, Christian Norgard and Martin Zubimendi.

16:04James McNicholas: We've got the striker now. Who am I forgetting? Oh, of course, Madueke as well, to add some depth to the wide areas, which is an interesting one, and we can come back to that discussion and maybe some of the reaction to that as well. And like you, I feel like the market might dictate what happens next. If, you know, there's some interest in Trossard, for example, and he goes, then you've got to react to that and bring somebody in. But I think for the most part, they wanted the core of those signings done for preseason anyway, for a good chunk of preseason. It looks like that's going to happen.

16:39James McNicholas: I suppose the other thing just to maybe mention about this is that whatever plan Arsenal might have or might have had, when it comes to transfers, you know, you are dealing with third parties and other elements, which make it difficult sometimes to implement those plans in the way that you might envisage, right? So clubs playing a bit of hardball over a player, we haven't had too much of that. I mean, the Zubimendi, Kepa, Norgard all seem to have gone through pretty easily, you know, without too much difficulty. But at the same time, you are dependent on getting everybody on board from the selling club to the player to the agents to, you know, to all of that.

17:21James McNicholas: So there is an element of difficulty in that regard. Yeah. And, you know, I think most people are pretty pleased with the business that Arsenal have done. But you don't always get your top targets. You don't always get your number ones in each position. I mean, what would it have meant for Arsenal's window if they had got Joanne Garcia instead of Kepa and paid an extra, you know, 20 million euros, whatever it would be in transfer fee? What would it have done for our window if Dean Housen had decided he wanted to join Arsenal instead of Real Madrid and we'd had to drop 50 million quid on him? like yeah it's a fluid mobile enterprise and it's something that changes and adapts by necessity i actually think like in you know i just picked those two deals off the top of my head but i actually we've probably ended up in a better place um in terms of sort of the spread of spending and maybe there being a bit more focus on the attacking part of the pitch um that it might otherwise have been so yeah very very very interesting and exciting for us because you know pre-season a lot of the time you sort of it starts and you're watching the same old faces and you're thinking oh bloody hell we're gonna be waiting till deadline day to have a complete squad whereas you know there'll be a lot of eyes on these friendlies in in Singapore and Hong Kong because all being well we should see a number of new faces yeah which is always always really exciting And I think, yeah, your point about, you know, it's not just what difference it would have made to our summer, let's say, if we bought Juan Garcia.

19:05James McNicholas: It's what difference that would have made to the whole narrative around the goalkeeping position next season, too. That's true. This clear delineation, I think, between David Ryan and Kepa. And I think Kepa is a good deal. I really do. A five million quid for a really experienced number two goalkeeper. Can't argue with that. 30 million quid on a young up-and-comer who, you know, could turn out to be brilliant, but then you're having to deal with those questions week in, week out. Who's going to play? Who's the number one? Can you play two goals? Oh, I'll sub a goalkeeper again. Yeah, you know, we could do without that.

19:38James McNicholas: I think that, you know, there is an element when you're bringing in, let's say, six players. It might be seven players, seven new players arriving at Arsenal this summer. I think there are elements where you need to maintain a bit of stability. when you're thinking about how to put your squad together rather than creating more instability, even if it is a player maybe you really like. Yeah, I think that's absolutely right. What else should we talk about? I mean, should we talk about Noni Madueke? Yeah, why not? Why not? Because that's happening. I mean, he actually, he'll be gutted. He missed out on celebrating with Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino last night.

20:23Yeah, he'll be devastated about that, I imagine. But yeah, he left the Chelsea camp head of the Club World Cup final. And I think back in London, sort of completing the formalities of that transfer. As you mentioned, I don't quite know as yet what his plan is, because he's obviously due a week or 10 days off.

20:46James McNicholas: At least, surely. You know, he's been playing since all last season and all through the summer. because of this stupid fucking Club World Cup bullshit. So, you know, I think he and every player deserves and needs a bit of a holiday and a bit of a break. But it's how much we're prepared to give him or how much he might want to go away. You know, he might want to get stuck in and get going really quickly as well. I'm sure he will. And I'm sure, listen, it may be one of those where the club say to him, we appreciate your enthusiasm, but you're better to us having had a break. Do you know what I mean?

21:25Sure. They need to look after him too. And if he does have that eagerness or enthusiasm, I wonder how much of that is connected to the reaction to the deal. You know, unfortunately or fortunately, whatever way you want to slice it, he arrives at Arsenal as a man with a bit of a point to prove.

21:46James McNicholas: Yes. I mean, I do think scrutiny of the deal itself shouldn't lie on his shoulders. And, you know, I've seen some of the reaction and some of it has been pretty unedifying to say the least. But he's not responsible. Whatever you think of him as a player or what he might bring to the team, he is not responsible for the fee that Arsenal have paid Chelsea. Right. that's uh that's for michael arteta and andrea burta and for the the executives for the board they're the ones that sanctioned that deal and i think analysis of the player on and where he fits and all that is is completely fair completely fair but it's also uh it's also obvious people are not happy about the amount of money that's been paid for this guy yeah so do you feel i'm I mean, look, I don't want to see what I don't want to do is sort of take the worst examples of the reaction that we've seen and that's been doing the rounds.

22:49James McNicholas: And I'm sure people, if they're on social media, they've seen some stuff and they can hate it or like it or whatever. But I don't want to sort of hold that up as the cornerstone of Arsenal fan reaction to this. Because I think you can look at the deal and think, that's quite a lot of money, but you can do it in a way that isn't like a huge backlash on the player himself, you know? Yeah, absolutely. And also whenever you get a visceral reaction like that, there's always kind of a reaction to that reaction. So what's interesting is I'm now seeing a lot of people come out and sort of make the argument for Noni Madiwake.

23:29I think like the sort of stats and data community seem to be relatively behind the deal because he's got some really interesting numbers and data profile. I mean, Arsenal seem, from what I can gather, really content with what they've paid. I think they look at the sort of competitive landscape, the figures for people like Anthony Alanga or Mohamed Kudus or whoever it might be, the going rate, as it were, for a Premier League winger. And they feel that, as compared to that, 48.5 million rising to 52 for Madueke is a fairly reasonable deal. Listen, I'm a really rational fan. Like I'm, I think, correct me if I'm wrong, Andrew, but I think I feel like I see things very rationally.

24:33It's very rare for me to be like completely swept up in the emotion of something. But I do have a bit of like emotional fatigue around signings from Chelsea, full disclosure, like, and I can't quite shake that.

