New rumours about Saudi clubs coming in big for Gabriel this summer. Even for a silly offer of £100m I wouldn’t sell. This season Gabriel has been a top 5 CB in the world for me. He’s 27, at his absolute peak.

Which one? United or Chelsea? Spuds also in contention for the dunce cap this season.

Good question over which of the 3 has been worse this year and which of the 3 is set up to be the worst going forward!

Chelsea aren't half as bad as the other two, even if their long term strategy is highly suspect. The spuds may have had a load of injuries but Ange's tactics are absurd. They should be doing much better. As for United, what an absolute mess of a squad. High earners, huge spending and they have a mid-table squad. I don't think Amorim is the solution either. He is wedded to his 3/5 at the back and I'm not sure that will be effective in the PL.

A top manager should be able to improvise. It is clear Amorim cannot. He will plough on with his 343 until the inevitable sacking.

I wouldn't sell Gabi, he's best CB around at the moment and centre backs go on well into their mid 30s

Can't see him wanting to go to Saudi at this stage of his career

I'd rather sell Saliba than Gabi

https://x.com/peaksxnti/status/19024475 ... -j6VVZXEoA

Really good MLS video. The fans love him and Nwaneri but I don’t think it’s the same as when Emile Smith Rowe and Saka came through yet because Emile Smith Rowe and Saka were the only ray of hope at that time. MLS and Nwaneri are almost like bonus players to a very good squad. Both incredible players

It makes me angry to see the way MLS has been treated by the media and rival fans and has been a target for undeserved abuse, when you see this kind of video you see he’s just a kid who has given everything to fulfil his dream and is now living it.

Yeah it would be great to go backwards if either of them go. Holdings available and uninjured. Hardly played since he left. Mustafi may only be a bench player.

Yes well people in glass houses….

Depends who else witnessed the event , if no one ...... spice it up ..... you consulted your local Ju ju man ; he recommended a bracelet of rosemary , foxglove and aardvark hair combined with a half hour chant ... VOILA.

A few decades back we had a swarm of wasps set residence in a hole under a large log at the back of our section .
Bloody annoying when the kids were small they'd would be eating a peach or an apple the wasps would hovering around attracted to the sweetness , a wasp sting to the throat is certainly no joke .

Mrs Kiwi ... We'll have to get a pest exterminator in .

Me .... in your dreams baby ...siphoned half a bucket of petrol out of the car , chucked the contents into the hole ; followed by a flaming rolled up newspaper .

KABOOM ... the wasp version of Hiroshima ; if there were any survivors they decided to set up camp elsewhere .

Chelsea's strategy makes no sense

Look at their outlays on Mudryk, Enzo, Nkunku, Sterling etc

They are making huge losses on most of their signings

They've now spent another 50mill on two youngsters from Portugal. There's no way this strategy is profitable as the they cannot give all thr expensive youngsters game time and develop them.

Hi 1979,

I often have a pang of anxiety when premier league clubs sign a player, especially if I’ve seen the name linked to Arsenal in any way shape or form! If someone else get Šesko I’ll be inconsolable! But over the years I think we’ve all seen you just can’t tell until they arrive and settle in. How many times did I think some club had “won the transfer window”? A lot I can tell you.

The first wave of transfer dealing whilst Tuchel was there doesn’t fit the current plan of buying seemingly as young as possible and over the odds. Gooners often joke about Declan Rice being “cheap”, and that can happen where a player is so good for you, especially if they facilitate runs in Europe, that they justify even high prices. Player values just aren’t high enough to justify the outlays Chelsea are putting out on young players.

Let’s say 1 in 4 becomes a real world beater. That puts their value at what 100M? If they’ve spent 200M on 4 players they’re a long way down. So far the only player you’d pay anywhere close to that is Cole Palmer - Enzo and Caicedo cost 220m between them!

I’m impatient to see them start to suffer for their choices but it doesn’t seem to be happening. On the pitch I think it will constantly destabilise them so maybe that’s enough, but they seem to be banking on football being just too weak to stop them. Every victory City win in their b%*&s%*^ crusade to destroy football ethics is a win for Chelsea as well.

I also think they’re banking on huge inflation in player values. Really they’re driving it by over paying for these youngsters. Maybe that will happen but frankly that’s more bad news for everyone else.

