Arsecast Extra Episode 651 - 29.07.2025

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0:43James McNicholas: hello and welcome to another arse cast extra as always with james from gunner block james good evening to you from good morning here yes good evening guys from hong kong Yes. And it's morning in Dublin. So, yeah. Yeah. You've just got home, right, from Singapore. Yes. I arrived this morning at about 7 a.m. and here I am straight onto the microphone to get a podcast out for everybody. I'm not quite sure how much I've got in me. I'm a bit tired. I did sleep a little bit on the plane, but, you know, it's quite tiring. But, you know, first world problems and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, I'm back.

1:32James McNicholas: I'm back home. And you are not back home. You are in Hong Kong. I am. Doing Hong Kong things. I can't believe I found a place more humid than Singapore. It's like I'm wearing the air like a cloak, honestly. it is mad wow um and it's kind of rainy i think they've had like typhoons here and think there's other ones on the way i don't like the sound of that james but it's like until that point the air is pregnant you know what i mean sure there was a bit of that in in singapore the other night where um it rained and and normally well normally my experience of living in a country where the weather is hot is Spain.

2:22James McNicholas: And if you get a bit of a storm, if you get a bit of rain afterwards, you get this sort of little spell of coolness, which is great. But in Singapore, it rained, and then it got hotter, and then some of the rain just stayed in the air. Do you know what I mean? Was that the night? I mean, no listener will be surprised to know that I got sick at some point in the trip. That was that night, yeah. Yeah, I thought I had food poisoning. I was slandering the good name of a very well-respected restaurant claiming food poisoning. And only later in the day did I realize I basically had given myself heat exhaustion.

3:08So that was fun.

3:09James McNicholas: That was fun, yeah. You came to meet myself and Elliot for a drink and we ordered a drink and you were like, I think I'm going to be sick. I don't think it was the company. I hope it was in the company anyway. I never drank that drink. The one that came in the big skull glass. I drank it for you. I'm pleased. I didn't want it to go to waste, you know? No, that's fine. So, yeah, we'll see. I'm staying cool where I can. I did a bit of exploring in Hong Kong today because Arsenal don't actually arrive until later today. They had, I think, a training session in Singapore this morning and have subsequently flown to Hong Kong.

3:52So I sort of went round some of the kind of local markets. There's a fish market, which is quite the sight. And I don't mean fish to eat. I mean like goldfish in bags. You know how like when you go to the circus or the fair? Yeah. And they've got goldfish in bags. Imagine a thousand of those. and every type of goldfish or just tropical fish in general, each in their own individual bag. It's quite surreal.

4:26James McNicholas: Yeah, I kind of feel sorry for a fish in a bag. You know, they're used to having a bit more room than that. I know, or put them all in one big bag. That would be my – get a bin bag. You know what I mean? Or, you know, a kind of glass, I don't know, tank of some kind. It's a novel approach, Andrew, but it could work. It could work. I don't know. Did you ask, you know, was, I mean, maybe some of our Hong Kong listeners could tell us, like, is it a big thing to keep goldfish or tropical fish in Hong Kong? I honestly don't know. I'll say this. We haven't got one of those in London. There's not a bit of London where you go, do you know what I mean?

5:05And there's just like trout in a bag. We don't have that.

5:09James McNicholas: I wouldn't even know where to go to get a fish if I wanted a goldfish. Did I tell you? This is what I'm saying. I'm sure I've told you this story before. My brother, when he lived in Australia, he had a fish. He had a goldfish called Alan. And Alan died. So he had a little bit of a funeral for him in which he kicked him over a roof.

5:34What was a kind of last rites? The Vikings sent people out on kind of burning rafts.

5:41James McNicholas: Yeah. But the goldfish booted over the roof. I asked him why he did that. He said it's what he would have wanted. Well, good news. Good news for him. Bad news for goldfish. I found a place where he can get his hands, or as it may be, his feet on as many as he wishes. On as many as he wishes. Okay. Listen, no goldfish were harmed in the making of this podcast. I'm not endorsing. No, absolutely not. Any of this. No. So what I've ascertained is that the city is quite organized. It's like the goldfish market is all kind of contained in this kind of couple of streets that seem to be dedicated to pets.

6:26James McNicholas: Right. And then there's like another couple of streets where it's just trainers, just like loads of trainer shops. Are you telling me that there might actually be a hammock district? I think it's a matter of time until I find it. Okay. I need some pictures. so yeah it's cool it's also blowing my mind that they've got marks and spencer here like i know it's english language i know there's a lot of history with the uk but it's very weird being in hong kong which feels like you're in a sci-fi movie but they've just opened a massive mns you know what i mean yeah sure it's weird yeah wait till you find the Greggs around the corner it'll be exactly that honestly that's what it's like but um yeah who knows maybe we'll return the favor maybe we will open our own goldfish emporium on oxford street yes exactly you've been inspired by what you've seen in in hong kong you can bring it back to the uk when is the game there is it when's there a thursday thursday i think is it forgot about that There is a game.

7:31James McNicholas: No, there is. There will be. We can talk about the game that happened in Singapore because we were both at that. But it is Thursday, right? We play Tottenham. Boom. Had their press conference today, I think, Thomas Frank, which I did not attend. Good. On Thursday, evening time here, which is lunchtime, UK. Right. Okay. And yeah, it's a North London derby of sorts. Of sorts. And we'll be hearing tomorrow from Mikel Arteta, who is doing a press conference, and I believe the plan is for him to be accompanied by Martin Odegaard. So we'll hear from the captain as well. Okay, okay. Well, we'll see what they have to say and obviously see how they're feeling about what has happened on the tour and how the tour has gone so far.

8:21James McNicholas: I think in football terms, I think it's been pretty successful, right? Because there were two games. They've won both of the games, and that's what you want. So I know we're a bit late to this because, well, you know, travel, and it's very, very, very difficult to do a podcast on a plane unless you talk to yourself. And then even the people around you would tell you to shut the fuck up. They're trying to watch a movie or whatever it is. We go back to Sunday, to Singapore, Arsenal versus Newcastle. Newcastle, I guess everyone's seen what happened and seen the clips and seen all the bits and bobs.

