And welcome to the Arsenal Way back with an episode of the View from the Clock End podcast. We've been away for a little while, it's fair to say. It's been some time since we've last done one of these episodes of the show, but back for the new season and we're hoping, and I know we've said this before, but we are genuinely hoping to bring you this, what is hopefully going to be a weekly podcast to you every single week. It's just been work and a lot of chaos and games and, of course, the summer where we've been very busy, but we are scheduling this in more regularly for you each week, so you're going to get an update, of course, from the games or the windows will open, of course, transfer news as well. And I, Tom Canton, will be joined every week. As always, by our Chief Arsenal Correspondents, Kya Kya Kya, do you make you good as well? I am good. Thank you. Yes, I, too, I'm making a commitment in front of all our listeners and viewers that we are going to be here at least once a week going forward, obviously that's the plan, you know, have holidays and all that stuff. It's been a busy summer, like you said, but we're back now and we're ready for the start of the season and ready to give you guys this podcast that we'll regularly. Yeah, and Arsenal, obviously, yesterday, evening returns to the Emirates Stadium, myself and Kya were both there covering the game for football.london to talk and discuss all of the, well, everything that happened during the game, and, of course, we're going to get on to transfers in a little bit as well, so if you're listening in for that, don't worry, we will get to that. But yesterday's game takes precedence because it was a very impressive four-one win. Was it, I know that, obviously, in the season and when it's competitive Kya, you want to return from draws and defeats quickly, but considering the last game against Liverpool, there was disappointment about the way in which we lost the game and fans, you know, how fans can be, obviously, they'd take a recency bias, comes into it, the mood have been a little bit low after that, so it was still important to get a really good result in this one. Yeah, it's always important to win Michel Atette in every pre-season friendly we've had that we've been covering, as basically said, winning breeds winning, that's kind of been his mantra throughout, and I think he always wants the win, he always wants, yeah, he sets out a team to win, and you can tell by the way he sets up his team to eat very rarely, sort of, will go for sentimentality, he's all about winning, he's obsessed, and I think he would have been disappointed that the team lost, sorry, he would have been disappointed that the team lost in Philadelphia to Liverpool, and it was a bad way to end the tour, well, not a bad way, a disappointed way, I guess to end the tour. But at the same time, they've done a decent job, and it's a good bounce back, I think, from Arsenal, they looked really good yesterday, there was obviously that frustration for America, but I don't know if they played badly in any of the games in America, I just think that Liverpool were a bit more clinical, I actually thought I could be the better team in Philadelphia, and they were definitely the better team yesterday, for sure. Yeah, they definitely were, they dominated the game for the majority of the match, it was only really when we made some substitutions in the second half that Leverkusen really managed to get back into it, and I remember sitting next to you and asking what the average age of the back four at one point was, and we worked it out to be 18.75, because this is Nicole's heaven, scalean, kivial. So, it was a really dominant display, kicked off of an early guy, was in Cenco, Leandro Trostle, getting on the end of a brilliant move that he started, of course, by, you know, it was like a little terrier getting into to win the ball back in the opposition defensive thirds, we saw Ky Havart still the fourth, and that was obviously sandwiched between a girl from Gabrielle, where he just kept on running, and no one really challenged him, and eventually just thought one out of a go at go, and he scored, and we want to go through some of the individual performances from the game, and I guess he scored the first goal, so as in Cenco is probably a good place to start, there's been a lot of talk about him this summer, because obviously only has two years left on his contract, and Arsenal tend to like to make decisions on players now, and it gets to that stage, but he's now obviously been given a new number that he's requested, which is a pretty big indication we expect him to stay for the forthcoming season. How do you see him in the squad this season with Callofyuri coming in, Timbrough, of course, coming back to fitness, we'll talk about him in a bit. Where do you see his place in the squad this year? Yeah, fitting tribute to Cedric Suarez yesterday with that performance in his own number, I think it's what Cedric would have wanted, and I think people was pictually Arsenal fans, I don't know so much about every other fan base, but I think Arsenal fans always like to find a bit of a scapegoat or someone to beat within the Arsenal team, it's been plenty of other players, and right now it seems to be Zinchenko, and he bought the brunt of a lot of criticism last year, I think some of that was a bit over the top, and I think it almost became a bit of confirmation bias where Arsenal fans were looking for him to make defensive mistakes, and yeah, there were plenty of them, and you know, they cost Arsenal at times, but people point to that Aston Villa game where he tired and struggled towards the end, but I think Zinchenko's biggest problem has always been fitness, I don't think it's ever been what he can do on the ball, and I actually think he's probably a bit of a defender that people give him credit for, if not great, but I think when you hold