Also key to this seems to be their multi-club model. If they can have 4-5 clubs where they can stash players you can buy wonder kids to your hearts content. And that seems to be being rubber stamped too.

I saw an article early on saying Chelsea’s model needs to fail for the good of football. I can see that quite clearly, but that’s also true of City and PSG. Newcastle seem to be the first club to actually be reined in in any way at all.

Ultimately we need to keep being smart and shop at a different level than Chelsea, buying more proven 19-24 year olds at higher prices and hoping our academy can provide younger talent. That way we avoid more Mudryk type clusterfucks but we can all see what buying potential gets you from that deal.

I find it all morbidly fascinating, I think surely they have gambles upon gambles and somewhere it has to come unstuck, but their attitude seems more like one of these gambles is going to pay off.

Good points Ash

Agree - issue re inflation is that partly down to FFP kicking in, very few clubs are ready and willing to pay the huge fees that Chelsea's model seems to rely upon

Particularly Italy/Spain/Germany - the non Bayerns and Reals are financially nowhere near there too - you're only going to get the massive fees from a tiny handful of clubs now

Plus Chelsea just haven't developed many of their young players into the real elite bracket like a Saka

Interest topic. I read about it recently in The Athletic.

Whilst I agree that the Chelsea model is difficult to understand, the fact is they have made crazy profits by selling young players - far more than any other Prem club. The way they have traded young talent, who often have barely featured in the team, is a big part of their overall financial strategy.

Please don't sell any of our star players. Buy more star players to complement them. This can be a top class team with a few additions.

https://x.com/terryflewers/status/19027 ... -j6VVZXEoA

More on MLS. The ‘mainstream’ media and pundits are absolutely culpable for this kind of reaction from rival football fans who sit behind a keyboard. I called out the media for their over the top reaction to MLS knowing that this is the exact pile on that ensues. This stuff on social media just doesn’t happen or is incredibly minor if the media hadnt had an OTT and unfair reaction to MLs red card and celebration.

Young, black and successful - could be a reason. Plays for Arsenal - could be a reason.

All players get abuse for the big teams. Sadly it goes with the territory these days. https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/footbal ... r-AA1B6j6a

Really? It’s the same for all the players is it? Really?? Tripping over yourself to reply in 2.3 milliseconds here to try to minimise the reality of this *%^@. Shocked I am not.

https://metro.co.uk/2025/03/20/im-calli ... 54807/amp/

Any evidence of a young 18 year old player playing for a big team receiving his first call up to the England squad and getting the abuse MLS has under a picture of him arriving at the training camp?
Any evidence of a young player being told to get back in his lane and to stop being cocky after scoring his first senior goal and celebrating it?

Very very strange to so activity and adamantly deny this is a thing with MLS and Arsenal.

Somehow for some reason if MLS was playing for Liverpool, MU, Chelsea, and was just as successful as he is admired at Arsenal, he'd be on a pedestal at those clubs.

Are the internationals : Calafiori off injured at the end, limped out of stadium. Italy manager unable to advise of extent of injury.

Haaland was outright arrogant and disrepectful, so what MLS and Gabs did were entirely justified. To his credit Haaland seems to have taken it all with good humour.

The pundits and fans who have seized on MLS celebration really do need to ask themselves honestly what it is about MLS that irritates them so much, and whether they would come down so hard on a young white scouser or geordie who displayed a bit of cheek and swagger.

The general reaction to Grealish shows the difference. Now Grealish does some fantastic work with kids and particularly disabled children but his form has dropped off a cliff and he’s constantly falling out of pubs drunk and it’s portrayed as being a ‘cheeky chappy’ persona rather than highly unprofessional.
I don’t have a problem with Grealish, I think he’s a good guy but my problem is the lack of scrutiny he comes under compared to other players who take a lot more sh*t from the media and pundits despite performing better, costing less and being more professional in their personal life.

Where has the focus been of Phil Foden’s performances this season been as well? Reigning player of the year and wouldn’t even be in the top 100 prem players this season. You could add Cole Palmer to this too.

The media drive the narrative in this country and a huge majority of football fans follow it like sheep

One is reminded of this:

https://www.history.com/articles/black- ... ulford-act

When white protestors do it the attitude is 'good old boys will be boys'.