24:46James McNicholas: I think that's perfectly fair. You know, some people don't care. Some people are fed up with it to the extreme. Some people are somewhere in the middle of all that. And I think it's perfectly reasonable to feel however you want to feel about signing another player from Chelsea because, you know, I don't think the track record has been that good down the years. So that's really where people get a bit fed up. Plus, they just don't like giving money to Chelsea because it's a horrendous organization. Yeah, they don't exactly need it. They'll find other creative ways to get it into their books. But so on this one, there are things about Madueke that I'm like, well, that could be interesting or exciting.

25:30You know, he's a brilliant ball carrier. His dribbling numbers are really good. That's something that we lack. He's quick. You know, he can run in behind as well as carrying the ball. He's a little bit chaotic at times or unpredictable in the final third. but that is a quality or an attribute that maybe Arsenal haven't had enough of at times. I think my sort of overriding feeling about it is just slightly one of confusion because for all that I can see those positive qualities and what he may bring, I still find this a slightly odd Mikel Arteta choice. And I say that because as a player, he kind of reminds me of the sort of slightly more free-spirity, structureless players that Nicolarteta has generally not gone for.

26:28James McNicholas: A bit Nicolas Pepe, for example. A bit, yeah. A bit. And there were lots of us who thought Pepe had a role to play at Arsenal because he was kind of an antithesis to the manager's natural tendencies. And so I kind of have the same hope or feeling that Maduweke could be that. But at the same time, I find it hard to align with the choices our set has made previously. and then there's just sort of character questions you know things around attitude the incident at Chelsea last season where he you know we've signed two players from Chelsea you've got a bad track record over rowing over a penalty um and you know there was two two moments last season where he was dropped by Chelsea um one because Enzo Moresca said he wasn't training well enough and a second time not too long after that where he just said technical reasons um and those again those just feel very un-michael so like on the one hand i i can see how he'll might provide something different on the other i i find it hard to square with what has kind of been the manager's recruitment philosophy until this point.

27:47James McNicholas: Sure. I mean, is that fair? Yeah, I think that's fair. I mean, again, I think if that's how you feel, that's how you feel. You know, I, I think we've talked about this before when we, maybe it was last week when we talked about it. I think this is a, I know what they say about market rate. It still feels expensive to me. That's all. I know it's not my money or anything like that. Maybe the, the, the counterpoint to the, to the concerns that you have might, be that as an environment, Chelsea is not a healthy place. A hundred percent. And I think that's part of the appeal for why Madereke wants to make this change.

28:28Yeah. He sees Arsenal as maybe, or the people around him see it as a better place for his development.

28:35James McNicholas: Yeah. Because, you know, we had stories about, you know, they had so many players. Players are getting changed in the corridors and stuff like that for training. I mean, there just wasn't enough room because I bought all these players. So listen, you know, I can't say for sure because I haven't heard anything firsthand. You know, questions about a player's character, when you see incidents like that, it does worry you a little bit or it does give you a little bit of concern. But like I said, I do think the environment at Chelsea is not great. And some players maybe need that structure, maybe need that bit of discipline that can't really be applied at Chelsea.

29:11James McNicholas: I mean, it was applied when Mareska disciplined him, I guess. But I don't know. Listen, he continued to pick him until the end of the season. It's not like they fell out and it was irrevocable differences. Yeah. They actually had quite a good relationship, from what I understand. A bit of a kind of father-son thing where, you know, I think Mareska saw Maduike's potential and wanted to help him get there. So I'm not in any way insinuating that he's sort of a poisonous, bad character. Sure. Just that those things did happen. Yeah. And they're on record. And it's not necessarily the glowing reference that you would say.

29:52It's not the references you associate with the kind of players Arteta really likes. You know, your Odegaards and your Declan Rice or your Bukayo Sakas. You know, your sort of, I don't want to say teacher's pet, but, you know, nice boys. A team of son-in-laws, wasn't it? It was a Graeme Soonish one. But I think another point I wonder about the price that I've been thinking about is like, have we been a bit spoiled with wingers? Like we haven't had to buy many wingers. You know, we bought Martinelli for 5 million. We didn't pay anything for Bukayo Saka. You know, we had Rhys Nelson in the squad.

30:34We didn't pay anything for him. we got Leandro Trossard for 30 million and 25 million because he was coming up for 30 and at the end of his contract. You know, would this feel like a lot of money if, for example, we'd ended up doing the Mudrick deal? Like, does it feel a lot because we haven't bought in these areas? We just haven't done it.

30:59James McNicholas: Yeah, maybe, maybe. But, you know, as you said, we haven't really bought strikers either, apart from Gabriel Jesus. So the Yaccaraz deal looks quite aligned with that. I suppose the thing about it is, again, whatever concerns I have are kind of irrelevant, but the way people might frame it is, he's an England international. He's coming from another Premier League club and he's got seven years left on his contract. And that's kind of what you have to pay for a player like this. whether you want to pay that or not, you know, that would be the justification for that kind of price. Yeah, the contract's definitely a factor.

31:41I mean, that's quite a deliberate strategy from Chelsea, isn't it? Yeah. To protect the value of the asset. Yeah, and that England tax is a thing. You know, it was a thing for Ben White. It was a thing for Aaron Ramsdale. It was a thing for Declan Rice. Maduaki's got himself seven caps, I think, in about a year. So it's a thing for him too.

32:05James McNicholas: What about this then as another counterpoint, just to sort of broaden the discussion out? Yeah. Some people might say that you need to look a little bit beyond the Premier League when you're making signings. Now, we know Mikel Arteta loves a Premier League signing. He likes players who are ready and all of that. He likes what he knows and he knows what he likes. He's like Popeye, exactly. so so one of the many ways those forearms man um but but people might say hey there's a whole world out there of football players there's a lot of good young talented wingers who are fast and have a lot of potential and can develop and who are 22 23 like madweke who would be available from clubs in France or Spain or Germany or wherever, you know.

32:58James McNicholas: Rennes. They're all at Rennes. That's where they make. That's where they make. That's where they make. They've got the factory there. Who, you know, the other part of this Maduweke thing is like, well, Bakayo Saka plays in that position. So where are you going to play? Where is Maduweke going? Is he going to be very expensive backup? I know the stories have been, oh, he's going to start a lot of games, et cetera, et cetera. But like right now, people are looking at this and going, well, we've got this very expensive backup for Bakayo Saka. Could Arsenal, with all the resources available to them, scouting, data, et cetera, et cetera, not have found a player at another club for, let's say, half of that price?

33:40James McNicholas: And then it makes more sense as a deal to fill that role within the squad that we currently are looking at Madweke filling. Yeah, I think that's totally fair. And like, again, if I was applying a critique of the signing, I think I would say that it does feel a little unimaginative. You know, I find it hard to believe there's not, as you suggest, somebody in France, somebody in South America who's, you know, 30 million quid and, you know, potentially has even more upside to them. And, you know, wouldn't have come from Chelsea. and then I wouldn't have that sort of odd feeling in my stomach that I do about it.