him to the standards of the rest of the Arsenal back ball, yeah, he's not on that level, but he's still a good defender, he's obviously very good on the ball, and I think there's really not a talk about obviously Califiori coming in, and he wasn't ready yesterday, and hopefully will be in the squad on Sunday, and the number of left backs Arsenal have got has been a big topic in conversation, and I think what gets lost within that is last season Zinchenko and Tommy Asu, you couldn't really rely on them to be fit, they were fit one week into the next, and that's just the way it's been during their time at Arsenal. Tim Robbercy was very unfortunate with his ACL, and will come on a bit more like he said to his injury, and Kiviori was not unorthodox left-back, so Arsenal's left-back options were really, really, let's say, inconsistent last season, and I think, to be honest, that's probably going to be relatively similar this season, I know Califiori's coming in, is going to be probably the main guy in that position, and then want to find consistency, but I think there will be certain games with the Califiori game, and certain game with Zinchenko game, and Mikka always wants this sort of Swiss Army knife-type squad where you can plug in different players to different situations and be ready, and Zinchenko is a big part of that, and I think everyone's saying, "Oh, Arsenal should sell, Arsenal should get rid, loose sight of what a weapon he is," when you use him in the right circumstances, and obviously you don't want to be relying on him, let's say, and filled up against Mo Sala, and he wasn't great in Philadelphia, he didn't put it into Mo Sala, because defending 1v1, as we said, while he's not terrible at it, it's not his strong point. What you do want is maybe at home to Wolves on the other thing, they're the season where Wolves are like to sit back and try and sort of block the space for Arsenal. I think that's game where he wants Zinchenko, and if Califiori is not ready, Zinchenko proved yesterday that when you give him space, like BBQ's did far too much. He's a really dangerous player, and I think, listen, I don't expect the goal to become a regular thing, but those kind of passes that he was playing in the build up to the goal, he plays a pass down the line to, "I want to say it's habits," that kind of ball is what you can expect from Zinchenko, that is what he offers on the ball that not many left backs and world football do, so I think he's a really talented player, and he's a real asset to Arsenal, and people have maybe forgotten that in their rush to be criticized. It bugs me when you see comments like Zinchenko can't defend, like these absolute takes about a player, because granted, as you pointed out, he's not as good a defender as Gabrielle, or as a good defender as Timba, in my view, and even Kivial to a degree too, but he can defend, and offers defensive quality, and there's been performances with Sinner Arsenal where he has shown good defensive astuteness, but it is the offset of those, you know, not necessarily the drawbacks, but just not the offset of the elements of his game that aren't as strong, which are then obviously outweighed by his attacking contributions that are so penetrative to other sides and can open up those deep blocks that we see, you know, the opposition try against this iteration of Arsenal so often that I agree with you, I think he's going to be an asset to us moving forwards. The, obviously, Leandra Trossard and Jay Zeus was selecting the forward line with Fabio Vieira, they obviously were the standouts in the front through Vieira is very quiet. Actually, again, another opportunity for him to showcase, you know, what he's about and didn't really stick in the minds of too many fans, but Jay Zeus and Trossard, I think, needed performances like we saw yesterday and delivered on what we saw, and we saw a lot of Trossard yesterday, I thought we'd seen the best of him at the end of last season, we saw that kind of, you know, templated on to yesterday's game, and Jay Zeus, again, a player that needed a goal got a goal, but both of them combined really well. Yeah, it was interesting that Michael Artetta was talking about how Jezis, Trossard and Kaiha, that's all had that sort of false nine profile that he really likes to center forwards, and I think they interlinked really, really well, like you say, and it caused labor using a lot of problems because one second Trossard's popping up in the middle and Jezis is on the left and Habits in midfield, and then next thing Trossard's in midfield, and Jezis is up front and Habits is on the left, like we saw for the goal, and that's really difficult to track, that kind of movement is very, very difficult, and as we said earlier, Arsenal's left side was inconsistent last season, but when it did look at his best, and when that sort of forward line did look at his best, was when I think Habits and Trossard were sort of dovetailing in that sort of center forward, number 10 kind of false nine-ish kind of weird hybrid, whatever tactical term you want to give it, and that's when Arsenal were scoring six at West Ham, this got five at Burnie, I think this got a five at Burnie, all those massive away games, that's what the front line was, Jezis was injured, but if you throw Jezis into that with Habits in midfield, there's even more chaos, there's even more pressing, there's even more interchangeability, and also looks so dangerous up front, and I think that was a huge, huge part of it, and yeah, Michel Artetta would like a player who's going to score 25-30 goals this season, what manager wouldn't, but I think Jezis and Trossard have the ability to get those 15-20 goals, and this and Trossard I think is the best finish in this Arsenal squad, and we saw that again yesterday with his goal, it was composed and calm in the box, and Jezis can get goals, I think he would have been disappointed