Marc Bola departs

Arsenal have released 20-year old British defender Marc Bola from the club.
He becomes player number 4 to leave the club this season.

Notify me when Mustafi's name gets called.

Interesting, because what we define as 'race' today is a modern concept. And its fluid. In America, 150 years ago, if you weren't protestant and European you were pretty much not deemed fully 'white' if you were from the Balkan states, Jewish, Sicilian, Greek, Irish. Our census has changed a few times. Arabs, north Africans, Persian, many Latinos are listed on their driver's licenses as 'white'. There is an Egyptian who is clearly black who has fought in courts to be deemed black and he can't. He's officially and legally white...lol.

The bible speaks of nations not race. The Romans as well. If you spoke Greek, dressed as a Greek and acted like a Greek you were Greek even though you may have migrated there as a kid and clearly didn't look Greek. Aesop of the famous greek Aesop fables was believed to be of African descent.

The modern concept of race corresponded with the slavery and subjugation of global peoples from the European powers (although the Arabs were far more advanced in it). I guess it was a convenient way to cognitive dissonance from our humanity at the time.

However, why should it be strange if Özil is on the German team and not strange if America has all manner or races and ethnicities? Sports teams often reflect the make up of the country. Germany has a large Turkish population so its logical I would assume that its sports has Germans of Turkish descent.

What exactly is your point Babu? What's the problem with considering us all members of the human race?

is it Gary...

I see that we’re scheduled to play Chelsea on 4th Aug in the International Champions Cup. Have I missed something. What are we Champions of?

A Long Time Gooner should know that Arsenal won the prestigious Sixth Place Trophy...

Neither side play in this comp LTG. ICC games are being played across US after WC.
https://www.vividseats.com/sports/inter ... gKS6fD_BwE

In the same way the 2nd , 3rd placed English Premier Lesgue teams plus 4th [ if they make it through the play offs ] manage to squeeze into the European Champions League ... they aren't champions of anything either .

It's all about $$$$$$$$ .

An honour indeed. In fact when I started watching we competed for the ‘Top of the Bottom Half of the Table’ trophy. And failed to win it.

So true. My grandad used to tell me about the Arsenal sides that he had watched in the 30s and it seemed difficult to relate to as though from a different world. The difference is as nothing compared to the gap between then and now. The old Arsenal Supporters Club building seems impossibly quaint.

Oh beg your pardon. There is an ICC match between Chelsea and Arsenal., 4 Aug. Just not in US like all those other Champions.
My bad on that one.

Ah, that explains it. I wasn’t sure what you meant in the original post. All is clear now.

Torriera Of Sampdoria is a player we are supposedly looking at for defensive mid. People saying he’s a kante/veratti type. If he’s anything like those two then sign me up. £22m buy out clause.

Never seen him play, but his profile sounds like everything we're looking for. Aggressive defensive midfielder, ball winner with good close control and good passing range. Only 22 years old. Certainly more exciting than Fellaini...

Congrats to Vieira on the Nice job.

Yeah ok, but then you’ve got to take Mihkhtaryn out of the team.

Transfers drive fans bananas. Reports we’ve made two bids for Gelson Martinez Portuguese winger. I know absolutely zero about him - other than his goals and assists last year were decent - but if we sign him it’ll set my mind at ease. It doesn’t make a lot of sense really, signings can make you feel like you’re well prepared when you’re not. How cocky were Utd the first season they signed Pogba? Whilst not being a flop they clearly signing players which could be argued replace him pretty easily.

I watched a YouTube video of him creativity labelled “[insert player name ] - welcome to Arsenal!”

So know I know he looks good in a video designed to make him look good. He seems to like a slide tackle is my take away.

Yes. It's always weird to see fans during the transfer window who seem to think every reported bit of progress about a transfer represent an actual bit of progress. As if the papers know all the details. So fans will get excited about reports that player X is about to sign, and then when it doesn’t happen and someone reports the buying club didn’t want to pay the asking price or whatever the club will get criticized for handling their transfer business wrong. Happens at every club, and you have to assume that a lot of the times there wasn't even that much interest in the player to begin with.

I think our interest in Torreira is genuine as it has been reported by many sources including local ones in Italy, but I very much doubt the reports that we’ve agreed terms with Sampdoria are accurate at this point.

I think the exciting thing about transfers, or potential transfers is the hope that this player might be brilliant (obviously) but also that this is something different to something that has previously failed.

This season is slightly different because Emery is the big difference so every current Arsenal player is going to be exciting to see how/if they change to meet Emery's demands - and are those changes for better or worse?

When you are linked to a player who looks and plays like a genuine defensive midfielder having needed one for 10 years - that is exciting

Sokratis deal is said to be done but Dortmund want to wait until July 1 and the new football financial year before it is officially announced.