34:26Yeah. But I think that that's – I think there are reasons that it's a Premier League player because I do think that the sort of – for me, the big takeout from Arsenal's business is that they're all in. They're all in on winning it next season.

34:49James McNicholas: For sure. I mean, that really is the through line. When you look at Zubimendi, who's 26, Norgard is coming in a bit experienced. You've got that experience back up in Kepa, Marweke, whatever. He knows the Premier League and can produce. There is, I guess, an inconsistency to elements of his game, but he can produce. He does score goals. He also brings a lot of pace, which is something we don't have a huge amount of in this team. So there is that. And Giocares is the elder of the two strikers that Arsenal were most strongly considering. Gone with the experience, the more ready-made, proven player.

35:32Mosquera, should it get done, is the outlier. That is the outlier. That is the sort of punt on developing talent, really.

35:41James McNicholas: Yeah, maybe Maduweka is a little bit in that bracket as well, but, you know, 23. but I know where you're coming from with Muscara, but I also think that's kind of how you do that. That is how you address that situation in the squad where you want to maintain the depth that you have at right back with Ben White and Jury and Timber and not look at them as auxiliary center halves, if at all possible. Like, it's not that they can't play there. They can and have done and could do a good job there. But I think if last season taught us anything, it is that there is a need to time share the minutes more than we did last season, right?

36:19James McNicholas: And part of that was because of injuries, but part of it as well was because we just did not have the options. We did not have the options. I mean, do you think that the injury issues that we faced last season have played a part in how they're putting the squad together for next season? Feels like it. I mean, one of my sort of working theories is that every Mikel Arteta summer is kind of an antidote to the previous season. Yeah, reaction in a way. A reaction, yeah. And sometimes that's not always a good thing. I know it's sort of logical of like, oh, you see a problem, you fix it. But like sometimes there are other issues that have not been addressed, you know.

37:06or like you over calibrate in one direction or whatever it might be you over remedy what's the word for that I don't know that's probably a good word um over correct I think that's better um but you know it's very difficult to not look at this summer's business and to see see the clear through line from last season I mean and we might balk at the price tag for Madueke but what happened last season we lost Bukayo Saka for a protracted period of time and this just feels like an insurance policy against that in the same way that, you know, I'm trying to think, yeah, Kepa is an insurance policy against the issues we had bringing in a keeper last season and the risk that we had of playing David Rye regularly.

37:51And when it gets to the Muscara deal, like, I find it hard to imagine you'll find anyone who will take issue with that signing. Like, it's a...

37:58James McNicholas: There'll be someone. Don't worry about it. There'll be some cunt somewhere fucking raging. into his camera. Yeah. But no, I know what you mean. I think it just is an eminently sensible. It's an interesting profile of player for a Premier League club. It's looking like a really affordable price. Listen, I don't want him to play 30 games next season in the Premier League. Touch wood, that doesn't happen because I don't think he's ready for it. But, you know, he's a player who over the next year or two might develop into something very, very handy. So, yeah, it's interesting. And the squad has a different look to it.

38:45And that, yeah, that makes it, I think that's quite exciting. I think that's quite exciting.

38:50James McNicholas: Yeah, I mean, people, like we said, six players, potentially seven players coming in. And from that aspect, you know, people will look at the influence of Andrea Berta, who is the sporting director. And listen, we've been here and done that a little bit before, haven't we? You know, the old summer of Don Raul, which didn't work out as great as we thought it was. But he has certainly, at least from the outside, brought a, I don't know, decisiveness, not the right word, because I'm sure this is a club plan and he's front, But he's front and center. You know what I mean? Every time a player is announced, he's the guy in the photos.

39:32James McNicholas: So, you know, it's looking like a good summer for him. But there is a flip side as well, isn't there? That if we talk about maybe a market opportunity a little bit later in the window, we need to be positioned financially to be able to react to that if it becomes an option for us. Therefore, people will now, as is inevitable, once you get the things that you want to get done done people say now what about this so the the outgoings element of things are you hearing anything are you expecting anything will we read anything into who goes on tour and who doesn't go on tour um because there are players who you know when you look at the squad zinchenko lukonga vieira carl hayne reese nelson like if those guys want to play football next season they are going to have to go elsewhere.

40:26James McNicholas: Regular football. Like if they want to play week in, week out, the reality of their situations and the way Arsenal have put this squad together means that, you know, along with the club, maybe along with their agents, they need to be putting out the feelers for destinations unknown, but, you know, somewhere new, right? Yeah, I don't know how the club are going to handle that. I mean, they're in La Manga at the moment doing their pre-pre-season or early pre-season warm-weather training camp. I bet it's bloody warm, to be honest with you.

41:02A number of those players are out there, aren't they? Carl Hine certainly is there. Rhys Nelson. I'm not entirely sure of the others. Sambi, I think, is out there as well. So will they be on that plane to Singapore? Sure. I'm not sure at this point in time. I mean, last summer, a number of academy players went as part of the group, didn't they? You know, there were players missing from international tournaments and the like. So we saw, obviously, Miles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Neri, but we saw Aidan Heaven. Josh Nicholls. Josh Nicholls. Trying to think, that may have been it. But, you know, perhaps those spots in the squad will be taken by senior players.

41:48whose future may not be certain, or maybe there are some will be left at home. But clearly, I mean, we've got some questions about sales. And I think that's, you know, not for the first time in recent summers, that's going to be an interesting area to look at for sure.

42:09James McNicholas: Okay. Well, just before we go into the break, I want to go back to something you said about Jokeres and how this was an opportunity for him, right? at this point in his career. And I wonder, did you watch the Christian Norgard video where you got that sense very much from him that at 31 years of age, the chance to join a big club like Arsenal was something just too special for him to turn down. The sort of behind-the-scenes videos that they do for these signings are really good, really nice content. And he was there with his family as a little kid. but that desire to want to be at Arsenal, it's hard not to sort of feel that when you look at someone looking awestruck at the shirt with their name on the back.

42:57Yeah, there's a sweet moment where his, I think it's his son, a young child walks out in an Arsenal kit and kind of bursts into tears, which either means he's very moved by the prospect of joining Arsenal or he's a secret Spurs fan And that sight was utterly horrifying to him. I think it's the former James. I think it is very much the former. And it is very sweet and very touching. And, you know, we had a big conversation last week about, you know, some less fun, less, much more serious news. But it is nice to see in a different context, you know, what the club can mean to people and how positive it can be.

43:45And he clearly is kind of incredibly enthused about the prospect of being here next season. And I think it's fans. As I said on Jokeres, that's what we want to see, isn't it? Yeah, it is.