with his goal return last season, he can do much better than that, and I think he will this season, so those two combining up front, it's a really exciting sign of what's to come, and obviously Gabriel Martinelli is a different option, and this goes back a little bit to what we were saying at left-back, where it's different options for different games, and some games will be a Leandro Trossard game, some game will be a Gabriel Martinelli game, some game will be a Ki Habits at 9, some game will be a Garbage Azusa at 9, some game will be a Garbage Azusa on the right-wing even, there's so many different options, and people forget that when they talk about starting 11s, and they forget that it's a squad game, it's such a squad game, and across the course of the season, a big thing that Arsenal have sort of garnered from their analysis, and they're looking back over last season is keeping players fresh, and having the ability to share around the minutes and play players in different positions is something that's really really key, and Jezis take fit, it's going to be a big part of that, and Nicola Teta, while praising him on the one hand, was keen to sort of throw down the gauntlet and say look, you've been good, but now you've got to stay fit, and that's what he couldn't do last season, if he can do that this season, again a bit like Zinchenko, people criticise, but they forget what an asset he is to the squad, and he can be a real real valuable sort of member of the team, and you know there's so many things he can offer, Trussard as well, and I think that's really exciting looking front line, for all the talk of Arsenal, any of these striker, they look pretty dangerous yesterday. Yeah they did, I do think that Jezis is probably one of the most underrated players in the squad at the moment, because there's so much transfer about fans wanting a striker, and we'll talk about that in a bit, but I just want to see, because we'll come on to have us in a second, because his role in midfield is really interesting, and that again might have some transfer implications or some, you know, some indications of what Arsenal's plans are maybe in the window, but Jezis, as said to have come back, had completely kind of revived character, Arte has spoken about seeing him very different to what he's seen him before, and that that bodes well for Arsenal, you know, and I think that Jezis has always been throughout his career a player that's faced plenty of competition, when he was, you know, working under a Guerrero at Manchester City, and he came through there, he's gone through to become more of a starting figure there, and then Alvarez has arrived, and of course he's left with Erling Harlins as arrived in the summer as well, but he's always managed to maintain, you know, a regular appearance for club and, you know, less so more recently for country, but I think that it should he start more often for Arsenal that Brazilian place will return relatively swiftly to him, I think as well. I mentioned Habert, two games in the row now he's played in midfield and looked very good, I thought he was very good against Liverpool in midfield in both ends of the field, and then yesterday two assists of course playing there, he did then switch to play up top where he then scored a fortuitous goal assisted by, I don't know if I should have forgot what team he was playing for, but suddenly set up by his former, I say former teammate, actually avoided playing with one another, didn't I, because Jack left during that? But yes, so it was interesting to see him perform in that role so effectively considering the beginning of last season, there are a lot of questions about him playing in that position. Yeah, I think it's interesting seeing Habert and Jejuis linked together, because I think that was the original plan last season when Haberts came in, all the talk and all the indications from sauce at the club were, we knew Kyle Haberts is a midfielder, and then Michel Artettois essentially admitted that he wasn't expecting it, but Haberts basically revealed himself to be the perfect centre forward for the team, and it worked out well, and Jejuis like we said was struggling with injury and a lack of form and maybe a lack of confidence as well. But now that Jejuis is fit and looking confident and firing, I don't see a reason why the two can't play together, and they have done it together relatively successfully in the past, I don't know if you remember, but there was a little tiny period in December, at the start of December, last season where Arsenal played Long's and Luton, and they beat Long's six-0, and they beat Luton 4-3, and in both games, Gabrij Jejuis and Kai Haberts linked up really well for goals, Jejuis was winning flick-ons, and Haberts was running in behind, and I run for giving their statue, you might not think that's the way it is, but Jejuis is a really good target man, and Haberts can do it too, because he's such a good player, but he's good at running in behind as well, he's good at making those third-band runs, which is what Arsenal sort of signed in for those Aaron Ramsey type runs, that was the plan, I think, all along, and I'm not saying it's definitely what they're going back to forever, and again, I think this has sort of came back to the different options kind of theme with this podcast, but I think Gabrij Jejuis and Kai Haberts can link really well, I think that's really exciting, I think they complement each other nicely, like I said, Jejuis is dropping in, Haberts filling that centre-forward space, I think they've got assets and skills that dovetail really nicely with each other, and I think that's what Michaela Teta envisioned when he spent, famously, 60 million on Kai Haberts, and I think we're starting to see it now, and obviously, lay-back using, you have to caveat it all with they're a week behind in their pre-season, their season starts a bit