8:59James McNicholas: But do you have a big takeaway maybe from that game? Quite an unfriendly friendly would be my big takeaway. Yeah. Very physical. But, you know, I think if you're looking for signs of encouragement, I mean, you don't get many more physical teams than Newcastle. I think they are the kind of master exponents of that particular style. but my feeling watching it was that we went toe-to-toe with them really no i agree i agree we we gave a little bit back it was hard not to worry though wasn't it because of the way injuries had such an impact on our season there were a couple of heavy challenges in the first half and you're thinking was this wise to play a team like newcastle because yeah i was just worried that somebody would get quite injured and badly injured by one of the tackles.

9:53James McNicholas: Mikel Arteta said it's not a friendly, it's a test. Now, I don't know to what extent there was any decision-making on Arsenal's part that if we really want to test ourselves, let's get Newcastle on board for a friendly. I think they're playing some games in South Korea, if I'm right. And they were going to be in that part of the world anyway, So maybe that just all joined up for the Singapore Festival of Football, as it was known. But I did sit there and think, I don't know if this is the best idea we've ever had. In the end, I think you're right to say we came through it. In the end, some of the physicality that Newcastle doled out to players young and old was essentially meaningless because we reacted to that in footballing terms pretty well.

10:45James McNicholas: So do you think, you know, given the fact that Newcastle have been a little bit of a bogey team for us, beating them in pre-season, standing up to that physicality, is something that Mikel Artela will take positives from? Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I mean, there were some worries. I think Calafuri kind of hobbled off, didn't he? And a few other players certainly took bangs, you know, watching them get back on the bus after the game. There are plenty of ice packs around. but I think that's par for the course when you play against this team. Obviously, probably the most eye-catching aspect of our capacity to stand up to the challenge, I think, came through Max Dowman, who came off the bench with half an hour to go, got a bit longer this time, was absolutely scythed down by Joe Linton pretty much the first time he got the ball, but responded brilliantly, went on to be a massive threat and ultimately won the penalty, which won us the game.

11:48So, you know, when a 15-year-old is standing up to the physical challenge, I think you're in a pretty good place.

11:55James McNicholas: Well, fair enough. Shall we talk about him then? Because it's hard not to. It's hard not to, isn't it? And he got more than that from Joel Linton as well. There was a slap in the face as well, which he got, which, you know, I think is maybe Max Damman takes something from that. But I, you know, don't know about slapping a 15-year-old and siding down a 15-year-old. Maybe the benefit is Max Damman just goes, well, fuck you. Look what I can do with the ball. But, you know, I know Joe Linton is not anyone's favorite. I did think that was maybe just a little bit across the line. Yeah, I think so. But I think he dealt with it as well as he could possibly have done.

12:37which is that he just continued to play his game. And, you know, if there was an ulterior motive for Joe Linton, it was probably to shut this guy down, you know, diminish his confidence, reduce his impact. And it didn't do that. No, far from it. Yeah, so it's an interesting one, isn't it? Because, like, I think, like any sensible adult, we probably have our reservations over kind of building the hype around this player. but at the same time, everything he's been asked to do, he's excelling at. And there's only so much you can control it when a player so young is making such a big impact. Inevitably, people are going to talk about it.

13:21James McNicholas: Well, that's exactly it, isn't it? You know, if Arsenal are, let's say, keen to play down some of the hype around Max Dowman, on the other hand, they're playing Max Dowman in high-profile friendlies. And Max Damon is playing very well in those friendlies and doing things that you do not normally see a 15-year-old do at this level. And I say at this level, not necessarily meaning preseason, but the sort of adult nature of the opposition that he's faced. You know, in AC Milan and Newcastle, he's impressed in both of those games. If it's an 18-year-old, everyone's going to talk about it in much the same way.

14:04James McNicholas: So how do we find that balance between being impressed by what he has done, being impressed by the context in which he is doing that, and I include his age in that, by the way, and also not wanting to either get on board the hype train or respect the fact that he is just 15 years of age? do we have to look at the old adage of if you're good enough you're old enough when it comes to him and sort of park the discussion about the age or is that just impossible and if so how do we maintain a balance when we discuss him and when his role for next season whether it's with the first team or the under 21s or a combination of those things is part of the conversation among Arsenal fans the reality is when any player plays that well they're going to get some rave notices when a 15 year old does it it's just normal that fans and media and podcasters will talk about it because they've just seen something that is a little bit out of the ordinary yeah and I think Arsenal are kind of caught between two things here in that you know naturally they'll be protective of the player and, you know, not want that hype train to go into overdrive.

15:27But equally, they've got this huge prospect on their books. And after a season in which he wasn't really eligible to play, wasn't eligible at all to play for either the first team or the under-21s, they have to integrate him to an extent or at least show him there are opportunities and a pathway because, you know, they want to secure his future and they want to convince him that Arsenal is the right place for his enormous talent to flourish.

16:00James McNicholas: Sure. And that means involving him, realistically, particularly at this stage in pre-season. You know, they kind of have to include him. And I think what they're learning and what we're learning is that, you know, he's very capable. He's very, very capable. Do you think that he is, in their eyes, maybe ahead of schedule a little bit? Like, they're obviously very aware of his talent and aware of the potential that he has, but is there a sense that what he's done in these two games

16:39James McNicholas: makes him take a step that they were thinking, you know, might happen in five months or six months or something like that? Do you know what I mean? Yeah, possible. I mean, the reality is they won't have known how he was going to do because as much as they can work with him or they can involve him in first team training, which they've done for some time, you don't know how a player is going to react to a crowd of tens of thousands of people. You don't know how a player is going to react to that first challenge from Joe Linton or the first pass they make that goes astray. You don't know how they'll handle that kind of psychological and physical dimension, however talented they are.