43:58James McNicholas: I saw some of the pictures from the training camp as well. Boys looking in good shape. Kai Havertz bulked up a bit. Martin Odegaard. when Jokeres is about to turn up, so they all need to bulk up. They're all going to look puny compared to Jokeres as soon as he gets his shirt off. But yeah, hopefully they're having a good time out there and training well. I can see Norgard. I can see Zubimendi, Max Dowman. I would say he's almost guaranteed to be in Asia. I'd be incredibly surprised if he's not on the subject of kind of academy players who might make the cut. Because there's a number out in Spain.

44:36aren't they? I saw George Bird have been reporting on that.

44:39James McNicholas: Yeah. About half a dozen or so. But I think he really is the one who, I'd be really surprised if they don't take him on tour. Yeah. All right. Well, look, we'll get the squad list, no doubt, a bit later in the week, towards the weekend when they head off to Singapore and then on to Hong Kong. Is that all the news before we go into the questions? Is there anything else? Has anything happened? Like I said, it's been a spree. It's been mad. Hang on. Let me just check. I'll check the Reddit because news gets on there very quickly. Breaking news six minutes ago. Agreement in place for Mascara. That's Fabrizio Romano.

45:21James McNicholas: Christian Mascara. Here we go. Verbal agreement in place with formal steps to follow. 15 million fee plus add-ons. Total package under 20 million euros. Long-term deal in place. mascara only wanted arsenal that's the that's the buzzword of the summer as well as these people only ever want us yeah they only wants arsenal not a mention not a mention of concrete in that update which is quite disappointing but i think that is all the news there's been a bit of positive news um reported on ethan ranieri's contract yes i saw that i saw that there's some progress there which would be great. I think talks are ongoing.

46:03Yeah, there's been a lot of news, Andrew. There has. Where I'm more cynical, I would say it's remarkably changed the news agenda around Arsenal in the space of a week.

46:14James McNicholas: That's not your style, though. You're not a cynical man, famously. You're very much not. You know, they got to get those bums on seats for that plane to Singapore. All right. Well, look, why don't we take a little break here? We'll come back with some of the questions about bits and pieces of the news that have happened over the weekend. We'll do that in part two right after this.

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47:51James McNicholas: Welcome back to the Arse Cast 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 Arse Blog Discord chat server, which you get access to if you are an Arse Blog member on Patreon. James, I'm going to go first because I like this question from Vinception. and he says what remaining signings would it take for you to consider this a 10 out of 10 window from the reasonably available players on the market and i kind of felt like maybe i need to broaden that out a little bit what what would it take for this window to be a 10 out of 10 window for you not just signings because i think there are probably other things that we would like to see get done by Andrea Berta.

48:41James McNicholas: We already touched on sales a little bit, but there's some contracts too. Yeah, I mean, the sales thing is like, again, the rational part of me cares about that. There is an emotional part of me that's like, it's not my money. I mean, it is my money in that we all put money into the club as fans, but, you know, it's kind of, I'm less sort of exercised about the sales. You know what I mean? Sure. I'm not going to turn up with a placard and a pitchfork demanding the sale of Reece Nelson. You know? Get that Zinchenko out. Yeah. Yeah, I know you. I'd like it and it would be good business and stuff like that if we could do those things.

49:24Sure. But, and of course it is important. It affects your ability to do more business in future windows, But just being totally honest with you, when I think about what makes it a 10 out of 10, I'm more focused on the ins than the outs.

49:41James McNicholas: Okay. So then deal with it in that sense. What more would it take? You know, Ethan would be a great one to get done. And obviously Saliba and Saka. Yeah. I hope I haven't left anyone out there. But Saliba and Saka in yours, they are huge for this club. Sure. and if they could get done within the window that would be fantastic i'm a little bit well i'm open-minded about whether or not that will happen i don't know they you know they both went later than that last time didn't they yeah um and and the same is true with ethan where you know he went very close on on the pro deal so let's see um i certainly think the one area one sounds like it's the one that's made the most progress and it's the closest.

50:29So those would be the three contracts that you'd like. In terms of new additions, I mean, I don't want to be greedy, Andrew, but if there's ever a time to be greedy, it's an answer to this question, right?

50:48James McNicholas: Yeah. I think I would like another, in a dream scenario, I'd kind of like another wide forward option and a sort of creative 8 slash 10 type. So both of those? Yeah, I think so, yeah. But, you know, that would then surely necessitate selling somebody. Oh, yeah, yeah. In that case, it would, yeah. So you'd need to make room, let's say, just hypothetically speaking, because he has been linked with a move to Turkey, which I don't think is going to go through because I think they're signing Fenerbahce signing Asensio. Is that right? Yeah, I don't think that's on at all. Yeah. That Trossard-Fenerbahce one.

51:35James McNicholas: But I saw, like, Bayern Munich mentioned. Again, I don't know how true that is. But he is the one maybe being linked with a move away. So is he the guy, you know, that if you sell Trossard, you then add another wide player as well as an 8-10, you know, in the mould of whether it's Eberace Eze or somebody else? Yeah. I mean, look, let's just use names that are out there in the market because it makes it a bit easier. Like, if we were to buy Eze...

52:07and, I don't know, Rodrigo. And I mean, this is like, this is FIFA championship manager bullshit. Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm not saying this is what should happen, but you asked me what would make it 10 out of 10, which is perfect. If we were to buy two players like that and sell, say, a Trossard, that would be an astonishing window.

52:29James McNicholas: Yeah. I don't think that will happen. I don't think that will happen. I think we might get one more signing beyond the ones that we've talked about in part one. And if it was to be Eze, I mean, he ticks both those boxes. You know, he can be a left winger or a number 10. So maybe he is the ideal. If it was just Eze. What are you giving the window? What did you say? What are you giving the window? If it's just only Eze. I mean, it'd be right. It'd be high. It'd be high. Zemendi, Eze, Jokerez would be your sort of like big potential marquee additions. And behind that, you've got Mosquera, Kepa, Norgard, Madueke.

53:25I think that'd be a nine. I mean, obviously you never know, but that would be very strong. Very strong.

53:33James McNicholas: It would certainly give us plenty of depth. Well, first I'll ask you, what makes it a 10 out of 10 for you?

53:44I think if we could get Saka, Wuneri and Saliba signed up

53:49James McNicholas: and make one more signing, like of a high level, in the attacking third, or somebody who can bring something different to the attacking third, I would say it's pretty close to a 10 out of 10 window, to be honest. because we've not only added to the squad in a significant way, provided our best players with cover and depth, and hopefully players who can also come in and contribute and play a part in the success we all want Arsenal to have next season, we will have secured key players for the future as well. Which sort of leads me to another question. Can I ask you this one? It comes from Harry Power 23543.