But of course it isn't racism! Trump is friends with Kanye, etc. etc.

The Premier League titles Arsenal will win if Man City are stripped of honours

The latest Arsenal news as the wait goes on to find out the outcome of the 115 charges against Manchester City.

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/ ... n-31236872

Let's all hold our breath, shall we ?

Yes I am denying it. It has nothing to do with him playing for Arsenal you absolute loon. A. He is at a high profile club and B. He's not white. Both these factors attract no mark bellends on social media. Have a look..............

https://www.premierleague.com/news/3962761

https://khelnow.com/football/top-10-pla ... abuse-2021 Son is mentioned. He's gets tonnes of abuse and despite almost everyone saying he's a nice fella. As I recall someone was jailed for abusing him at a match.

https://news.sky.com/story/online-abuse ... r-12663584 This link shows Manu players got most of the abuse at the time of the study.

Nwaneri turns 18 today, so he can change in the first team dressing room and there is talk of a 5 year contract being put on the table for him.

Berta's inbox needs to prioritise 2 things:
1)extending the contracts of key players
2)signing a top quality striker

So in an attempt to provide evidence to answer my questions you have in fact zero evidence to answer either point.

I'm not debating that footballers receive dogs abuse online, what I'm debating is that those in highly influential positions in the media, written press and pundits have gone in way over the top in their criticism of MLS and that has contributed, nay directly led to the abuse MLS has received online.

The link you posted shows the most abused players (by fans) are Man U players, which shows either that is fans abusing their own players because Man U are by far the most supported team worldwide in the prem, or b) Man U are the most hated team so their players receive more abuse from rival fans. I'm much more inclined to believe its the former because Harry Maguire tops the 'abuse league' - rival fans are not writing to Maguire online to abuse him as opposed to his own fans abusing him for perceived poor performance.

This is totally different to MLS as I doubt even a handful of Arsenal fans are abusing him online instead it it rival fans abusing him for perceived character traits that have been invented by the mainstream media - one of an arrogant, cocky young kid who needs to stay in his lane.

Show me examples of a young kid breaking through at a big club who has been given the mainstream media sh*tstorm and debate over his ability and character as MLS has?

Well put, Rich. And now over to the absolute loon for his response.

MLS starts for England. So does Rice

Lewis-Skelly has just scored on his England debut. Love it

MLS englands youngest player ever to score on his debut. 3rd youngest goalscorer at any point for England behind Rooney and Owen

I was worried about MLS being chucked into the madness of the England fold in the wrong position.

Kid scores on his debut. Unreal. Would you Adam it.

It’s his in game intelligence that stands out. There are seasoned pros who would struggle to understand how to play this multi faceted left back role. MLS tonight played in a back 3, a traditional left back, drifted in the CM, went on the overlap to allow Rashford to fit in, went on the underlap and popped up as the further player forward making a run to score his goal. Special player

Also, as far as I’m aware Arteta is the one who pushed him in to the left back hybrid role. He’s also bought through Nwaneri who made his U21 debut and whilst not giving him his debut he’s taken Saka from 18 to be one of the best right wingers in the world. Will he receive any credit?

His mentality is unbelievably strong. Nothing seems to phase him. And what a way to respond to all that nonsense.

I can't wait to see how these two develop. Arteta deserves a lot of credit for this because of his meticulous approach. You can bet that Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri know exactly what is expected of them. Of course, having young players who can step up and perform in those roles and have that intelligence to go with their skill is a big bonus.

For all the concerns about forwards and our sometimes plodding style, I don't think we could be in better hands. If the summer transfer window goes well, and we have better luck than this season, I can see us being a big threat, especially in Europe. We're becoming very hard to beat. For the same reason, I'm not writing us off in the CL this season yet!

Apart from anything else, he is a true warrior and Arsenal man.

We could in time see an England team with 4 Arsenal starters.
Saka and Rice are nailed on. MLS at left back - Hall being worthy competition currently, and also Ben White could come back in to either RB or RCB depending on how Tuchel wants to play.

Calafiori rumoured to be out for 2-3 weeks with the injury he suffered on International duty. Unlikely to play v Real Madrid.

Hugo Ekitike one to watch this summer. Scored a hat trick for the French U21 v England last night. Having a great season for Frankfurt too