Chaaay AFC

Official.

Interesting development here with William Saliba. St.Etienne are in the French Cup final and asked for his loan to be extended to play. An agreement has failed to been reached due to St.Etienne not willing to comply with a training programme and a financial dispute. Apparently we owe St.Etienne and extra €2.5m if he plays 17 games and Saliba has played 16. Arsenal were willing to let him play, but St.Etienne still wanted that agreement in place even though the original loan contract had ended. Arsenal refused and now Saliba unfortunately cannot play. A shame for him, but I don't know what they were expecting.

Finally some good news, Saka signing a new deal which is absolutely massive. Glad we got it over the line because the boy is so special. Also Ornstein mentions we're stepping up our pursuit of Thomas Party, rumours have been going around for a few moths now. No idea why he wants to come here but would be an incredible signing. People talk about our defence but our midfield needs major surgery, we need at least 2 or 3 new midfielders for me.

Florian Balogun looks to be leaving this summer after failing to agree a new deal. Club don't want to lose him for free, so will sell him this window as he is in the last year of his deal. Its a shame as he is meant to be one of the most talented youngsters at the club but he is competing for a position which has a lot of talent. Hopefully we can get some sell-on clauses/first refusal in to at least protect ourselves. Worrying as we still haven't sort out Saka's deal and Aubameyang is also into the last year. Some serious squad management needs to be done this summer.

A player Southampton had no interest in keeping, a player Inter Milan didn't want and got Ashley Young and Victor Moses instead. Absolutely ridiculous. To be fair it's no wonder Minsiltat and Sanllehi are fucking useless, it was that even bigger twat Gazidis who brought them in. At least Minsiltat is gone, Kroenke's have to step in surely this just isn't working. Although I have heard Arteta definitely has a say on who we sign, don't think these get done without his permission. This job was far to big for him I'm afraid, not all his fault at all. I hope I'm wrong but I'm already worried about him.

Arsenal are officially finished, what the fuck is this? Honestly absolute fucking shambles, why do we make things so hard for ourselves. Cedric getting a four year deal for what? Another player who will be immovable for 4 seasons, Mari has shown nothing to have spent significant money on. That fee could potentially rise to £16m ffs. I just hope the Luiz deal means we are binning off other CB's instead. No way we can sustain the amount we have got. Holding, Sokratis, Mustafi and Mavropanos will need their futures sorting. Hopefully the first 3 all go.

Honestly Barcelona have been absolutely horrendous in the market recently, they spend so much money and most of it is a complete waste. I'm interested to see how they fair once Messi, Pique and Busquets finally leave. I have a feeling they will have a slump once they go, especially Messi. Braithwaite will be out the door by the summer, can't believe they gave him a four and a half year deal as well.

Thought this was quite funny, MEN journo claimed Sander Berge was at Carrington for a a medical only for it to be this.

Very happy so far, it's still very early days though and once the honeymoon ends it'll really show how good he is. I was very impressed by him yesterday it was by far his best work of the season. The first half was so typical of us, we've seen them sort of performances for years. Players playing with no care and like they shouldn't be involved because it's an early round of the cup, but he gave them such a kick up the arse it was refreshing to watch. Previously players would have got away with it because most fans including me would just blame it on selection, but sometimes it's all about application and it showed in the second half. Another positive is the players seem to have a lot of respect for him, he looks like he won't take any shit which is good as he has a difficult group of leaders and personalities in the squad. I do think Emery who is getting a lot of unjust criticism right now tried to change the culture but wasn't really backed by the fans or the players which ultimately was his demise, but early signs show Arteta is dealing very well with it. As I've said we just have to wait and see how the season plays out, he has a bit of free pass this season so it'll only be until next season where he will be the one or not. As for transfers, I wouldn't expect anything other than a loan and even that seems unlikely. Only thing I can see us doing is getting another body in at CB as Chambers is out and Mustafi possibly leaving.