later, and all that kind of stuff, but I think they look, those two are sort of a front partnership, because they were kind of a partnership, it was almost a four or two at times, because Haberts was really high, almost beyond Jejuis at times, it was almost like that, and I think they look really, really strong, it's kind of a big man little man, although Jejuis is doing the big man stuff, and Haberts is doing the little man stuff, and it still works, and I think yeah, they'll be games again, I feel like I'm repeating myself, but they'll be games where it's Kai Haberts up front, and that makes sense, and then we games where it's Gabrij Jejuis, with Kai Haberts and midfield, and that makes sense, so I think just be prepared for the fact that we're not going to see one starting eleven each and every time, and I think maybe Arsenal fans think that their best periods have come, and there's been that consistency in the team, and there's a truth to that, but I don't know how sustainable that is across an entire season, and I think we'll start to see that a bit more next season, or this season even, where we get a bit more, yeah, just changing and tweaking and sort of tinkering from Michel Artato, and I personally am here for it, yeah, I think it was good. Yeah, absolutely, you want options, you want variation, you want to keep your opponents guessing, and that's really important, so I think that's what we can expect from this Arsenal team under Artato. Before we move to transfers, obviously, there's a couple of things to discuss, and we'll talk about the injuries in a second, but just the last thing on the actual game, the performances, some of the youngsters in there, we saw Rice and Saka come on in the second half as well, which was good to see, so Labour started the game, so they're getting their way back to full fitness, I imagine they'll probably play as well on Sunday, and then you probably expect all through them to start against Wolves on the first game in the season in just over a week's time, but Lewis Skelly, Notary, Heaven, Nichols, all came off the bench in yesterday's game, I was really impressed with Lewis Skelly, I think he probably stood out of all the youngsters that came on, and it was interesting that he was actually given kind of the first, because he was the only kid that came on at half-time as well, and Notary out to weight, the others out to weight, and he performed really well in that left-back role, you know, took on that Zinchenko role of inverting and driving into midfield, and just curious as to your thoughts on all the kids' performances yesterday. I definitely concur when it comes to Lewis Skelly, that left-back role is really complicated, and I know he sort of plays there for the 21s, I keep calling him 23s, but they're 21s, and they happen 23s, and I still wasn't 23s. I know, I know, I know, I know, I think it's events spending too much time in the concert, it was kind of scary thought that he's influencing my speech, but yeah, he plays there, obviously for the youth teams, and he plays there really well. He didn't play there all the time, sometimes he plays in midfield, sometimes he plays as an eight, as a box-to-box eight, and sometimes he plays that in the left-back role, and I think the comparison there maybe to make is with Prokiah Sack when he broke into the team, and obviously he was as a left-back, but it was a very different type of left-back, but it was that being ready to seize your opportunity wherever it comes, and impress, and he's got such a skill set in terms of being able to hold onto the ball, and having that composure, which I think a lot of young players, when they're dribbling to midfield, they would not have the confidence to go from left-back to the right sort of centre-half space if you like, do appear aware, and then risk losing the ball. Marzoe Skelly has that at 17 in front of a Pac-10 Ritz crowd, that is very rare. He's composed, he's actually a better defender than I was expecting, I noticed this in the ball game, he was good 1b1, there are things he needs to work on on that front, but he's not naturally a defender and you'd expect that, but he looks really promising in those positions, and I think that composure and that ability on the ball is really, really key, and I think he can fulfil that role, and listen, it's not going to be easy for him, because as we spoke about, there's a lot of left-backs, there's Tim Loeffler, there's Jenga, there's Kivio, probably all ahead of me in the Becky order, and that makes things difficult, but I think he's proven that if needed, he can maintain that level, and that's the thing our tech is always talking about when it comes to youngsters, is he can beat the level up, because he has to judge, he can't be judging what's the best thing for us on next season, he has to think what's the best thing to win the league for me now, and if it's not going to be Marlowe Scali or Ethan Moneery or whatever youngster, he's not going to play them, and he's proved that with Amaro Kuzudevre, Rule Waters, and plenty of others in the past, but I think with this lot, this intake of youngsters, he really believes that they have that level, and I think he basically said if they keep it up, then they'll get minutes, and Tim will be from Moneery, who I think, and we spoke about this, I think yesterday, is, who sat next to each other, talked about this at the game, and probably ahead of Fabio Vieira in that midfield spot, if you ask, we'll cover-- - Don't invest minutes, you'd invest them in Moneery now. - I think so, I think that's the levels we're starting to get to, particularly if Arsenal don't bring you in a forward, which we'll talk about that a bit more, and transfer stuff, and Fabio Vieira isn't playing a bit more out wide, but I just think Ethan Moneery looks so comfortable on the right end of the day, wherever you put him, and he's linking really well with the fallbacks