Transfer Deadline Day, Champions League draw reaction, and get set for a brilliant charity event featuring Arsenal creatives
Get behind a superb charity event; Transfer Deadline Day shenanigans, Champions League draw reaction and much more
Hello,
Happy Friday!
I’ve worked on the sports desk of a national newspaper on transfer deadline night, and it is electric.
The buzz of an unexpected new arrival. A late departure. The culmination of a summer-long dance between suitors, the bread and butter of loan deals. The growth of loan deals to satisfy FFP and PSR. The drama of it all. It’s a soap opera, thriller, and occasional horror movie all rolled into one.
The fact is everyone loves a new toy, even if, some of us aren’t that enamoured about the circus of nonsense that rolls around the transfer window.
So, whether you like it or not, strap in for the ride until 11pm tonight.
Or you can simply turn your phone off and avoid the telly.
………
Gooners vs the big C
There’s a really important event taking place at the newly revamped Drayton Arms this evening, in a bid to raise money to fight this awful foe.
As someone who has had experience of loved ones suffering (as, sadly, so many of us have), I don ‘t even like writing the word.
So, if you’re in North London this evening, why not pop along to the Drayton, have a few beers, buy a few raffle tickets, meet some of the brilliant Arsenal creatives including the amazing Ruth Beck Art, and help boost a brilliant cause, that affects so many of us, in so many different ways. More here.
The Gooner’s production genius Serge will be representing us tonight, as I’m covering the Arsenal U21s at Meadow Park after heading to Arteta’s pre-Brighton presser at Colney this lunchtime.
Good luck, and well done to all concerned.
…….
Raheem Sterling
Regular readers will know I posted on here last week that it wasn’t beyond the bounds of possibility that Raheem Sterling could be a transfer target for Arsenal.
This came after being present at Mikel Arteta’s press conference last Friday, when the Gunners boss spoke effusively about the Chelsea wideman.
In fact, as a regular at Arteta’s pre and post match press conferences over the years (humble brag: I was also present at his first ever as Arsenal boss), I’d never seen him speak about another club’s player. Let alone so gushingly.
Another reason to buckle up ahead of tonight’s deadline…
Champions League draw
I wasn’t sure if I really liked the new, computerised Champions League draw, or required a lie down after such a sensory overload.
The upshot after what seemed like an age, underlined by the fact that when football legend Gigi Buffon was asked, halfway through, what he thought of it all, he gave the honest answer: “Er, I don’t know…” You and me both pal.
Anyway, the upshot of it all, was that we now know the eight teams Arsenal will face in the richest club competition in the world between now and the end of January.
However, frustratingly, we won’t know the dates of the fixtures until Saturday. When many Gooners will be en route to the Emirates for the 1230pm kick off against Brighton (see my From the Archive below), thereby making it more difficult to pick up cheap flights and hotels. As ever, nice one UEFA.
Anyway, well done to the Gooner’s Freddie Cardy for manning our live blog during a very convoluted hour and a half. You can read it here
…..
Girona and Atalanta ticket allocations
One of the exciting things about the new Champions League format is that it has given us the chance to visit two new cities (for me at any rate).
I’m really excited about covering Arsenal at places like Girona and Atalanta, not to mention heading back to the San Siro for my sixth match at that imposing stadium.
And Lisbon is one of my favourite cities, so that’s all good too.
But if you’re heading to Girona’s Estadio Montilivi, and Atalanta’s Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, or to give it its sponsors name, Gewiss Stadium, or even, what UEFA call it, Stadio di Bergamo, then beware, as the allocations for away fans will be very low. Certainly compared to the many thousands we’ll be allocated in Milan.
But then again, after traveling all around Europe with The Arsenal since 1993, the sheer nous of Gooners in getting into games never fails to impress…
…….
Victor Osimhen: £600k a week - where did it all go wrong…
I see Victor Osimhen has opted for lucrative early retirement in Saudi then.
Money talks and £600k per week is utterly mind boggling. And if football is simply about earning cold hard cash then good luck to him.
But surely it’s also about the glory of the game, and testing yourself at the top level against the best players.
Yes of course football is a short career, and you want to maximise your earnings, but is £300k a week not enough to secure your family’s future for many generations? Or am I missing something?
You can only sleep under one roof and drive one car at a time. How much do you actually need to secure yours and your family’s future forever? But then maybe some of us are built differently.
When the time comes to assess the 26-year-old’s career, what will it say post-Napoli?
Not much, I’d venture. With the unstated assumption that greed played a factor in his disappearance at the top level of football.
Although, my bet is that he’ll be back in Europe in a season or two, with a bulging bank balance and a sense of his footballing ambitions being completely unfulfilled…
DAILY LIST:
I - Head to Mikel Arteta’s Friday presser at London Colney
II - Head from Colney to Meadow Park to cover the Arsenal U21s PL2 match against Aston Villa which kicks off at 7pm
III - Work out the logisitics of how to take boxes of the new season Gooner Fanzine (out tomorrow!) from my house to Highbury for Saturday morning…