54:31James McNicholas: He says, what does it say about the status of Arsenal now that our big players are not being strongly linked with moves to other clubs? Summers in the past have been plagued with rumours of our brightest and best being linked with moves. But in the last few years, this no longer happens. Does it show how far we've come? Sorry, Andrew. I was daydreaming then. Ask me again. Our players don't want to go places. No, no, no. But the players are not being linked with moves elsewhere. whereas previous summers your best players, you know, were being linked with moves elsewhere. Is it like Arsenal is actually the place to be kind of vibe?

55:10Well, there's only so many places you can go now. You know, I think if Real Madrid hadn't bought Dean Heysen as early as they did, we probably would have read about Saliba and them a lot more. Sure. I think, but Saka, you know, 12 months out of his contract, fact there's not been a peep about madrid or man city i'm touching wood by the way i'm not

55:36James McNicholas: trying to tempt fate here um for british or romano barcelona moving for bakayo saka yeah i mean i think i i think there's lots of reasons for that yes it's partly about where arsenal are at and where they've got to and the fact that you know there aren't many places you can go where you're better off financially that's certainly true like outside the premier league where can you go to get paid the sort of money that you'll get at arsenal not many psg maybe but like not many places maybe madrid if you're like one of the top top stars and you've joined on a bosman but barcelona giving you like shares yeah this is catalonia the crown jewels yeah it's yeah so I think that's a factor I think as well there's this sense of like the Arsenal project is incomplete like these players haven't won anything and I can't imagine that many of them will contemplate going until they do I think that will be an interesting point like if we win a couple of things you know and maybe we or we or we have like three or three years say of success wow can you imagine that would be lovely a little sort of dynasty of our own i think then it's like you know you start to hear talk about new challenges or a different experience in another country right that will come i'm sure if success happens that that that could be part of it but i just think there's a feeling that Arsenal are on the precipice of something.

57:17And I don't think somebody like Bakayi Saka or even William Saliba will want to go without kind of ticking that off on their CV. Or until it never happens.

57:32James McNicholas: You know, there's the other side. Exactly. That's the other side of the coin. So what you're saying is, let's keep not winning so we can keep our best players. Well, no, because as you say, as you say that's got it's you know yeah it's a balance isn't it it's perilous because if arsenal don't win anything next year you know i i think we might start to see some of those stories you know um but i think this summer i don't know i just get the sense that people feel like unfinished business it's unfinished business we are we're close and i think that people want to see it through um but you know yeah there's only a handful of teams in the world who could buy a bukai saka or a declan rice yeah or saliba or an odegaard or or even a david ryer i think you know it it's select company sure um and even gabriel martinelli you know people are saying could he go will he be sold it's like it's got to be the right move you know like yeah he's happy Arsenal he loves it at Arsenal he's been really clear about that in everything he's ever said he wants to stay at Arsenal he wants to win things with Arsenal he I doubt very much he wants to go you know and play in a inferior league or for an inferior team so So, yeah, I think, you know, yeah, we've come a long way.

59:09I guess the market does reflect that. I had a question here about sales from Roe. Good day, Andrew and James. With money being spent at a pretty pace at the moment, can you foresee any sales? Well, yeah, we've answered that. It's great to see all incomings and makes me think of our bench when football matches roll around again. Do you think the club are happy to forego selling anyone this season to have the bench much stronger? The obvious point is having far more players able to deputise if injuries happen and or needing to change a game. Have a great day.

59:49Like, yeah, like if we sell the players, have we undone the depth? You know what I mean?

59:58James McNicholas: Well, Rhys Nelson didn't play for us last season. No. Alexander Sinchenko barely played. Albert Sambi-Lukonga didn't play for us last season. Carl Hain didn't play for us last season. Fabio Vieira didn't play for us last season. So I think we are adding to the squad. So what we're looking at doing is selling players who are peripheral. I mean the short answer is we do have to abide by the 25 man squad rules like everybody else apart from Chelsea yeah of course it's 17 am I right 17 non homegrown players I believe what's the Madweke story about him not being homegrown he's not homegrown how can he not be homegrown because he left at 16 which means that he didn't spend the requisite in the same way that like david riot is homegrown and i think uh i think even william saliba qualifies as home going through some metric but basically he didn't spend enough years in the english development system right uh so in premier league terms or uef terms i don't think he does qualify as homegrown that's so weird It is odd, isn't it?

1:01:20James McNicholas: England international, born in Barnard. But then David Raya does. Spain international. So I guess it offsets itself. Maybe the rule is fucking stupid. I mean, one interesting one I don't even know would be Tommy Setford. Like, does Tommy Setford qualify? Came over at 18 for my axe? Not sure. I genuinely have to check on that. I would imagine if Madueke doesn't, there's a chance that Setford doesn't. Yeah, maybe not. Anyhow. Sales. Sales. I think they will be keen to sell some of these guys because their future lies elsewhere. All the lone boys, surely, are on the market. Your Sambies, your... Vieras.

1:02:13Vieras, your Haynes.

1:02:16James McNicholas: Even though there's only one of each of them. yeah why are we doing it in plural it's just a football thing isn't it but um yeah i think that's true but what about the players who haven't been what about the players who've got the proper background on their arsenalplayer.com photo you know what i mean like the guys who have actually been here and part of it. Just notice that Zinchenko on the arsenal.com players page hasn't got an updated profile picture. What does it mean? What does it mean? But poor old Sambi, he's still got like two years ago. He's got two years ago. Yeah. He's got a red background.

1:03:10but like what about those players with the white background and the current kit on

1:03:14James McNicholas: are there are any of them gonna go i the only one i can really think of is kivior yeah i mean zinchenko should have the right background and the proper kit i can't i don't know why he hasn't got that um but zinchenko and kivior of the ones who are with the squad last season they would be the question marks and and then martinelli trossard discussion i guess there's a lot of inconsistency in the background of these pictures keppa i know what are they doing to us here nor guard zubimendi maybe because their new signings this summer all have a dark background the rest of them means they're evil well that's good we need a bit more evil in in our team you know um yeah the new boys have got a black background or like a gray background it's guys sort it out we need what's the word consistency consistency is key um you can't win a premier league if they all have different backgrounds and zinchenko's picture is like that is odd isn't it it's a bit of an outlier yeah because i presume he must have had his picture taken with the rest.

1:04:34Maybe they just didn't get a good one on the day. Do you know what I mean? Like in every one, his eyes were doing that thing where they're like half open, half closed, or like he was sort of, you know, he was eating.