in those units, as Artetalites, to call them, he looks really good, and that ball that he played out to Saka in the build-up sky habits, his goal, it's not a world-class ball, but it's a really composed and simple and clean ball, to kind of see Arsenal early guard play all the time to Saka, and if Moneery can come in and replicate, "What are you guys doing?" and listen, he's not going to come in and play every game, he's not taking my Arsenal early guard spot, there's no question of that, but he can have a role this season, and I think that's a really important thing, he's going to be in around the first team, and yeah, hopefully he can get minutes. Of the two, I'd say he's probably right now looking like, just in terms of pecking order and lack of competition, probably a bit more likely to get minutes, but yeah, there's two really, really good players, and like you say, Charles, Josh Nichols, I mean, they've also been really good this pre-season, but I think Moneery looks ready to make a big impact on the first team, and hopefully they can have a season. Yeah, I've already hoped to see him on the bench, you know, there's an expanded bench, we've had it for a while nine subject now, and I just think that those two, it makes sense for them to be part of the squad. It'd be interesting if the likes of Nelson or Vieira are not in the squad in the place of non-area times, even in the Premier League games, but they certainly should be starting, you know, League Cup games. I'd argue even if we get drawn against Premier League opposition, they should still probably be starting those League Cup games in the early rounds, and given that more obvious pathway, because, you know, since we last spoken to the podcast, Arsenal have lost Chida Obimartin. There's obviously a lot of nuances surrounding that deal, but there was citations of pathways, et cetera, and you want to make sure that players can see that there is a pathway, and I'm not saying that wasn't the case for Obimartin, where I think there was some certainly monetary side to that as well that was involved, but obviously you've got another youngster coming through, a lot of people are very excited about in terms of Max Dalman in the under-18, and you want to showcase that there's these pathways for players, and I think by putting an area into the scenarios, you do that, as well as Nichols and Heaven, of course. Nichols, I think somebody that really, before this summer, no one really had heard of, but he's very well thought by the club, and Heaven is the last of those 17-year-olds, to my understanding, who's still yet to sign a professional contract, so you want to showcase kind of, again, that there is a future for you. But the last point of yesterday's game before we touch on transfers and wrap things up is, of course, the absences of Califuri and Timbar. It's probably quicker to do Califuri first, just not ready, yet, in short. Yeah, that's what Michael has seen saying in his post-match presser. That seemed a little bit odd. I know he's had a lot going on in the past week in terms of arriving in LA. It's like, why did you fly all the way out to America, if there was going to be an issue? Why not just delay the transfer for a couple of days, but like, yeah, you want to link him up on the squad and introduce him to his teammates or stuff. Fine, no problem. But then if he's not ready when he comes back because of all that, I don't know, something doesn't seem a little bit odd, particularly given that the lack of defensive depth has something to have yesterday. I know we spoke about all three of those kids who did really well, but I think it's, yeah, something a little bit odd there, but hopefully we'll see him on Sunday, and then I'll look like a fool for saying it was odd. I did see him yesterday through the mix zone for the first time, and he's incredibly tall. But he's the first thing you notice is how tall he is. I suppose he is. Yeah, but he was caught. It was a moment where some of the journalists I think had come over from Germany to cover Leverkuzen wanted a word with him, and then they were like, he's not played. Just hold fire a bit on Califura in terms of interviews. We'll have to wait to hear from him, but I know obviously we did some words of him over while he was in America. So you can obviously read that listeners over on the book on the website. Timbar, a little bit more complicated. Yeah, he's got a small foot problem. It's a low-berry injury, and yeah, it's the kind of problem that you tend to get as you're recovering from an ACL, and I think that's something that I sometimes might have to prepare themselves for. It's not necessarily going to be a smooth trajectory shot to the top for you in timber. I think he's also, he's come back, and I think last season in the build-up to, obviously, he was preparing to be fit for that final stretch after the march. That's the breaking. There was a minor setback then as well. So this would be a small setback. Again, nothing huge, and I think they're viewing it sort of wear and tear that comes with it. They're hoping that it's nothing too serious, but I don't think he's going to be involved on Sunday, and then there's obviously walls is a week after. So I think they'll reassess it and look at it again then, but yeah, it's frustrating for him because he has looked good. He did look good in those two games he played in America, but it's a shame because I think it's a minor injury in our sort of being uber cautious as you'd expect, but hopefully they can have them ready soon, because we all know how good he is. Yeah, we do. Yeah, someone mentioned to me yesterday that the words were expecting back and trading soon, so that's positive and vague. But that's the way it goes. Any more updates, of course, we'll bring you to them on the Football Dolan website. So transfers. We're sitting here with three weeks left. It's an early end to the