17:25So, you know, that first friendly that he played against Milan as a substitute, Arsenal wouldn't have been sure exactly how he would handle that. And I think it wouldn't surprise me if even they are a bit taken aback by the level of confidence, the level of composure. I mean, for balance, we have to say it's still pre-season. These are friendlies against teams who are not at 100 % physically or in terms of motivation. so he might be getting a slightly easier ride here than he would you know on a weekend in the Premier League or indeed Champions League but it's like that old football adage of like you can only beat what's in front of you you can only play the context you're in and in that context he it's not only that he's looking like he's coping.

18:26It looks like he's thriving. What that means immediately, I really don't know because where's he playing? He's playing off the right wing. Well, Arsenal have just spent £50 million on Nani Madueke who plays in that position. We don't need him. And they've got Bukayo Saka who they rate pretty highly. At a push, Ethan Ranieri can play there as well. So it's not as if it's kind of obvious where he will break through or make that step.

19:03And, yeah, I think making predictions on it, I think he's probably already confounding any predictions that had been made. So it's a dangerous game to try and predict when and where we'll see him in a competitive game because with what he's doing, you know, you wouldn't want to put any limitations on that.

19:29James McNicholas: No, it's funny. Mikel Arteta talked in one of the press conferences about the young players who are out there and talked about them. You know, having the opportunity to knock on the door or something, I might be paraphrasing. Daman is fucking, he's got one of those things the police use to break down the door, doesn't he? You know, that's kind of what we've seen from him so far. And again, like you, I'm sort of conscious of the fact that you don't want to put too much pressure you don't want to add to the hype but that machine that hype train is is rolling so yeah we'll see how it goes and we'll see if he's involved against spurs and if he does something brilliant against spurs well people are are just going to keep talking i think what's maybe a little bit funny about this is that maybe it's the the fact it took such a long time to happen but the other big thing um that we saw on sunday against newcastle was the arrival and the announcement um how would you say it the introduction the unveiling that's exactly the word i was looking for he had a veil on and then the veil came off the veil came off and there was a guy with his a beautiful bride his hands over his mouth um victor jacquez is an arsenal player he he did his medical all that kind of stuff on saturday and then from what we understand basically just jumped on a plane and flew 13 or 14 hours to singapore to meet up with the squad to be unveiled to be part of things as as quickly as possible i think he was basically off the plane and straight to the stadium and out on the pitch you know the timings were pretty tight i think but does that show maybe um the character of this guy we know he pushed very hard for a move to arsenal no like oh you know what you guys finish off the rest of the tour i'll i'll wait here in london i'll do my training i'll you know find a house or something like that he wants to be involved straight away yeah and i think michael altetta wanted him there as soon as possible as well.

21:37But credit to him. I mean, you know, we've done that journey. I think even in the luxury that we imagine Victor Jokoriz took it in, it's a long way. And he came pretty much straight to the stadium, met his teammates, met the fans, and he's here. And I think this morning might have been his first session with the team. Great to have him at long last. I think, you know, you've seen the bits and pieces of clips of him arriving at the stadium and being greeted by Richard Garlick and Tim Lewis. And I noticed that like everyone who met him, there were a lot of like slaps to the back. He's a very big physical form, isn't he?

22:29Like there's a kind of tactile quality to him. You can kind of feel his presence in a room. And I think people are quite taken with that.

22:40James McNicholas: Yeah, there was a video obviously doing the rounds of him meeting the players in the tunnel. A lot of them, you know, welcoming him in. There's one I think. Some he knows, like Ben White, they were at Brighton together. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, I mean, he is going to get integrated as quickly as possible. And it's important, isn't it, that he's integrated as quickly as possible? Because we talked about the start of the season. We talked about doing the signings that we needed to do this summer. But that one in particular, making sure that we had him ready for the first game or the first few games was really, really important.

23:15James McNicholas: I think someone pointed out, I can't remember where I saw this, whether it was on Blue Sky or whether it was on Discord. court i'm really sorry to whoever it was but basically arcel have signed six players in july which is you know which is a lot of business it's a it's a lot of money spent and it's a lot of adding to the squad but that piece in particular the yakares piece in particular felt felt very very important so hopefully over the course of the coming days you know he can train well Arteta said he would be assessed by the medical staff to see whether or not he could be involved against Spurs on Thursday.

23:57James McNicholas: It feels maybe a little too soon because, you know, he hasn't really played since the end of last season. He wasn't training with sporting, of course, because he didn't turn up. How you feel about that is up to you. But, you know, do you feel that maybe the sort of need to just showcase him a little bit might see him involved against Spurs on Thursday? Maybe we'll get a better idea from Arteta on Wednesday at the press conference. Or is it just a case that he's there, he's just meeting everybody and becoming part of the group. and then maybe you take a more cautious approach to giving him his debut rather than sort of four days after he's flown halfway around the world.

24:44Yeah, famous last words and all that, but I'd be in the camp of let's take our time. You know, if he does play against Spurs, and listen, I know the fans out here will be desperate to see him and they will see him, but desperate to see him take the field, make his first Arsenal appearance. I think if that does happen, I envisage it being pretty late on and a bit of a token cameo. We've got two friendlies the following week against Athletic Bilbao and before that, Villarreal at the Emirates Stadium. That timing feels a little bit more realistic to me. If you think of Mosquera, he flew in a few days before the Newcastle game, but he wasn't involved.

25:33James McNicholas: Yeah, Teta said it was because of his involvement with the under-21 European Championships. So he needs a bit of a break, similar to Madueke being involved with the club world, Kant. Yeah, but I mean, Jokeres, he hasn't, I mean, he's done individual work, but he's not trained with sporting at all. So who knows? Like I said, he's clearly a very athletic guy. He's clearly in great condition. it may be that they assess him and they think he's ready for some involvement. But, you know, I'm prepared to be patient as long as it means he's in the best condition when the competitive season gets underway.

26:16James McNicholas: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sort of with you on that. I would be cautious this week, but who knows? They'll put him through his paces, and if there's a chance to give him 15 minutes at the end, maybe they do that. Yeah. Yeah. bang in a couple of goals against Spurs to get things going. Wouldn't be a bad way to start. Would not. Like you say, there are games, of course, on Wednesday of next week and then Saturday. Is it the Emirates Cup or is it just – One of them is the Emirates Cup, I believe, yeah. But I forget which one. It's Athletic Bilbao. That's where the Emirates Cup is on the line. Silverware on the line.

