Wonder if Mr Hoy went to the T20 Surrey vs Middlesex game at the Oval yesterday evening? I did and Middlesex won quite comfortably. We played very well.

Newcastle have just signed a new No.9 for £40m. I think we all know a debut goal is coming on the first day of the season....

After a week where an Irishman lifted both the cricket world cup and the Open trophies, great to see Ireland are on course for another spectacular result at Lords today.

Arsenal have broken me I think. I'm pretty relaxed about everything as I don't think I care much anymore. I saw a Tottenham supporting friend of mine last week who was trying to goad me about the club and I just didn't care enough to engage. I honestly feel so removed from any emotion at this point. I'm more interested in seeing how the youngsters perform this season than carthouses like Mustafi and Kolasinac. Wonderful praise from Zidane towards Willock last night. That's what gets me interested. Not show ponies or overpaid fannies.

The kit looks gorgeous though.

Murtagh has always been a top bowler on a green 'un. Started out at Surrey. Played for England.

Arsenal have broken me I think. I'm pretty relaxed about everything as I don't think I care much anymore. I saw a Tottenham supporting friend of mine last week who was trying to goad me about the club and I just didn't care enough to engage. I honestly feel so removed from any emotion at this point. I'm more interested in seeing how the youngsters perform this season than carthouses like Mustafi and Kolasinac. Wonderful praise from Zidane towards Willock last night. That's what gets me interested. Not show ponies or overpaid fannies.

The kit looks gorgeous though.

The journey was the destination this time, and it did not disappoint
2 weeks of new acquaintances, new experiences, new sunrises and sunsets

Brilliant Arsenal, Brilliant Unai

I didn't use it

Great performance by Ireland yesterday An absolute shitshow from England, however. The batting looks extremely fragile, the Aussies will be looking forward to getting at them.

Ceballos loan confirmed. On paper a very good short term arrangement.

Ceballos loan confirmed. On paper a very good short term arrangement.

Tierney next?

Well done negotiators! And you still have 41m please Ceballos someone else!

It is for many reasons, most notably it should allow us to make other signings. As someone remarked on twitter, we simply don't have the cash to address all the problems in the team (and there are plenty of them) and when you think of it like that you can see the logic.

Still can't help feeling it's indicative of how far we have fallen as a club that we have to loan players without even an option to buy. However, hopefully it is a means to an end which increases the quality in the squad whilst still providing a small possibility that he could end up staying if he does well and likes it here.

We're walking a fine line this summer. I actually really like the profile of all the players we've been strongly linked with this summer; all are at a good age, have qualities we lack and cover positions where we need to strengthen. But newspaper links obviously isn't enough, we need to actually make the signings as well.

With Saliba and Ceballos done I expect us to get Tierney as well, we've gone to far into that one to not get it over the line. If we can add a winger to that - and I don't really care if it's Zaha or Everton as both would be exciting signings - I would consider it a good summer haul. Solve the Koscielny situation and replace him with a CB who'll play for us now and it's an excellent transfer window on paper. With those 4-5 signings we would basically have signed 8-9 proper first team players post-Wenger.

Lots to do still in just two weeks, and very few excuses not to get it done so it's really crunch time for the new regime. They don't exactly have much leeway with the fans.

Hey Haz,

Nice to see you back on the board.

Also, I watched a highlight reel of Saliba, and while I think it's pretty much 100% impossible to judge someone's defensive ability on a youtube compilation it was very interesting to see how comfortable on the ball he seemed to be. Has an eye for a pass as well. Combine that with an athletic 6ft4 frame, and you pretty much have the ideal central defender profile on paper. Easy to see why top clubs were after him.

There is a video of Özil getting car jacked in Golders Green today, what the car jackers didn’t bank on was Kolasinac getting out of the car and fighting them off! The Tank went for them!

Kudos to the Tank, brave hero!

Villa going for it in the transfer market. Exciting times for them and their fans. £115m spent (NET) Makes a bit of a mockery of our lack of spending.

Wesley £22.50m
Tyrone Mings £20.07m
Douglas Luiz £15.12m
Matt Targett £14.04m
Ezri Konsa £11.97m
Trezeguet £9.00m
Anwar El Ghazi £8.10m
Björn Engels £7.20m
Jota £4.05m
Kortney Hause W £3.06m

Wesley £22.50m
Tyrone Mings £20.07m
Douglas Luiz £15.12m
Matt Targett £14.04m
Ezri Konsa £11.97m
Trezeguet £9.00m
Anwar El Ghazi £8.10m
Björn Engels £7.20m
Jota £4.05m
Kortney Hause W £3.06m

If Kolasinac doesn’t become a cult hero now he never will.
He needs a chant about chasing off knife wielding car jackers once he thought they were Sperz fans

I’m not a fan of the Khan bashing the Tories and trump are doing about violence in the capital but when I saw that video I just thought *%^@*** hell there’s issues there that need to be solved. Knife wielding moped gangs driving around Golders Green looking for anything of value to take. The police need to get a grip.

Kolasinac just earned a new contract in my eyes. That’s the stuff of folklore, he can get caught out of position as many times as he wants this year.

https://www.football365.com/news/saliba-deal-shows-arsenal-not-playing-properly-in-zaha-affair

How is this idiot still given air time? Arsenal spend £25m on a high quality 18 year old who had every big club after him means that they MUST be able to afford the £80m Palace want for Zaha.
And saying he's "every bit as good as Mahrez" is nonsense. Mahrez won the title, was star player and player of the year for a club not much bigger than Palace at the time they won the title......and he's just won the African Cup of Nations with 3 goals in the tournament.

Also I really don't understand the massive uproar from all quarters over Arsenal's pursuit of Zaha. We bid what we think he's worth, palace declined. That can keep happening until either we walk away or Palace accept. Both parties have the right to bid and decline. £40m isn't exactly ridiculously low. It is like no-one has heard of the idea of negotiation. Why on earth would Arsenal or any club go straight in and match the asking price for a player if they believed that asking price was too much? The only reason you do it is to secure a transfer quickly if you have competition (there doesn't seem to be many other clubs hunting zaha) or if you have infinite money that it makes no difference

Also, if Palace are trying to get more because of the sell-on fee of 20% to Man U then it is Palace who are over inflating his worth rather than Arsenal underbidding. The sell on clause is nothing to do with Arsenal, that is the bed that Palace made for themselves. So if Palace want £80m then they must value Zaha at only £64m as that is all they will get from an £80m deal.

If it's true we are paying over £15m to Madrid (£3m+ in wages plus £12m loan fee) for Ceballos with no option to buy then that it is just ridiculous.

I had been supportive of the loan move until I read that. I had assumed we'd cover his wages and perhaps pay a small loan fee, after all we are developing their player for them.

I suspect the Spuds sensibly baulked at paying this for a loanee rather than him choosing us over them.

If it's true we are paying over £15m to Madrid (£3m+ in wages plus £12m loan fee) for Ceballos with no option to buy then that it is just ridiculous.