1:04:46James McNicholas: Put the apple down. Yeah. Get your picture taken. They were like, and they were like, he was like, I'm not happy with these. We've got to go again. Fucking Stu and Pricey going out of their minds. Exactly. So yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I think Kivir is maybe the only one from that list who I could see going beyond, you know, Trossard, who we've already mentioned as a possible departure. But yeah, I'm doing some digging around that because he was very much in contract talks with the club, you know, about this sort of pay rise. And then he changed agents. Yes. All of a sudden, a few weeks ago.

1:05:30So, yeah, I'm trying to ascertain what's going on there because it's a little bit confusing. And I think, yeah, I think, you know, you remember from when we did our predictions that I think Kivior could well stay.

1:05:48James McNicholas: Yes. I mean, I think that one's 50-50, really. But yeah. Do you think the squad could absorb selling Zinchenko and Kivior without signing another defender? Will we go back into the left back market? We do love a left back. I think we could. Yes, I think we could. Because Mosquera can play on both sides of central defence, right? Yeah. um you've got califuri you've got miles lewis kelly um yeah i think we could you've got ryan batron's son in the academy that's right saw that over the weekend last l washington i think dude sounds like a fucking jazz great doesn't he sounds but it's a very cool name um a new album from marcel washington dropping on deca records um yeah i mean i think we could but i would have no problem with kivior staying my my thing all along has been if i'm kivior and i've i've sort of raised my profile over the last couple of months of the season and i want to play regular football then i would probably be open to leaving you know it's not me wanting to get rid of kivior per se yeah um but it's just like what what does he want from his career you know yeah i i totally get that so yeah it's it's interesting um let's see i i i don't know i yeah my my hunch is kivior will stay but it could go either way genuinely i i really don't know okay What about this then?

1:07:37James McNicholas: Because we had a couple of questions like this. One from Dan Meyer on Blue Sky. He is at Dan Meyer. Meijer. He says, Morning, gents. With Jokeres coming in as the new starting number nine, where do you see Havertz fitting in next season? Especially given how much Mikel Arteta rates him. And there was one on the Discord as well from Greylow. He says, How many minutes does Jokeres play? I'm all for the signing. Is he an automatic starter? He says, I'm a bit perplexed about where he's going to play. You know, the question Havertz spot is the most obvious, but I have a hard time believing that Havertz gets dropped to the bench.

1:08:13James McNicholas: Does Havertz go into midfield and push someone out there? People are sort of asking, I guess, you know, how do you fit Havertz and Jokeres into the squad? And what does this mean for Arsenal's number nine, Mikel Moreno? Well, let me answer your questions with a question, just to sort of open the discussion even further. that Oli O 'Baisley on Blue Sky says, I asked this, no, he actually has written his sentence properly. I just... Said it badly. He said, I asked this last week, but it's even more relevant now. Should we complete the Yoccares signing and all the squad are fit and ready? Who are you starting up front at Old Trafford?

1:08:53Haberts or Yoccares?

1:08:56James McNicholas: Ooh, great question. I guess it depends how pre-season goes a little bit as well, doesn't it? What way the team is taking shape. You know, how well he settles in. I mean, there is something about, you know, the first game of the season. You need a goal. You bring on your big summer signing, scores the goal. Everyone's saying, what an inspired piece of business that was. He doesn't score again until December, but that's a different discussion. Who am I starting? That's a great question. I mean, I think that your preference is to sort of go with the new guy, right? You want to see what the new guy can do and what the new guy can bring into the team.

1:09:42James McNicholas: I can't say I'm that worried about it the one way or the other, to be honest. I can tell you now, if it's Havertz, the Twitters will be letting Mikel know what they think about that, I suspect. As much as people like Havertz, there's always, at the start of every season, clamour for the new signings. For the new guy. That's exactly the word I was looking for, by the way. But, I mean, let me ask you this, Andrew, he says, in another attempt to avoid answering any of these questions. But balls on the keyboard. Right. Is he going to be good, Jokeres? Do you think he's going to be good? it's a really tough question to answer dispassionately because we've just announced that we're signing a striker for the first time in what two years and like one of the few forwards that we've signed in Mikel Arteta's tenure as manager like the forward signings have been few and far between so this morning I'm sitting here and I'm excited I'm enthused I'm glad we've got that gap filled and i can't envisage anything other than him banging in a load of goals i watched some compilations of his time at sporting by the way over the weekend the man can hit a fucking football he really can um yeah so i think right now i i have to think he's going to be good i do like I know that that that worry that people have when a player comes from a less competitive league than the Premier League I think the level generally speaking in the Premier League is going to be higher than it is in Portugal you know the gulf between the best teams in the Premier League and maybe the bottom teams in the in the Portuguese League is is really big and you've seen players who've come and struggled with the pathway or the step up to the Premier League in the past.

1:11:36James McNicholas: Like Lacazette was a great example, right? Score goals for us, but really took his time to become a 90-minute player. And I'm not sure he ever really got to that, you know? So physically, I think you can see players who find it hard to make the step up to the Premier League. I do not worry for a second about Jacare's physically being able for the Premier League. because just look at him, right? So I don't worry about him from that point of view. The other thing is technically, you know, is he going to do it against better defenders and better teams and more organized defenses? I don't see him scoring at the same rate that he scored for sporting, no chance at all, but I do think he could be a 2025 goal season or goal a season striker for Arsenal, and I think that would be good.

1:12:26James McNicholas: I think that would be good, but I do also think minutes are going to be shared between him and Havertz. And, you know, we're going to be able to maybe do things a little bit differently. Bit of old 4-4-2 on the cards, maybe, at some point, if you need to win a game. Two big men up top. Yeah, I mean, they're quite different big men. I mean, Jokreis doesn't score headers, you know. Yeah, that's some weird quirk about his goal scoring, yeah. Maybe that will change. Arsenal, with a team playing a different style, facing different sorts of defences. I think I'm with you in that I right now I mean nobody knows right nobody knows but I feel like he's going to be good I feel like when you when you get to that age and you're scoring goals as consistently as he is it's like I feel like it's like you've kind of figured it out kind of figured it out you know the movement the awareness the confidence it's all in place and I'm not saying he's going to come in and score 50 but like you I don't see I don't see why he couldn't come in and score more than 20 for sure which to be fair Kai Havertz might well have done last season but not for his injury not for the injury yeah Old Trafford I think it totally depends on pre-season and like how quickly Okerez adapts to our game, how quickly we adapt to his.

1:13:58If we don't, I don't think Miklátec will have any hesitation about playing Kai Havertz. I think he'll be very comfortable doing that and taking his time if he needs to. But if Jokeres comes in and bangs in goals against Spurs and Milan and whoever else we play in pre-season, I think it'll be difficult to resist.