window. The 30th of August is this year when it deadline day. So it's a slightly stranger time for it to close. It also means that Arsenal actually play a game the day after deadline day, which is another really strange thing to happen. We play Brighton on the 31st and it closes on the 30th. So that's also weird. What's also weird is how quiet it has been, you know, really for Arsenal because we got David Raya done at the beginning of the window into July with obviously all the noise surrounding PSR and with the Copper America and the Euros as well, that delayed obviously a lot of transfers. But us, Liverpool and City have been very quiet. Now Liverpool have started to make a few noises. Let's kind of address the elephant in the room somewhat as we record today because Arsenal fans are in a state of classic meltdown as Liverpool push ahead with talks to sign Martin Zabamendi, who of course, as we know, was linked very heavily to Arsenal in the past. It was a player that the club were keen on, but always sounded out that he was very happy at Real Sosidade. He wasn't thinking of leaving Real Sosidade. So how do you react to this link? I think Martin Zabamendi has very smart advisors and they've probably assessed the situation and thought, so not that it is necessarily on this summer, but let's say he does come to Arsenal this summer. He'll have to share minutes with Declan Rice with Georgina and Matoa's party. Might have been happy to do that. Might have, you know, nailed down the first he's what I had and you never know. Goes to Liverpool and who's his competition really because Endo seems like he may leave. Tiago has left. Curtis Jones can play that a deeper role, but he's mainly what you would assume would play ahead of him. So I think that's really what's going on. He's, I think he wanted to work with Jabi Alonso. He shares an agent with Jabi Alonso and obviously there's the Sosidade connection. Worked him when Jabi Alonso was coaching there and is basically a big fan. But he obviously wasn't going to go to the lay because he's in the summer because I think he's been bored him and I don't think he probably views labor using as a so step up from Sosidade. So his options became a little bit more limited after that and Barcelona had a look. Again, I don't really know in terms of finances if they can get that over the line. I think, you know, he might have been open to taking over from Sergio Busquets, but it seems, I think that Liverpool is probably a smart move for him and it's a shame for Arsenal because I think maybe if they've been able to get Thomas Potter to have the books a little bit earlier, there might have been a space in the squad that they could have sold Sosidade members, you know, coming in and D.R. Guy and they maybe there would have been a different decision with your junior, I don't know. But right now, yeah, it does seem as though he's heading to Liverpool. Not done and dusted. He has plenty of negotiations to be going on, but I think he'd be a really good player for Arsenal and I know he'll be a really good player for Liverpool and you look at that Euro's final where he came on for Roger at half time and Roger is arguably the best player in the world right now and the level didn't drop. That tells you how good a player Martin Ziv Mende is. He's absolute quality and he'd be a really good fit in the Arsenal team. I think him behind Rice with early guard would be a fantastic midfield. It just seems that the timing wasn't right, which is a real shame for Arsenal because, yeah, it would have been superb. Yeah, just two points of me on this. I mean, just firstly, on the Liverpool thing, the midfield there was always the priority for them in terms of this window. They had to find that deeper player. And now you're suddenly looking at midfield that Ziv Mende McAllister and Zoboslai looks really appealing. I know Zoboslai's had a few transitional footfalls, if you like, but McAllis has been probably one of their best players since moving and I think that balance works really, really nice. It's actually a very Arsenal-esque. Simon Fielder, you've got the clear six. You've got McAllister playing the more box to box eight and then you've got Zoboslai, the more attacking minded midfielder. So, yeah, it's interesting. The other point I would have made is that I think that winning the Euros and winning a major trophy, even though his mindset before the Euro is all the noise, all the quotes, even when he was with Spain, it was all my focus is on Real Soshdads. I'm not thinking about the rumours. Winning changes players and I think the mentality of winning that trophy, seeing what that feeling was like. The reality is that Real Soshdads, he's not going to win many, if any. I know they won the Coppodoro back in 2020. He goes, "That was his breakout season for them then." But winning the Euros and then Liverpool come along and you're thinking, "That's a team that I can win trophies with and I like this feeling." And so, I think that may have also played a part in this slight switch. I know a lot of Arsenal fans were like, "Hold on." He was saying he wanted to stay and now he's going. I'm like, "Well, yeah, but he did win the Euros between those two periods of time and I think that can change the viewpoint for player." So footballers say things. I think he does seem to be a Real Real Soshdadad fan and seems to really care about the club. 100%. And I don't think he was ever going to come out and say, "Yeah, I want to go." So, and he can come back and say it has he. So, I think it was always what you'd expect him to say. It's a very professional and standard media-trained answer. So, I wouldn't get him hooked up on that. We're going to stick in San Sebastian, which is something I'd love to be able to do, as we're here in southern England right now. But one player who might be swapping San Sebastian for North London perhaps this summer is Michael