26:59James McNicholas: The Nico Williams derby, eh? I know, right?

27:06So, yes, there we go. So, we didn't really talk about much else in the Newcastle game. I mean, was there anything of that?

27:14James McNicholas: I mean, I thought Kai Havertz is worth a mention, to be honest. Yeah. Because there is spotlight on him when the new striker arrives and Havertz is seen as, you know, the other guy, you know, the lesser guy now because everyone loves the new thing, right? Everyone loves the new shiny toy, the new shiny signing, et cetera, et cetera. But Kai Havertz played a big part in the two goals that Arsenal scored, a lovely layoff for Mikel Moreno, very smart finish from Moreno, which is kind of what you expect from him these days. And it was the Havertz cross from the left-hand side, which was turned into his own net by the Newcastle player, whose name I cannot remember.

27:57James McNicholas: but who had a bit of a tired time. I think he's called Murphy like all their players, isn't he? Is he? Something like that. Mickey Murphy. I don't know. Can't remember his name. But, yeah, I thought Havertz was really good. I kind of had two thoughts watching the game. One was I was really struck by the fact that Marino, who was playing in midfield, was playing quite close to Havertz a lot of the time. There were moments where, particularly on that first goal, they combined almost like a front two. And I was thinking, you know, is that something we might see with Havertz in the Marino role and Jokeres as the number nine?

28:43But I think it was just a timely reminder that Havertz is still a very interesting option. I mean, you know, we're debating whether or not Jokeres might be involved on Thursday. I mean, the start of the Premier League season is like two and a half weeks away. So I still think it's reasonable to question, given his late start, whether he will be ready to start that old traffic game or whether Kai will be so far ahead that, you know, Jokeres may begin on the bench. I don't know, but I think it will be a decision for Arteta to have to make, don't you?

29:22James McNicholas: Yeah, for sure. And I think there's a need maybe to look at this in slightly more cooperative terms. It isn't, and I don't think it should be throughout this season, it should not be a Havertz or Jokeres conversation. I know that's kind of inevitable, but I feel like if we really want to get the best out of both players and if we want to get the best out of this team, it's got to be Havertz and Jokeres. And I'm not saying both of them have to play. I'm not saying play two up front. But I think if we are going to get the best out of Kai and if we're going to get the best out of Jokeres, there is a need to use them both, right?

30:04James McNicholas: Where you are not asking your players to run themselves into the ground. And this goes back to discussion we had the other day and probably have had a number of times over the last couple of weeks about using the full extent of the squad. Right. To keep people fresh, to prevent injury, to give yourself different options, different dynamics. You know, they're not dissimilar physically, but I think they are quite different stylistically. Right. Both big guys, but they play the game differently. They play the role a bit differently. I think there will be times where, you know, one opposition might suit one a bit more than the other.

30:40James McNicholas: There might be times where we are going to throw the two of them on and maybe, you know, look to do that battering Ram 4-4-2 thing if we're having a bit of a problem breaking these down. But I think we have to look at not just Havertz and Jokeres, but pretty much all the signings that we've made this summer as a way to ensure that our squad, you know, is used to its fullest extent for the benefit of the team, right? Yeah, I think that's true. And Mikel Arteta has spoken about that, hasn't he, in terms of kind of broadening tier one and making sure he's got a wider pool of talent that he can really trust.

31:22hopefully Havertz and Jokeres will be among that I just you know I think that is all true but I am still intrigued to see exactly how and where Havertz is used because he is quite a versatile player and I think Mikel Arteta does like him in a variety of different roles or functions in different parts of the pitch and I wonder if we might see him you know sometimes picked in other areas other than the number nine yeah quite possible to sort of squeeze him into that 11 but yeah we shall see that'll be one of the interesting subplots of the season no doubt you mentioned Riccardo Calafiori a bit

32:06James McNicholas: earlier on I don't know if you've seen there's a video of him coming out for training this morning and he doesn't look like he's injured so he's obviously taking part in the session to some extent so that's obviously a a good thing he came off very early in the second half without anybody anywhere near him so it was hard not to worry based on what we saw last season you know is he just taking no chances if he feels anything at all where previously he might have said ah that's okay i'll just sort of play through that a little bit after his experiences with injury last season and maybe on the advice of the medical team, like if you feel anything come off, that they are doing their best to prevent injury with him as much as possible?

32:52I think so, especially given that, you know, we're not exactly sure where Gabriel is at at this point in time. So Calafiore's role in the squad is maybe a little bit more important than it would otherwise be.

33:05James McNicholas: He started both the games. He started both games as a centre-half, hasn't he? I think I'm right in saying. So, yeah, I hope they're being just a bit cautious with him. Obviously, it is a worry. Yeah, I think he was injured about four times, wasn't it, last season? I'd love him to sort of get past that because we had quite a lot of fun watching him, didn't we? Yeah, yeah. He's an enjoyable, eye-catching player to watch. Yeah. and you want him to be fit and you want him to provide the depth and the cover at not just left-centre half, but I think, you know, depending on what happens with Zinchenko, he could be the alternate left-back.

33:50James McNicholas: I know Kivior can play there, but Mikel Arteta has been reluctant to play him there, really, hasn't he, since last season or the previous season when, you know, he had a couple of moments there. So I think he sees Kivir more as a central defensive option. But I think the fact that he started him in the two games shows that he wants to give him minutes as a centre-half because, yeah, we don't quite know how far away Gabriel is at this point. No. So that's one. I mean, you know, he seemed to be moving fine today. And even after the game, actually, I caught a glimpse of him leaving and he seemed to be moving all right.

34:30So hopefully it is nothing.