I'm excited about any decent DCM. It's criminal how that position has gone wanting for so long. How can a man who saw how vital Vieira and the position to us be so negligent about it? That's a head scratcher.

One of the yardsticks I will be looking for Emery is how well we do against Man Utd and Chelsea. Wenger's record against them and specifically Mourinho isn't a great one.

Not necessarily , we would have had 60 million in the bank and as Mkhitaryan wasn't figuring in Mourihno's plans at all .... we could have bought him for 30 million if so desired .

Faced with the "Oh Jesus Alexis doesn't love me as much as I thought and hasn't "come to his senses" and extended his contract like I thought he would ........Arsene had to scurry around and make the best of a bad situation .

At the start of the season we were holding a royal flush ..... unfortunately Arsene chucked in the ten , jack , queen to try for a full house .

So, I tuned in to fox News. North Korea is our friend and Canada is our enemy. Okay, got it.

Assuming Emery is going through or has gone through the youth set up and have identified some of the youth he will groom to first team minutes. Enough talent to choose from.

Gotta assume he's had a ton of things on his plate. Excited. I am also very curious to see our tactics. He often likes to play with a high line. We'll see.

Since the start of last season we have lost ox, coq, Cazorla and maybe Wilshere soon from our central midfield. I expect AMN can be a proper first team addition in there but it still looks like 1/2 signings should be made.
Emery seems to like to play the 4-2-3-1 formation, or variants on the 4-3-3. I’ll be interested to see how the players we have work in that set up. Emery needs to find a permanent position for Mkhitaryan and work out how Aubameyang and Lacazette both play....and Özil....and Ramsey. We’ve got a lot of attacking talent but I’d still like to see a genuine winger with pace, trickery and an eye for goal.

I am excited about watching Arsenal again, primarily because we can be assured the frustrating football being served up over the past seasons will be gone. Any incoming transfer is something to get excited about, because he will be playing the Emery way.

I think Iwobi is a real option as a box-to-box midfielder in a midfield three, hope Emery gives him a shot there if we’re going with that formation. If we sign this Torreira guy, that would give us Xhaka, Ramsey, Torreira, Elneny, Maitland-Niles and Iwobi as options. Should be able to find a couple of working combinations between those six players. A 4-3-3 makes a lot of sense with the players we have, then again so does 4-2-3-1…

We've already got one. Reiss Nelson.

Good point. Looking forward to seeing how he develops under Emery.
I think there are lots of players not fulfilling their potential who could go one way or another under Emery, Iwobi, Xhaka, Chambers, Holding, Bellerin

https://www.arsenal.com/news/ainsley-signs-new-long-term-contract-2
Excellent News!

Lots of rumours in Italy that we're close to an agreement on Torreira, though I have no idea how good the sources are. Would probably not be confirmed before the World Cup anyway which is a shame. Remember when we signed Rosicky in 2006, and in his first game of the World Cup that year he did this:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7vH9oZcfDA[/youtube]

Ornstein is reporting the Torreira deal is imminent. He has a buy out clause of £25m euros, but that’s if it’s all paid in one lump sum. We’ve apparently gone in with £30m euros so we can pay in instalments.

Good to get this done before the World Cup, as a decent tournament for Uruguay and he could add £20m to his price and add plenty more clubs.

It will be interesting to see who’s defensive mid turns out the best/best value?
Man U - Fred £52m
Liverpool - Fabinho £40m
Arsenal - Torreira £26m
City - Jorginho - yet to be done but likely

I heard he’s unlikely to start so I’m guessing he might have a low key tournament. I’m not sure I could tell you I’ve watched even a half of football of any of these guys. Gone are the days of watching that random European round up on channel 4 on a Saturday morning. Anyone else? Isn’t Man U’s guy from shaktar Donetsk?

What’s clear Rich is that others seem to be signing finished articles where the players we are getting linked with have decent reputations but aren’t acknowledged as finished articles. This is logical and fits in with the reported budgets being published and it’s fine but we will need a few of these players to come good and the signing of Torreira proves Xhaka hasn’t worked out.

Bild is also reporting we are close to signing the German Keeper Leno and if this happens it would take our total spending to around 66 million in transfer fees. I can’t envisage many more players after that coming in unless we sell with Jack, Campbell, Perez and Chambers all muted with moves away. That might generate the 25 million for a wide player that’s desperately required.

Bild are reporting we're close to signing goalkeeper Bernd Leno. If true, and we get the Torreira deal over the line, that would mean we've taken care of arguably or four most pressing needs in terms of squad strengthening before the World Cup.

Just read a write up from a sampdoria fan that suggests that Torreira isn’t the holding midfielder we seek but more of a box to box, high energy, defensive but also bombs forward type. Be interesting to see where we intend on playing him but we seem to be constantly struggling to acquire the midfield shield our defence requires.

He can hit a free kick and long range shot as well.......and I live in hope that it won't be coached out of him and he can get more on target than Xhaka