Well it certainly looks that way right now because we are fucking horrendous. Spurs also massively under performing, I'd certainly say their squad is every bit as good as Leicester or Chelsea's but not on current form. We will see when the new manager comes in how good this team is.

I still think it's good enough we have one of the best strikers in the league, a pretty decent midfield and two very good fullbacks. Not to mention we have a pretty good goalkeeper as well. Wouldn't say are defence is any worse than Chelsea's but they're competing still. Looks like he is gone, had to be done.

The squad is far more balanced this season and he has a lot more attacking options. Pepe has been nowhere near as some have made out in my opinion, no one is playing well in our team. I don't think you can expect anyone to flourish in this environment, especially when he is still so new. This squad is easily good enough to be competing for a top 4 place, no way should we be this far adrift.

Emery should be gone today, don't know what went so wrong this season. He actually did 10x better with a much inferior squad last season. Obviously the players have downtooled and at this stage there is no coming back for the manager. I do have to say some of these players are pissing me off, they think they're far better than they actually are. I'd have taken Mourinho when he was available just so he'd rinse some of them out.

Emery will be in charge for Frankfurt tomorrow, but all the rumours are that he will be gone shortly. Interesting to see who club have lined up if true. Nuno from Wolves has been going round and he is the bookies favourite. Ljungberg and Bould have been talked about as caretakers and also Arteta. Poch has also been mentioned but I just can't see that happening. I do think he has to be moved on now 100%, just hope the club get it right.

He is a brilliant coach, not sure he has enough of a name to manage us. Unfortunately just don't think the fans or players would be behind him. This club needs a big character, these players have been pathetic for 2 and half seasons now.

Well not really a fan of this 5 captains nonsense, good to see Bellerin involved in the leadership. No point in Lacazette and Ozil for me, they're not even guarenteed starters.

To be fair there is a distinct lack of captain material at Arsenal. It would've been Ramsey's for sure but he went to Juventus. There was talk of Aubameyang, I wouldn't of minded him as he plays every game and is our best player. Still think Bellerin would have been the right choice, one of the longest serving players, he gets the club and he will play every game.

The captains armband has been a joke for years at Arsenal. You could argue our last great captain was Vieira. Fabregas and Gilberto were good but didn't last long, Arteta and Mertesacker as well but they never played. I think Xhaka has been the worst choice out of them all though.

Koscielny. Xhaka along with Ozil, Ramsey and Cech were vice captains last season. No way was Ozil getting it and the other 3 are gone so Xhaka was always likely. I think his poor start to the season made Emery weary and that's why he asked the players. Not a big fan of this in truth, he may have 'leadership' qualities but lacks them massively when it comes to leading by example. The players wanted him so you can't argue, maybe its a way of getting rid of him though. Our captains lately either leave after a season or never play.

Well Emery asked for player opinion and if they feel Xhaka is the right choice then fair enough. Wasn't a whole lot of choice, but would like to see Aubameyang be vice at least. I do think Bellerin would have been my pick though.

Maybe so, but he comes across a massive hypocrite now the way he is acting with his own players. Blokes a gargantuan weapon.

The bloke is one of the biggest cunts going, went after Ozil after he was shunned and now he is acting like a child now his players aren't getting picked. Agree with what Sid Lowe had to say, see what happens then.

I agree but for him to say our way of recruitment is the right one is ridiculous. He can't just look at this summer, his whole body of work since being at the club has been shambolic. The bloke is a massive weapon.

No matter if you think a DOF is required or not, I cant believe Woodward can come out and say this. He should be removed as soon as possible, absolutely shocking.

Some really nice news going into the international break, Matteo Guendouzi has earned his first senior international call-up for France. I believe this is an injury replacement, but a fantastic achievement considering his age and competition. I wasn't as blown away by him when he first joined as some other fans, but he really grew on me as the season progressed and to start this season he has jumped up another few levels which is unbelievable. He has been a stupendous find and for only £7m it's exceptional business. Really think he has the makings to be one of the best around.