34:33James McNicholas: We don't have to kick him over a roof, thankfully. Yeah, exactly. And I think they're having to hold back Jurian Timber a bit. You know, he's still recovering from the procedure he underwent in spring, and I think he's itching to get back out there. But again, they want to do things in the right time to ensure that, you know, he doesn't have a setback or aggravate anything that might inhibit his participation in the competitive season. And I think right back, I really do think maybe more so than any other position on the pitch. We have two truly outstanding right backs. And I think picking between them, you know, in terms of who is better is a tough task because it's been great to see Ben White back and looking more like himself.

35:26and some of that combination play with Bakayi Saka has been evident, I think, in Singapore.

35:35James McNicholas: Yeah, I agree. I agree. There was one brilliant pass, wasn't there, in the AC Milan game. He just sent him in behind with a kind of incisive pass between the centre half and the full-back. And yeah, look, I think be cautious with Timber. Don't rush anything. Don't risk anything with any of these players. You know, the injuries last season were so bad. I think they were debilitating for very obvious reasons. So, yeah, let's be sensible. And if it means delaying a guy's reintroduction by 10 days or two weeks, if you get the long-term benefit of that, then it's obviously worth it. Beyond that, anything you can think of from Singapore, from that Newcastle game that's worth a mention?

36:20Not especially. no I mean I think that's kind of it what about yourself anything else

36:25James McNicholas: no I just you know want to say thank you to all the people that we met out there all the fans from not just Singapore but from all around that part of the world and beyond who we met who are really generous with their time and you know it was great to it's always great to meet the fans out there so thank you for being so welcoming and showing us such great hospitality yeah that's kind of that's kind of it really yeah the amount of people i must say who said oh please i'd love to take you out uh for a meal or drink yeah to a certain extent you have to just say no because otherwise i would have put on about four stone in a week um we ate a lot of delicious food and drank a lot of delicious drinks but people so kind and so helpful um many voluntary tour guides and yeah all sorts so thank you um and yeah hopefully we'll be back one day i'd love to i have to say um it was one of those places where i was like you know this is the sort of place i'll go because i'm not really gonna go there otherwise arstel gives me an opportunity to see it but it's certainly somewhere i would go back to and and when you look at um that maybe as a base for going to other places in that part of the world.

37:44James McNicholas: It's very tempting. It is very tempting. So who knows? Who knows? All right. I tell you what we'll do here is we will take a little break and we'll come back with your questions and more in part two right after this.

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39:39James 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 also at arseblog.com. Also on the Arseblog Discord chat server, which you get access to if you are an Arseblog member on Patreon. From there, James, I'm going to go with the first question. Okay. And I've seen like quite a lot of talk about this and I'm a bit confused by it. but charg we says would selling an injured gabriel jesus be the most impressive move of the window yes yeah i agree i mean yeah getting gabriel jesus through a medical right now would be pretty impressive um i think if andrea burta sells gabriel jesus while he's rehabbing from an acl injury they can start building the statues, frankly.

40:38Yeah, listen, I would be, I've not heard anything to suggest this is going to happen. I mean, equally, I don't know that it's not, but just logically, I find that one hard to believe.

40:54James McNicholas: Yeah, same. He's not on the tour, is he? No. He's doing his medical. For who? Flamengo? No, I mean, it's a bit of a strange one because, you know, I know he is rehabbing, but, you know, he's still a first team player. Maybe they think he's better recovering, doing work in the gym before he gets onto the pitches. Maybe that absence has sparked a little bit of this speculation, to be honest. But I just can't really understand. He got this ACL injury in January. And typically it is nine months there or thereabouts, sometimes a tiny bit shorter, sometimes quite a bit longer before a player is ready to play again.

41:41James McNicholas: So I don't really get where stories about, particularly like Brighton, are interested in taking him on loan. why would they even try that yeah strange listen i don't doubt that if arsenal had felt they had the opportunity to move jesus on or or this language sounds a bit callous but sort of get him off the wage bill uh i don't doubt they'd want to do that um you know they've bought Jokerez in they've got Kai Havertz they've got Leandro Trossard and Mikel Moreno who can both play that position at a push it's difficult to see I don't think Jesus has much of a future unfortunately I think the signing of Jokerez is kind of evidence they've moved past him at this point certainly as a nine certainly as a nine could he have a value as a squad player absolutely like he's a really talented player who can play in a number of positions um there'll certainly be question marks over where he's at physically after another long layoff and he's not getting you know younger at the same time but yeah i'd be really surprised if arsenal were able to broker that sort of deal this summer Same.

43:10James McNicholas: Feels like a January kind of thing more than a summer thing. It does really, yeah, to me. Yeah, same. It feels like, yeah, it feels like he'll come back. We might see him on the bench here and there or involved in a cup game or something. He'll prove his fitness and then wouldn't surprise me at all if he left the club in January, I've got to say. Me either. Me either. Especially with these young attackers like Nairi and Max Dowman and the need for them to have game time. Jesus is another option on that right-hand side. So, yeah, I think it might be in everybody's interest by that point. But, yeah, I would be shocked if it happened before the summer deadline.

44:02James McNicholas: Yeah. Yeah. So, I liked this question. We were just talking about Calafiore, and I think it's relevant. So, it's from KBAFC on Discord. And they say, despite the ongoing jokes, is it crazy to question our left-back depth? If Calafiore can't stay fit, Tomiyasu, Tierney, Nuno Tavarez are gone, Zinchenko is sold, and Timber is needed on the right when fit, are we at risk of having to overplay Lewis Skelly when he still needs game time management due to his age? We've gone from having all the left backs to not enough. To not enough. Yeah. I mean, it is dependent on Califiori's fitness. And Zinchenko is not sold yet.

44:55No. So as it stands... There's no guarantee that happens, to be honest.

44:59James McNicholas: Yeah, there doesn't appear to be a line of suitors out the door for him. Which he probably would have in a year's time, by the way. Well, because he'd be free. So as a fail-safe or a safety net, if you like, for Califuri's fitness, is keeping Zinchenko a sensible move? Or do you go out? So if you do that or if you're willing to do that, you're sort of acknowledging that there is an element of risk about that position, right? But then how do you decide the best way to deal with it? Is it to keep the guy who's in the club already? You're already paying him a decent wage. Or do you try and sell him and go in the market for another left back?