Modino. Again, another Spanish international player. He's been linked to very heavily with Arsenal. We have both written stories this past weekend on his situation, not particularly to the enjoyment of a lot of people, but give me your thoughts on this. Yeah, people really don't like these stories. So, yeah, I guess we should provide an update on the situation. So, Michael Modino is a player Arsenal. I'm interested in. He's a player that is basically among a number of targets that they're looking at in midfield. Michael Oteta really likes him and is pushing really hard to get him through the door. There are maybe some dancing voices in the Arsenal hierarchies we reported on the other day. Questions over his age in terms of Arsenal generally when they've bought players, it's they've been project signings, they've been looking to the future and that midfield position with Part A and Georgina is already on the the older side. So, if they're bringing midfielders, they generally would like them to be a little bit younger. So, that's something to consider. He would want big wages because he's only on the final year of his contract and yeah, all that stuff is there to consider. There is the interest and listen, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it does end up happening. I think that's really important to clarify because people have missed taking our words to say it's not happening and that's what they've got angry about. It's just not quite as simple as people are suggesting and the verbal offer or bid or any form of proposal as we're recording this at half past 12 on the 8th of August hasn't gone in. That's our understanding and yeah, so we wait and I think if the clubs are able to form an agreement, then it shouldn't be too complicated to be able to do but it's about when Arsenal can find internal agreement and then find agreement with with Ralph Sossey that and yeah, that's what's going on and I think like I say again, I'll say it again, I wouldn't be surprised at the end of that I think but it's not as close as far as I'm aware right now but listen, it could, you know, by the end of the day, there could be an agreement reached and I look like a fool but right now. That's the reality of the window though, things change so fast. There's always feel like there's this sense of like, you know, people desperately wanting to be like, hey, look, you were wrong, you know, about this and and that's not the case is that as, you know, as we both reported on the weekend, you know, that was the information we got from people that we trust and that has not yet changed but it could be that, you know, within hours an official offer does get made and as we both agree, like of all the midfielders we are linked to, he looks the most likely. Two more questions before we wrap up, the first one still links to this obviously he's a midfielder they like amongst others, any idea who others because I know that that's what fans will be thinking when we say that. So any idea on who the others are? It's not the best in midfield markets. I also have looked at a lot of targets and they don't want to overspend and they don't want to do a silly deal. So they made contact with Amadou and Anna, Everton and, you know, Aston in a bit, I think too much money for another but they've got him and so that didn't happen. Douglas Louise, another player who we know they're interested in for a very long time, Juventus got him again, I think, a bit too much money and also there's a swap deal involved there with Samuel Lilling Jr going the other way and various other things involved. There was another player as well who went the other way, I can't remember who it was. And yeah, then Bruno Jimerice was looked at way back a couple of months ago, started the window, basically the few Newcastle quoted was something else we're waiting to pay so they bought away back there almost instantly. And John Adams of Ben Benfica was a player they liked as a potential future option in the left eight because, you know, that's the kind of project signings they're looking at. But he's now gone to PSG, or I think I don't know if it's confirmed, he's either definitely on his way or has gone. So you look at those lists of players, there's a lot of players they haven't been able to get and I think they do need a midfielder in terms of numbers because like we've said, we think we're nearing a really good options. But I think you need someone who can come in and maintain that level beyond I think that can rise if he's going to play that left eight role. And I think the Camarino would fit that bill really well. Others, yeah, it's tricky because you know, Arsenal want the type of club, they prove they're not the type of club who will sign a player just to have a body in the door. They've done that several times now. But at the same time, Marino is some of their keeping tabs on but we've seen this in the past when Madrid was the big name that January and Arsenal pivoted instantly to Trossard. And then Caesario was the big name which pivoted instantly to Georgina. I'm confident they'll have someone in the background. I haven't got a name for you unfortunately right now. But I think, you know, also are very good at keeping tabs on their contacts and on their interest in players. So I think, you know, it needs to be, they'll be ready, they'll have someone in the pipeline. So yeah, we'll see. I think the majority of fans would perhaps argue that they would rather somebody was in the pipeline in another area which is obviously in the forward line. I want to include why players and center forwards in this together because I don't expect there to be a case of both arriving. But I still think there's scope for one more on top of a midfielder potentially to arrive this window. So what's the latest in that area? Yeah, the club want to add a forward to the squad. I think basically, since the Bayern Munich