1:14:20And what it means for Havertz, I'm actually really interested to see what it might mean for the midfield. Because Mikel Arteta picks Kai Havertz when he's fit. Until now, a bit like Granit Xhaka, if Havertz has been available, he's been one of the first names on Mikel Arteta's team sheet. That's how it feels to me anyway. And he doesn't take him off. He doesn't ever take him off, really. So I can't imagine he's just going to sort of fade into the periphery. So I wonder, will we see him a bit more in midfield? But then that has ramifications because, you know, we've just bought Martin Zubemendi to sit at the base midfield, which means Declan Rice is probably going to be playing ahead.

1:15:11James McNicholas: So I think this is the big test for Mikel Arteta this season ahead. that he has, I'm not saying he's in a comfort zone, but I think he has to, having signed the kind of players that we've signed so far or are going to sign in this window, which we spoke about in the first half, about being a, you know, as part of a big push to get this team over the line and win silverware and achieve success, right? The other aspect of that is if you have a big squad, you have to use a big squad. And for various reasons, and I'm not saying they're all in his control, we've had this discussion in summers before.

1:15:54James McNicholas: And what tends to happen is as the season goes on, the group of players that he is either willing to use or has available to him to use has shrunk, right? And so you get this small group of players. And I think ultimately that has an impact on performance, particularly as you get towards the end of a season. So I think what we're looking at this season is, is, you know, we might have games where Havertz starts and Jochores is on the bench and Jochores starts next week and Havertz is on the bench. And, you know, we might see Madweke start ahead of Saka, depending on who the opposition is, or, you know, those sort of midfield combinations that you've talked about.

1:16:36James McNicholas: Excuse me. I think he really does have to use the full extent of his squad next season and do it effectively. And it's not easy. I think the temptation as a manager is to stick with what you know and what works. Team went out and did really well, won a game 4-0. Well, your reaction to that is, well, they just did that. I'm going to reward the guys. They start the next game and, you know, it becomes more difficult for players on the fringes or the peripheries to have a look in, you know. So I think it's going to be really interesting to see how he uses this big squad and uses these credible options for players that he might himself consider first choice.

1:17:19Yeah, I think that's a great point. The idea that the squad kind of distills over the course of the season, you know, and shrinks down. And if we can avoid that happening, we'll be in a much better position. I think that the Havertz as the kind of left eight supporting striker thing isn't dead. And I think we'll see it at times next season. Maybe not always from the start of games, but maybe later in games. Yeah, I think that will have a place. And whether you call that a front two or one plus one or whatever it is, I'm intrigued to see how that plays out. But Kai Havertz has been so important to Mikel Arteta and he likes him so much.

1:18:15There's no way I just see him becoming a backup.

1:18:18James McNicholas: Yeah, discarded as something. I think all the conversations we've had about Arsenal needing a striker, the part of that is we also need depth. We need options. There might be a period of the season when Jacarez struggles a bit and Havertz gets to play and the other way around, you know? so yeah exactly you have to take four I know Zubamendi's come in and it's sort of tempting to imagine well he'll just play every single game at the base but maybe there'll be games where he doesn't and Declan Rice plays there and Mikel Marino or Kai Havertz plays in a more advanced midfield role or Eze or something you know who knows Ethan Ranieri I mean if we sign Eze and Ranieri signs a new contract and I don't know like nobody's going to be able to predict to line up next season which might not be that's the good thing might not be a bad thing at all you know what about this one from gunner happen dot b sky dot social he says which other player do you see benefiting most from the arrival of jokeres

1:19:21uh i think odegaard i think odegaard um because jokeres is a runner jokeres is a guy who runs the channels um And I think Odegaard, you'd like to think, is a guy who can find him and find him early. You know, I always think it's very difficult to judge a number 10 until they've got their number nine. And I think, I hope that Jokeres can unlock something in Odegaard that we were missing at times last season.

1:20:01James McNicholas: Yeah, Odegaard can provide those passes. But for all the concerns we had about his form last season as well, I think in mitigation, when you're not playing with a striker and you're not playing with Paikai Osaka outside you as well, it does become more difficult for a creative player to sort of unpick the defence. You're picking the lock, but there's nobody there. He's quick, Jokeres, as well. That's the thing. I mean, you know, the goals he scores, he scores a lot of what we would call Thierry Henry goals, you know, hanging out to the left, diagonal run into the channel, finish across the keeper.

1:20:42He loves those. And just one other thing on, well, actually, I've got another question about your quiz in a minute, but it's not related to this. But when we played sporting last season, I think because we're Arsenal fans, there was this kind of narrative of like, well, he didn't get a kick, did he? You know, Gabriel and Saliba sure had him locked up and we battered sporting and understand that. I still thought he looked a massive handful in that game.

1:21:10James McNicholas: He was. He was. Yeah. You were there, weren't you? Yeah, I was there. And I think there was a run, like you say, down that left-hand side, probably from about the halfway line, if I remember correctly. And he ended up hitting the bar. So yeah, he gave them something to think about. And that's always been in the back of my mind when this debate about whether or not he can step up or make the change from the Portuguese league to the Premier League and be successful. I saw him give Saliba and Gabriel plenty to think about and they are the best central defensive partnership in Europe, basically. So if you can do it to them, you can probably do it to whoever Everton have got.

1:21:57Exactly. Or Manchester United. And by the way, if you're still a bit sceptical about Joachim Rez, looking for a reason to enjoy this transfer, I don't think that'll be many people, But it's really upset Man United fans.

1:22:11James McNicholas: Did they think they were getting him? Yeah. They had convinced themselves that he was going to join them. And listen, if you enjoy sort of your Mark Goldbridge clips. Your Mark Goldbridges. The other lads. The Goldbridges of the world. Get yourself on YouTube. Type in Goldbridge, Jokarez. He's been absolutely losing his head about this, as have the rest of the United fans, because they thought while Arsenal were sort of deciding between the two, they might steal and march and sign this player. Obviously, Amorim had him at Sporting. Yeah. And instead, there's a very good chance they'll be up against him in that first Premier League weekend of the season.

1:22:51So they're going to fucking hate his hat-trick, aren't they? It's going to be a sore one for them. And I have another Yoko Reyes question here, which is, JD in Cockitlam. I don't know where that is. In where? Is it a real place? Coquitlam? It's in British Columbia, Canada. There you go. There you go. I'm probably pronouncing it wrong. Is this on the Discord? How do you pronounce Coquitlam? Coquitlam. Coquitlam. Coquitlam. Anyway. Francis Coquitlam. He says, how do you pronounce? No, he says, is Victor Jokerez our new penalty taker? And Gunnasaurus Rex in a reply that really made me laugh said, don't tell Nani.

