What I like when you look at the highlight reels is the amount of key passes Bruno plays against set defences. He's lazily labelled as a midfield destroyer but he has fantastic penetrative passing.
PB
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Imagine starting against a midfield of: Bruno, Rice, Eze then after 60 mins Myles, Zubimendi & Odegaard come on fresh 😰
Bruno. G in, Norgaard out - seal this week. Vini Jr - need clarity this week. If we sign him, will likely have to cheap out on defender signing + sell Martinelli + another decent sale (Ethan?)
Tzolis scores a lovely goal and he’s looked lovely in the opening 30 mins 🧙♂️
Talk of us going too old with Bruno etc but in Trossard and Norgaard to Tzolis and Bruno we’ve aged down 11 years in two players.
Worth noting Roc Nation are also the agency who represent Yan Diomande (set to sign for Madrid) and Gabriel Martinelli (likely to leave if Vini arrives)
Breaking from the reliable Sami Mokbel, BBC 🔹Arsenal have made a £70m offer for Bruno G 🔹Konsa is Arsenal's #1 defender target 🔹Alvarez still dream attacker, Barcola explored
John Stones would be the right move for us now imo. 2-3 years as a bridge to Marli Salmon. Issue is World Cup will have created demand so his wages would need to be reasonable. But makes much more sense than a £50m on Konsa, keep the £ to overpay on attack & Bruno.
Bukayo Saka with 3 goals and 3 assists in 354 World Cup minutes. Elite player.
Arsenal have a deep recent history of successful dealings with Real Sociedad. Jon Martin has again been linked with us today. He's only just turned 20 & rated as one of the best CBs in La Liga. Excellent on the ball (91.2% success, 55 ppg). Right-footed. £42m release clause.
Not sure going for Ezri Konsa and Morgan Rogers at the same time is wise - pushes price up for both. Arsenal clearly know Saliba is going to be out for significant time by going after Konsa who is 29 in October.
I think we will see Arsenal accelerate now. Think we sign Morgan Rogers, a midfielder (hopefully Bruno) a defender (and Tzolis) in the next three weeks.
My feel was that if we weren't upgrading at ST, we should go big on two LW (Barcola and Rogers). Now we've gone cheaper on one (Tzolis about £80m cheaper than them both), I think we can and should make a ST upgrade.
£34m is the new £20m. Christos Tzolis is a 24 y/o winger with huge output and transferable skills into a higher level. Brilliant mentality and put Arsenal above all other options. Can see him becoming a fan favourite. Also had the summer off, ready to go in pre-season next week!
So that we don't just buy someone for the sake of Saliba's injury - is the best option to buy an attacking RB (we need anyway) but keep White for another season. New RB allows us to use Timber and White at CB.
Arsenal fans were raised to be accountants because of The Emirates and Arsene Wenger era - but the reality is we are now operating at the very top of the game - trying to sign the very best - against a backdrop where £100m+ transfers are becoming regular - relegated players for £85m.
So it looks like it would be Tzolis in for Trossard. Makes sense from a style perspective as they are similar. But if Rogers then replaced Martinelli I'm not sure that's the right balance. Barcola / Tzolis feels the better balanced LW options.
Mikel Merino is quite something. Aging like a fine wine. Absolute clutch.
Newcastle are already having to rebuild having lost Isak, Gordon and Tonali in quick succession. There is no point keeping hold of an unhappy, soon to be 29 year old. Makes sense for them to cash in and fully rebuild, at this stage. Steur and Manzambi to come in.
Paraguay cards 0 - France cards 3 That game was officiated horrifically. Four pro officials. No excuse. Paraguay were worthy of 3 reds and about 10 yellows.
I can say it now but I wasn't moved by what I saw from Monga. At £10m felt worth the gamble given price if he does well, but I won't lose sleep over missing this. It's only 2 July. Berta has done a lot of background work and things will move quickly and in clusters when they do. No need to panic.
Not too bothered if we sign Meslier. He'd be free, we'd get £5m for Kepa and if Meslier is complete trash we just promote Setford to #2.
Nathaniel Brown didn't look as good as I thought he was going to be. Looked like he was always a step off the pace required for him to excel as an overlapping full back.
Germany look awful again and Musiala aside, their bench looks crap too. What happened to them.