Signs of Progress

After 5 games in 15 days, Arsenal have begun to settle following the Premier League’s resumption of the football season on June 17th. Losses to Manchester City and Brighton provided cause for concern, however 3 wins on the bounce against Southampton, Sheffield United (in the FA Cup) and Norwich has lifted the mood in the Gunners camp and booked them a place at Wembley on July 18th for a semi-final clash against Manchester City. Alongside a lift in results, the Arsenal board have been making moves in what has proved to be a busy few weeks for the club, and the moves made over the past few days show some signs of progress.

On Tuesday night, Roma announced the extension of midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s loan which will see him stay through the 2020/21 campaign and the end of his Arsenal contract. Mkhitaryan struggled to find his feet in North London and given his high wages and the fact he has not worked under Mikel Arteta, the deal proves beneficial for all sides. The big benefit for Arsenal is that they are set to save approximately £10 million in wages for the year. However it can be said that Arsenal have missed a player like Mkhitaryan off the bench this season. Should Arsenal start their 3 senior forwards together, Aubameyang, Lacazette and Pepe, they are left with 21 year old Reiss Nelson, who has just 690 Premier League minutes to his name, as their most senior attacker off the bench. Losing Mkhitaryan likely means Arsenal will go into the market for an experienced attacker in order to add greater firepower from the bench, with the likes of Willian and Fraser looking cost effective options at the end of their contracts.

The following morning, on July 1st, Arsenal released a statement about on loan defender William Saliba. The 19 year old Frenchman has impressed over the last couple of seasons at boyhood club Saint Etienne, catching the eye of many and resulting in a transfer last summer to Arsenal before being loaned back to St Etienne for the 2019/20 season. With the cancellation of Ligue 1, Saliba finished the year with 16 starts in all competitions as he struggled with injury throughout the season. With St Etienne reaching the French Cup final against PSG, scheduled for July 24th, both the French side and Arsenal were keen to reach an agreement for Saliba to play the cup final. However, a widely reported clause in Saliba’s deal from last summer was that should he start 17 games in all competitions, Arsenal would pay an additional £2.5 million in order to incentivise him to be started regularly. St Etienne have refused to waive the clause as well as refusing to agree to a set training plan outlined by Arsenal, causing the Frenchman to return to Arsenal to prepare for next season. Seeing Arsenal be stubborn over their player and looking after their own interests is refreshing and this ruthless approach is something fans are hoping to see over the coming years throughout the club in order to challenge for the Champions League places once again. Regardless of the benefit to Arsenal, it is sad that Saliba is likely unable to play a cup final for the club that gave him his start in football, although I’m sure the club expects him to be in many finals over the coming years.

Arguably the most exciting news of the last 7 days for Arsenal fans was Bukayo Saka signing a new four year deal with the club. The 18 year old has had an impressive season, picking up 3 goals and 10 assists in 34 appearances, whilst proving his versatility in several positions. Saka’s future has been subject to much speculation over the past few months as his former deal was set to expire at the end of the 2020/21 season and should he have left on a free transfer there would have undoubtedly been chaos amongst Arsenal fans. With Saka set to stay for at least four more years, Arteta finally has a degree of stability with one of his most valuable players and a key piece to build his Arsenal team around.

Having re-signed one youngster, Arsenal have been unable to extend the contract of youth forward Folarin Balogun, who looks set to be sold according to David Ornstein. The youngster has recorded 10 goals and 4 assists from 15 starts in the Premier League 2 this season, a record which rivals first team striker Eddie Nketiah from recent years. Failure to agree a new contract with a youth player is a feeling Arsenal fans know all too well with the likes of Serge Gnabry and Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, to name just two, leaving the club and going on to establish themselves in Europe. With a smaller budget than those who Arsenal wish to compete with, there is a need to maximise the value the club are getting from promising youngsters, whether that be playing them or selling them. With Balogun looking set to leave, the hope is that Arsenal can bring in some money for the youngster as well as negotiating a sell on clause in order to avoid another Gnabry situation.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, there is great uncertainty over how the transfer market will play out in the upcoming windows. Chelsea have already flexed their muscles bringing in Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner in an attempt to cement a Champions League place next season, proving that the current financial situation has not affected them too much. However, for Arsenal and many other clubs, it is expected that there will be lower transfer fees and an increase in loans and free transfer signings. As reported by The Athletic on Tuesday, Arsenal are upping their interest for 27 year old Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey. Interest in the player has been evident for several years and with Mikel Arteta in desperate need of a midfield shake up in order to simultaneously add more goal threat and more defensive stability, now seems the perfect time to splash out on such a player. Partey has a €50 million release clause and is understood to want a move from Atletico Madrid, with Arsenal a destination of interest. The fee seems good value for a player who could greatly boost Arteta’s midfield and if Arsenal sell the likes of Guendouzi and Sokratis, they should be able to raise the funds to make the deal happen. At the very least, this gives Arsenal fans a reason to be optimistic for the summer transfer window.

Arsenal finally came home after 4 successive away games with a convincing 4-0 win over bottom of the league Norwich on Wednesday. Buoyed by a win over Sheffield United in the cup and Bukayo Saka’s re-signing, the Gunners were full of confidence and translated that on the pitch, particularly in the first half. The midfield duo of Xhaka and Ceballos controlled the game whilst Tierney and Nelson offered a constant threat from wide areas. The first goal came from Aubameyang closing down Norwich keeper Tim Krul, in similar fashion to Nketiah against Southampton, before tapping home into the empty net. This marked Aubameyang’s 50th Premier League goal for the club in just his 79th game, becoming the fastest to reach that mark in Arsenal history. Arsenal doubled their lead with Granit Xhaka finishing off a flowing move. It is a shame that there were no fans in the stadium to share their moment with the former captain since he has shown great defiance and proved so many wrong in the months following the catastrophe against Crystal Palace in November. Another Norwich mistake gifted Aubameyang his second of the afternoon following a shaky start to the second half, with the striker latching onto Josip Drmić’s wayward pass and slotting the ball into the net. With the result looking comfortable, Arteta brought on January signing Cédric Soares for his long awaited debut. Cédric marked his debut in sensational style as he latched onto a loose ball outside the box, following a corner, and lashed it in with his left foot. Aside from a shaky 15 minutes at the start of the second half, Arsenal controlled the game effectively for their 3rd win on the bounce, giving them much needed confidence going into a tricky run against Wolves, Leicester, Tottenham and Liverpool.

Despite a rocky start following the restart, Arsenal have picked things up off and on the field to bring optimism for the rest of the season and the upcoming transfer window. The club can finally relax about the Bukayo Saka situation and the mood in the camp is high following 3 wins in a row. Sheffield United’s 3-1 victory over Tottenham leaves Arsenal ahead of Tottenham in the table and in a good position to challenge for the European places during the tricky run in.

Adam Perry - 03/07/2020