1:23:42Don't tell Nani. Is he our new penalty taker, Andrew?

1:23:51James McNicholas: No. Okay. I mean, I watched the compilations of him. He scored quite a lot of penalties. Yeah. Sporting got a lot of fucking penalties in the last two seasons. Yeah. I mean, he has genuinely scored about 50 penalties over the last few years. But he's not. I think Bakayosaka is currently the number one penalty taker. And I think he will back himself to continue that, to be honest. But, you know, we've seen that the Arsenal penalty taking situation can be a fluid thing at times. You know, Odegaard picks up the ball, hands it to Saka. Saka takes it. We've seen Saka give them to Odegaard, and we've seen Havertz get a penalty here or there as well, you know.

1:24:43James McNicholas: So I guess it all depends on the mood of the players and who's feeling in the mood. I don't think Jokeres would have any doubts about his ability to tuck a penalty away. He's had lots of practice. So I think he'll be involved. But if I'm Bakayo Saka and, you know, I am the number one penalty taker, I'm not giving that up. And I don't want Saka to give that up either. I think that we should be fluid in all our approach to penalty taking. If Kepa's on the sidelines remonstrating, demanding to come on for a penalty, then let him. If Noni feels like taking one, then who are we to tell him not to? Listen, I think Jocarez should be our penalty taker.

1:25:29You know this about me. I know. You're a sacroskeptic. I bear the scars. I bear the scars of Euro 2020. No, listen, his record's really good. I know it's not rational. Maybe I'm not a rational fan, guys. Maybe that was a crazy thing to say. But I just have that, just when he steps up, I just don't have that absolute conviction. I'm like, this might be a goal. But, you know, with Jochores, I mean, he hits penalties. I hate to say it, a bit like Harry Kane. You know what I mean? Just like that real power and conviction. And, yeah, I have a feeling. I'll say this. I have a feeling that by the end of the season, he will be our penalty taker.

1:26:18Okay.

1:26:19James McNicholas: Okay. We'll see. Assuming we get any fucking penalties. well yeah we got to do that first yeah steph metal says given that nani madueke scans perfectly to smooth criminal by michael jackson annie are you okay have we underpaid have we underpaid that is a good point uh i look forward to seeing that in like the inside the deal read for that arsenal feel that the scansion of madueke's surname uh to a michael jackson at least an extra five million on the deal apparently that's what the add-ons are about it's all about what chance we come up with yeah that's it and how how how popular they become i was thinking yeke yeke could be a good one as well yeke yeke yeah club classic club classic from the 90s james oh is it yeah it's probably before your time mori kente is the name of the uh the artist in question so you can go check that out check it out kids check it out that would be a good one um what else we did have this question by the way which i didn't i was like i don't even know if andrew will answer this walking on the crack said a question more for andrew than james oh do you see yorkarez and get lee chapman 1982 flashbacks uh no no i don't think so i don't think so i was minus four years old so yeah i don't get flashbacks no lee chapman was in for like a year is that right he came for a year it was a disaster and then he left again yeah that's right signed from stoke i think was it stoke i can't remember but yeah i mean i was only 10 or 11 so you know i don't remember all the details of that but um yeah it came from stoke and then after it one underwhelming year went on to Sunderland.

1:28:08Right. Do you see Jokeres at Sunderland next season?

1:28:13James McNicholas: Don't think so. Okay. I don't think. No, I can't envisage that. Newcastle, maybe. I don't know. We do a swap deal for Isaac. I did. There was one I was going to ask you. Actually, there was one directed to you. Oh, no. It was a question more for James from Groningen. I wonder where he's from. Anyway. No idea. He says, why are transfer fees announced as undisclosed when generally transfer fees are pretty well reported through variations that seem, although with variations, that seem to portray the best outcome for either the buying or the selling club? Assume those inside the industry know what the clubs spend and receive.

1:29:01I would say no, actually. So I would say that most journalists don't know definitively because they're private companies for the most part and they're under no obligation to tell us or lay bare their expenditure. so I think there's always a bit of spin often a bit of spin around transfer numbers the Yoko Rez one will be different because as far as I know sporting are listed on the stock exchange at the very least they're owned by their members so they typically declare exactly what the deal is Arsenal have no such need Another reason I think that transfer reporting around fees is a bit vague is that I think a lot of transfer news is generated by the agent industry.

1:30:04Right. But agents, remarkably, are not always privy to the exact deal between the clubs. Like you would think they would know. And sometimes they do because sometimes the agent is brokering the deal. sometimes the agent is the go-between between the two clubs trying to get them to meet in the middle um but other times the agent's like i don't know it's between them they i know they were looking for this and i know they wanted to pay this but so you know that information line is not always the most clear um and then you get into the clubs and what you get often it's like a bit of a briefing walk really where if all the clubs involved are spinning it in the way that makes them look good and actually like if they're not obliged to uh disclose the numbers involved then they you know they could probably can afford to have a little bit of fun with it not too much because you know there'll be discrepancies but whenever you see like different numbers around a transfer fee.

1:31:06I think it's fair to conclude that it's probably clubs doing a bit of positioning.

1:31:11James McNicholas: Yeah. We spent much less than you thought. Yes. And then the buying club is, they spent way more than we wanted. But, you know, I think, by and large, I think the broad point of reporting has got to the point where I don't think we see massive inaccuracies. Like, going way back, there are some Arsenal deals that it's like, I don't think anyone knows like you know i remember about like jose antonio reyes or andrea charvin there'd be like 10 million pound discrepancies in what we may or may not have paid i can't see that happening in the sort of modern era of reporting no there's just so much detail now isn't there yeah that's the thing um but there's an industry around the detail and exactly but if you're wondering why those discrepancies do occur i think those are some of the reasons okay all right well look um I think we'll leave it there.

1:32:06James McNicholas: There's going to be plenty going on this week. As we normally do over on Patreon, we will have new player podcasts for all of the new players that we're about to sign and announce this week. So if you want to get on board with that, it's just$6 a month plus VAT where applicable. You get access to all that content, all the stuff we do during the season, and as well, it helps support everything that we do on Arseblog. We've got no ads on the site, remember, so we make everything as nice as possible for you guys. If you'd like to support us, it's patreon.com forward slash arseblog. It's going to be a busy week.

1:32:39James McNicholas: Got to save some of my voice for that. So we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much for listening, and we will catch you on the next one. And I'll be in Singapore. Oh, yeah. So will I. Exactly. We will be in Singapore. We will be in Singapore. So see some of you there, hopefully. We're staying in raffles in the presidential suite. So feel free to just call on in. Okay, lovely. Yeah. All right. Catch you on the next one. Bye-bye, I guess.

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