45:49James McNicholas: What kind of left back do you get? Do you get somebody experienced, a lone player? Do you try and find a young talent like we did with Nuno Tavares? I don't really know how you would deal with that. And then you have to deal with the idea of if we do do that, Arsenal signing a left back rather than a left winger, I think would send some people over the fucking edge, to be honest. I think you're right. Yes. I think you're right. So, I mean, listen, if Zinchenko is our third choice left back going into next season, I'm sort of okay with that. Rather than having to scrape around looking for another player.

46:32James McNicholas: If someone comes in and offers significant money for Zinchenko, which doesn't look likely at this point, then it's a different conversation. but for now if you do have some worry about califiori then maybe keeping zinchenko is the is the best way to do it maybe i mean the part of the reason we collected so many left backs is that they were also injury prone right like basically arteta couldn't trust enough of them to stay fit you know so we had to get another one and then turned out they had injury issues too and then we had to get another one um i mean the question didn't mention yakub kivio who is an option at left back um i i have i feel like if you if you've got a squad with lewis skelly calafuri and kivio that should be enough like if that isn't enough if you can't rely on calafuri to be fit.

47:39If you think he's going to get so many injuries that he almost can't be counted on, then you've got a real problem with that player.

47:47James McNicholas: Well, it's an age-old problem, though, when it comes to certain players who are very talented and who, if they stayed fit, would be obviously really important for your team. How many players have we had down the years where you're like, well, can you really count on, for example, Jack Wilshire to stay fit? Or even Aaron Ramsey to an extent, because he would have these spells of fitness and form and then pick up an injury that would be problematic. But because of the talent of the player, they're a bit more inclined to take the risk on them being available rather than not. Right. But that is the question about Calafuri, which we do not know yet.

48:30James McNicholas: Like if he comes through this season without an injury, that would be great, but also a surprise. Right? It would be great. I mean, I would say it's hard because I'm sort of asking the club to gamble on something which is not a sure bet. I suppose what I can't help but think is, like, if we're having to have this conversation, then we've got a problem. Yeah, maybe. Because we're paying Lewis Skelly a lot of money. I presume we're paying Calafuri a lot of money. We've got Yakov Kibiel there who can play left-back. We've got Jurian Timber who can do it if required. I think that has to be enough.

49:15Plus Zinchenko. Plus Zinchenko. But I kind of feel like we should be able to sell Zinchenko and not have to replace him. That's my view. And if we can't, and it transpires that we can't, and Califuri can't stay fit, then I think it's very difficult. I think at that point you need to say, can we carry this player?

49:42James McNicholas: Well, that's true. I think we also need to give him a chance this season to prove that he can stay fit for most of the season. It's massive for him this year. Yeah, it really is. And I really hope. There are Arsenal players who had a lot of injury problems in their youth and grew out of it. I'm thinking of Robin Van Persie. I think Gail Clichy. Gail Clichy, yeah, great one, yeah. Even Kieran Gibbs to an extent. Yeah, so I'd love to believe that he can, because he is still pretty young. I'd love to believe that as he kind of matures and develops and maybe adjusts some of what he does on the pitch as well to protect himself, that he can get past it.

50:29I'm not saying it will happen or I'm confident, but I would love it. But who are we kidding? Obviously, we're going to buy a left back.

50:41James McNicholas: I await the meltdown. Well, listen, listen, you mentioned it, left wing. I had a question here, Alex Buster. Hi, guys. Do you think we need that extra player who plays on the left, like an Eze, to really nail this window? or is it enough to have Leo and Gabby there? I mean, we signed six players, so can't complain really, but I still think we need that one extra special player for the left side. I was going to ask you something similar, but in the context of what a team we perceive as being a title rival are also doing, right? Where Liverpool, and I did want to ask you about Alexander Azak, I'll come back to that, but it does look like that's a possibility for Liverpool on top of Eketike, on top of Florian Verts, on top of Frimpong, on top of Kerkes.

51:38James McNicholas: Liverpool have had a very, very, very strong window, right? I think we've done all the things we absolutely 100 % needed to do in this window. I think we talked about this when we were in Singapore, on the pod in Singapore, where when you look around the squad now, the place you think we can upgrade or hope we could upgrade is that left-wing position, right? Whether it's Trossard, whether it's Martinelli. But what I was going to ask you was, if Liverpool do sign Isaac, is it the sort of thing that you just go well fuck i think as fans people will go fuck that makes liverpool so strong and he's a player obviously that that was coveted by arsenal and coveted by arsenal fans but if you're a michael arteta if you're the board if you're the executive at arsenal and you're pleased with your work but you see what liverpool have done does it push you to do something extra should you as a football club react to what another football club does even if you're very happy with what you've already done even if you have spent a lot of money and i get it arsenal have and nobody can say that that you know that the coffers were empty this summer or anything like that but if a if another team takes it up a level do you trust in what you've done or is there a temptation or a desire or a need to say hey you know we can we can tip the scales a little bit back in our favor if that's the right way of putting it or maybe do something which makes not saying there's a big goal for anything like that but which provides a bit more competitive balance i lost the the end of that question sorry But as I understood it, it was basically, if Liverpool buy Isak, does it demand a response?

53:50James McNicholas: Yes, basically, yes.

53:55Possibly. I mean, my read of Arsenal's business, my sort of broad overview, is that they are all in on next season. like the buys say to me that they recognize a need to win not tomorrow now and that's why you would go for a Jokeres over a Sesko that's the appeal of a noni Madueke someone who's playing in the Premier League. That's the appeal of a Christian Norgard. You know, I think Mosquera is a different buy. But broadly, I think the business says it is time for us to take that step. And what do you do if the team you're trying to catch take another step themselves?

54:55James McNicholas: That's it. and when you're already all in

55:03if you've still got a few chips at the table if you really are all in maybe you've got to push those chips into the middle yeah I don't know like it's not this is my I don't know and it hasn't happened yet and I think it's it's not certain that Liverpool will get Isaac right you know do PIF want to be perceived as sellers in this situation they certainly don't need the money they may need it from a kind of PSR perspective so who knows but yeah if Liverpool do do it

55:51maybe maybe maybe Arsenal give the boat one more shove out.