game, there's been the exception that they maybe need a bit more of a clinical presence. I think probably before that as well, but that's kind of when it was confirmed to me. And I don't think that's going to be a number nine because, as we spoke about, habits, Trossard, Jay-Z's all pretty good options. I think it's more like to be a forward who can play across the front line, possibly on the left, possibly on the right, possibly at the front. And yeah, Nico Williams is the player who continues to be linked. He's the guy who I think Arsenal fans really want. I think anyone who watched the Euros would really want it, but I think Barcelona are in for him. And I see a lot of people, I'm using this as a sort of a way to clear off sort of vengeance and social media. I've seen a lot of people criticizing me for saying it would be an expensive deal. I know he has a release clause, but like she seems in many, those release clauses have to be paid up front. You can't play in the instalments. And that won't be an expensive deal. Nico Williams and the wages are also huge. They would be huge because the way Bilbao keep their players being the best country sort of exclusive club that they are is by our friend, Big Wages, and Arsenal would need to be able to match that. So you're spending a lot of money straight away to get a player in who is very good, but let's be, you know, let's pause for a second and remember that while he's been fantastic, Bilbao was fantastic at the Euros, he's not played simultaneously football before. He's not played at that top level before and Arsenal have gambled on youth in the past and they've got no issue with it. But I think that's just something to remember in the deal there. I think possibly a more likely option right now is Pedro Nato. He's a player who they've kept tabs on. Again, they're concerned about his injury record, though. And I think after his most recent hamstring injury with Wolves, there was a bit more of a concern about, you know, is this guy going to be injury-prey for the rest of his career? He's had really unfortunate injuries, but when he is fit, he's a real player and can play left, right, nine. So yeah, he's someone I keep an eye on for the rest of the window. But yeah, I think Arsenal wants to add a forward. It depends a little bit on, you know, who leaves as well, Eddie and Rhys have been linked with the moves away. If they go, then I would gamble on the fact that they will sign a forward. It's just a question of yeah, Governor's falling and all that stuff. Yeah, I really hope that, you know, a forward is acquired. I think it is a position that Arsenal need to look into and finds that extra bit of firepower, because despite having a record goalscore in season last year, there were games, I think West Am, both full of matches, the Aston Villa games, you know, where you just felt like you needed a bit more and another option. And we lacked that. And I think, you know, you can argue that Lunari coming into the side is another attacking option for us this season. That's exciting. I think that Gabrielle J. Zeus is our title is alluded to, looks a different player is coming in with a reinvigorated attitude. I think Havers is now fully integrated. He's starting a season in a really good place rather than last season where it was a lot of questions about him and his form. And he hadn't yet kind of got his feet under the table. So, I'm not an early, I think, as a decent showing in preseason, the little we've had to sin of him and he had a difficult season last year. And I think he maybe is coming back again, revitalised. So, there's lots to be excited about, lots to be positive about and I'm really looking forward, of course, to the start of the league season. We have got one more game against Leon. Of course, myself and Kaya should be there on Sunday to bring you all the updates. I know a lot of you followed our live blog yesterday from the Emirates Cup official on Sunday. I had to tell Kaya yesterday, the Emirates Cup's on Sunday. It's very strange having a friendly at the Emirates, not being the Emirates Cup to be first. So, yes, it will be the Emirates Cup on Sunday and then, of course, we'll have a week. I'd be willing to wage you that I'd be surprised if there maybe wasn't a behind closed doors friendly in the week between that Leon game and Wolves, because that's a very Arte thing to do. And a week is a long time in Arte a world. So, I'll be interested to see if there's any plans for that. I guess we'll have to wait and see. But there won't be obviously another official audience bearing friendly between then and the game against Wolves. Kaya, thank you so much for your time. Any final thoughts before we wrap up? My pleasure. No, just keep following us on the social media platforms. I kind of know it like seven on Twitter, I kind of know it's on Facebook and the website is where all our articles and good stuff are. So, yeah, keep following us there. Thanks for listening to the podcast, guys, and we'll see you next week, for sure. Absolutely. Yes, this is also available, not just on the Arsenal Way. YouTube channel, it's available as just an audio-only podcast. If you don't have to look at my ugly mug, you don't have to do that. You can, of course, just listen to us over there. All of the articles, as Kaya says, on the football.london website, we've got all the build-up to the game against Lee on this weekend, all the build-up to the Premier League, of course, going through next week. Daily Arsenal transfer blogs, where you can stay up to date, hour by hour, on what's going on as well. And any links, of course, to players that emerge, you'll be sure to get our expertise on that too. So, yeah, drop a like, subscribe, leave a rating, a five-star one, if you'd be able to kind on all of the audio platforms. And we'll see you again very, very soon. And as always, keep following us down the Arsenal Way. [Music]