55:59James McNicholas: And does that mean sort of going in for an Eze, a player who is 26, 27 as well, who's a now player? Paul? Yeah, I mean, the problem is how many of those can you do? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

56:21Again, we don't know, but if Arsenal had done Sesco, would they feel more comfortable about doing Eze? Probably, in terms of kind of the investment portfolio, the age profile of the forward line.

56:36James McNicholas: But Sesco was, from what we understand anyway, we don't know what's going to happen with him or where he ends up, but Sesco was a more expensive deal to do in terms of the transfer. so maybe doing Sesco makes it more difficult to do from a financial perspective rather than the sort of age profile, squad profile type decision, you know? Yeah, and listen, Madueke is 23 and you've got a 15-year-old knocking on the door, which certainly brings your age average down. I just don't necessarily, I could be wrong, but I don't envisage that Arsenal kind of start the summer of thinking, yeah, we're going to drop 100 million on two 27-year-olds.

57:22I don't think that's how they generally would operate. But if you're all in, then maybe you're all in. Should Arsenal's window be judged on its own merits,

57:39James McNicholas: or is it impossible if Liverpool were to get Isaac to look at the window outside of that context?

57:54I mean, I'm going to throw another question into the conversation. Okay. Because Mark McFall says, if Liverpool sign Izak for less than 150 million and Sesco joins Newcastle or Man United for 70 million, would it change your opinion on the Jocares deal? I think the numbers maybe are less relevant there. But if those deals happen, would any of that change how you feel about Jokeres as a signing?

58:24James McNicholas: I mean, Ezek for 150 million. Yeah. I mean, that number is relevant. That's a massive amount of money. And we did have other things to do this summer. There's no question about that. We did have other things. We'd already committed to Zubimendi, so that was one. Yeah. But let's say we, you know... Rather than Yokeres and Madweke, we kind of went all in on Izak. Yeah. That kind of thing. I think Norgard was probably an affordable deal, whatever. So it was Kepa. Kepa, maybe. Kepa. Yeah, I think it's like... Yeah, I guess let's say Yokeres and Madweke. You still need that. It's still another 50 million, by the way.

59:15James McNicholas: Yeah. On top of agent's fees, on top of salary. Would that make him the most expensive British transfer? Yeah. Yeah. So think about what that investment is. 150 million plus what 300 grand a week over five years 78 million i think in terms of even commission fees for for agents and the like you'd be into tens of millions probably yeah deal of that size so you're looking at like a 300 million pound investment for isak maybe it doesn't make any difference if he scores all the goals that gets you the the premier league or the champions league or whatever what where i would have like as much as i like alexander isaac and i really do and we've we've talked about him numerous times and we've talked about how easy it is to envisage him in an arsenal shirt scoring goals right where i would not be 100 comfortable is spending 150 million pounds on a player who does have a little bit of a sketchy record when it comes to injuries Yeah, he misses games.

1:00:27James McNicholas: You know? In a way that touch wood, Jokeres really doesn't. Very durable. Touching all the wood. And Arsenal recruit for that. It's important for them. Particularly if you're going to spend that sort of money on a player. I mean, ultimately, Arsenal have decided, haven't they, that they, I don't think hedge their bets is the right word, but they wanted to spend the money more evenly and improve the squad more in a broader fashion rather than go all in on one star. Sure, but does that then now allow the possibility of that extra thing, which could really put the icing on the cake for this window from an Arsenal perspective, right?

1:01:17I think there's that possibility. I mean, I'm not convinced that Arsenal believe they can carry Martinelli, Trossard and someone else in that position. So I still think that this would have a link to one of them going. I think that's just logical, isn't it?

1:01:40James McNicholas: I think so too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, to retain the balance of the squad.

1:01:50Listen, I think very few people would like us to sign Eze more than I would. Like, I love that player. So let's see what develops. I think, I mean, the advantage of Arsenal having done half a dozen signings before the end of July is that they can kind of relax a bit. Let the market play out.

1:02:17James McNicholas: Is that a good way of putting it? Yeah, I think so. That's how I would frame it. See what develops, see what offers we get for our existing players. You know, that could, if someone does come in for Zinchenko, someone does come in for Trossard, that could change it. I think if we got somebody in that position, if it was Neze or Rodrigo, or, you know, even if Newcastle say we're going to keep Izak, but we need to sell somebody and it's an Anthony Gordon or somebody like that. You know, if Arsenal did get a starting caliber player in that left wing slot,

1:03:06I can't imagine anyone having any complaints at all about that summer business.

1:03:12James McNicholas: It was quite funny how roundly Anthony Gordon was being booed in the stadium in Singapore the other night, by the way.

1:03:24James McNicholas: The fans, every time he got the ball, were on his back in a really hilarious way. Listen, I was just... No, no, I know you're throwing names out and that's fine. Who I know that we've liked and been interested in. just to say that I think that is maybe the one area of the field. I concur with the opinion that that's... And then it's funny, like if Arsenal had, you know, done four deals by now and then in the final weeks of the window wrapped up Zubomendi and Jokeres on deadline day, I think people will probably be celebrating, you know? I don't think they would because of, you know, the importance of the fixture list the way we said it.

1:04:07James McNicholas: But I know what you're saying. the timing of deals plays a part in how you how you think about the window what i'm saying is that getting the business done early creates this thing of what next of course yeah there's only so long you can be excited by the things and then you're like well i'm jonesing for a transfer fix here guys what else are you going to give me what else have you got um so i think like when you look at what they've spent and the six signings that they've done well i can only speak for myself Like, I'm fairly relaxed. Like, I think, like you say, they've done what they needed to do.

1:04:41Can they put the icing on the cake? We'll have to wait and see. Yeah, yeah.

1:04:47James McNicholas: I have a sneaky feeling that's kind of what they're open to. It just depends on what happens in the market and how it all plays out, whether there's a few moving pieces which bring something to the fore which wasn't there. But from what Mikel Arteta said last week, you know, I know it was before Madweke or was it before Madweke? Muscara, right? Muscara and Yucca. Muscara and Yucca were actually official, but it did sound like, you know, from what we understood at that point, those were just formalities. And they did, in fact, become official. It sounded like Mikel Arteta was open to more. And I do hope that, you know, in the, well, well over a month, well over a month, a month and a few days, before the window closes that there is something extra.

1:05:34James McNicholas: And I think there might well be, but I don't know who, I don't know when or anything like it. I'm just sort of going with my gut feeling on this one. Yeah. And by the way, like people look at Liverpool and they're like, how are they doing this? You know, how could they buy EZAC? And the answer is because they're bloody good at player trading in a way that we aren't. No. And if we can do some good player trading in the last month of the window, I'm not saying we have to. I'm not saying it's impossible for us to spend money without that, but it certainly would make it a lot easier. Yeah. You know, when you think of Kwanzaa going for 35 million euros or Kelleher for like 15 or 20, they're about to sell Luis Diaz for 75, something like that.

1:06:20James McNicholas: Yeah. They've got Nunes who could go, you know, probably upwards of 40. Like, that's how they're doing it. Yeah. I saw there was an article on The Athletic about it, actually, about how Liverpool, despite spending, even if they bought Isak, would actually be in profit. But I haven't read that article because I feel like it would hurt my head. That sounds mad, to be fair. I haven't read it, but I don't know if they mean, like, in general, the business would be in profit. it um but they are a massive commercial surprise um but i think player trading i think player trading is key and we do have assets we can trade we do have zinchenko's and kivios and trossards and martinelli's that we can trade so that could hold the key yeah um let me see if i can find that article i could be misquoting um i don't know i'm on the wrong time zone so i i miss a lot of what comes out in the morning yeah um yeah i i could have read that wrong but certainly um they're in a strong position to certainly they could do it like when people say here you go how liverpool can afford to buy alexander azak after committing over 500 million two months how do they have so much cash yeah there's a there's a paragraph here it's about pre-tax profit and psr profit and the club's psr resulted is expected to be highly profitable opening the door for them to post a large loss in 25 26 while still remaining within the rules so that's it rather it's the profit from other windows anyway like i said this weatherspoon is uh he knows what he's talking about on the finances so yeah i i think um does it yeah i mean listen if they get isak um it's a it's a hell of a signing i understand why arsenal moved on from that given what else they had to attend to and i guess if arsenal do have that final piece of the left winger i think a lot of people will feel arsenal that sort of proves them right.

1:08:44James McNicholas: Yes. A couple of quick ones to finish off. And we'll get this out for people. Jolly Green Ben White Giant on the Discord says, quick question for James. Have you heard any updates regarding the lesser spotted experienced third choice goalkeeper? Is this a position the club are still looking to fill in order to let Tommy Setford get some loan experience? Sign a left back and an old goalkeeper. That's the extra we're all looking for. When I say icing the cake, it's this third-choice goalkeeper I was talking about. I think at the moment, the plan is for Tommy Setford to take that position. I think the coaching staff, at the moment, they want him to stick around and be with the first team.

1:09:31I think if the right opportunity came up to bring somebody else in and let him go out to the right club, that could change. But yeah, I think currently the idea is that he'll be with Raya and Kappa training every day next season or certainly up until Christmas, at which point I suppose they could revisit him.

1:09:52James McNicholas: Okay. Okay. And one final one before we let you head off into the Hong Kong night. Speckled Jim says, it's not actually an Arsenal question. So I will say 10 Hail Santis. I read that as Hail Satan at first. was thinking, okay, well, that's a bit of a word. He said he'll say 10 hellsantis as penance. But what the fuck is going on with Morgan Gibbs White at Nottingham Forest activating a release clause, still not signing the player, the most Spurs thing ever? And obviously there was that video, wasn't there, where Morgan Gibbs White spoke glowingly of the owner of Nottingham Forest. Here's a little clip for anybody who hasn't seen it.

1:10:34James McNicholas: So thank you to Mr. Maranakis for believing in me. We got to showcase what we're about and what we're trying to build as a team. And I feel like Mr. Maranakis is the base of that. You know, Mr. Maranakis is the main reason for that. We've built that culture inside the dressing room. So Mr. Maranakis is, you know, very, very important in the Morgan Gibbs-White decision-making process. Well, what that doesn't tell you is that Mr. Maranakis is stood just next to Morgan Gibbs-White. Sorry, that was a very important part of the context. he's literally like staring at him yeah it's a it feels like a hostage situation doesn't it i mean i'm sure he's being very well paid to stay at nottingham forest and listen who wants to go to spurs um i mean i can only remember this happening once before and it happened to us with luis suarez where Arsenal felt that they had met a clause in his contract and Liverpool basically went, nah, you're not going anywhere.

1:11:38James McNicholas: We're not honouring that. No. And I think either the wording of these clauses maybe isn't kind of as legally watertight as some agents might believe, or maybe there's just that thing of like, well, what are you going to do? Take us to court? Do you know what I mean? Like it very rarely will go that far. But yeah, I mean, very, very, very, very odd situation. But anyone who's followed the career and the football dealings of Mr. Maranakis probably won't be too surprised by the weirdness of any outcome here. No, he certainly had some moments, hasn't he, during his time in the Premier League and in Greece as well.

1:12:31James McNicholas: And anyway, I'm sure Morgan Gibbs White was persuaded to stay, you know, in... He just loves the city of Nottingham. He loves playing in red. That's the thing. He couldn't countenance a switch to a team playing in terrible white. It was all red. yeah you can seek out that video if you want to have a look at it it's a bit longer than that and it is quite strange but anyway right we'll leave it there because a i'm beginning to get exhausted and hallucinating slightly uh and you of course have things to do get yourself down to the to the hammock district and the goldfish district again you know really check that out do your research before you bring that brilliant idea uh back to england to all of you guys thank you so much for being with us as always.

1:13:20James McNicholas: Thank you for listening. For now, take it easy and we will catch you on the next one. Bye-bye.

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