Noise increasing about us and Califiori from Bologna. Fully expecting Juventus to bid £10m less than us and Bologna to accept it and he moves there!

Precisely what I thought when I read it however there is an awful lot of noise about this

Let’s be honest he fits the profile we need right now. Player who can cover left centre back adequately but also left back. One of the 3 areas we most need to strengthen. I didn’t catch any of his games so wasn’t sure if he impressed

"New boss, same as the old boss(es)"?

Thank you Warrior - how lucky to have seen these guys live in their pomp.

Biereth has joined Sturm Graz for £4m, sell on clause included in the deal as well. Think we got about £2-3m from the Hutchinson
These small amounts all add up as well as the bigger sales we should make from the likes of Ramsdale, Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe etc

Rumour is that we have signed him. I also presumed he would be bound for Juve, Inter or Milan.
We know he had a great season with Bologna. I watched italy's games against Spain and Croatia. He was superb. An effortless defender. He was the one who broke from the centre back position in the last minute against Croatia striding up the pitch and laid it off for the winning goal. Obviously, two games is a tiny sample size, but he just looked pure class.

Watching Argentina v Ecuador now. Ecuador playing much better than Argentina, and almost scored twice. Argentina looks like an ageing team. IMO, Messi is past it for top class tournaments. Ditto Ronaldo for Portugal.

Ecuador equalised in the 91st min

Should be penalty shoot-out soon

Messi missed the first penalty

Then Martinez saves the next

Martinez saved the second too

And Argentina is through, all thanks to Martinez

Breaking : Donald Trump claiming the UK election was rigged and that he is the new UK PM. More to follow.

Sadly that’s probably what he believes.

Bad night for populist loons motivated by hating on others, weirdos with twisted fetishes about putting kids in armed forces to punish them. Useless people selling lies to people too uneducated to suss them out.

A night of reckoning for so many who have hurt our kids futures to prioritise themselves.

Hopefully a new dawn but more likely a pause that will identify the generational damage and corruption that has taken place.

Ever had a wank whilst eating your Rice Krispies?

Liz Truss booted out …

Boris Johnson's former constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip has been won by Labour.

Kinda poignant. Bloke avoided his moment of judgement and walks away from ruining the lives of thousands. Pat yourselves on the back Uxbridge for a job well done

Our supreme court who has 3 Trump appointees and is very far right, has basically said a President (Trump) can certain crimes while in office and not be prosecuted.

Some of the dossier on the then British ambassador to America about his assessment of Trump was kind in its criticism. I'm curious what the assessment was about Biden...lol. "Tell him anything, have him sign what we want, he won't remember anyway"

There is too much noise for there not to be something in it. Looking at £45m deal, wages would be quite low at £60k/week.
I agree from what little I’ve seen he looks top class, everything you want from a modern defender. Tall, strong, quick, exceptional on the ball, good at carrying the ball forward, happy in full back and midfield areas.
I still like Kadioglu from Fenerbache.
Califiori and Kadioglu for £70m and sell Kiwior and Zinchenko for £45m would be a very exciting upgrade to the left side of our defence

fabrizio Romano:
Arsenal have agreed terms of Riccardo Calafiori’s contract, valid until June 2029.

Arsenal and Bologna are discussing over fee, as request remains around €50m.

FC Basel would receive 50% of the sale over €4.5m — they’re also aware of talks ongoing, nothing sealed yet.

Looks like this is getting done. Great way to start the summer transfer window.

Hmmm… 6’ 2” left sided CD.

Makes me wonder about Big Gab. This time last year there were murmurings that he might be off. Risky move to disrupt the best central defensive pairing in the Prem.

Squad looking the tiniest bit messy for me atm. Not quite the right balance up front with multiple players who aren’t wanted in Smith Rowe, Nelson, Nketiah or not effective anywhere in Vieira and signing someone who probably makes Zinchenko and Kiwior redundant.

There can’t be a lot of money left for forward signings if this is 45m and we’ve comitted another 28m on Raya.

Bit of surgery needed.

I was hoping to get Hato from Ajax but I'll take this lad, he's a good one. I am also hoping we get the Turkish left back but if he can play left back then fine.

The good thing about the Invincibles era players is there were competition for a few places. We need that. it seems players have a more primadonna mindset these days that their positions are sacrosanct and permanent. I think Saka needs to compete for his position. Ødegaard, the captain is the only one I'd exclude.

We have used competition to get the best of of the left side of the attack as well as left back. To lesser extent central midfield with Jorginho.

Also, the opposition in front of you as well as the schedule often picks a side. Everyone healthy you may have a different midfield against Man City than you would Burnley.

I'd prefer to have a midfield where Rice can move freely than a defined role. I think he's under utilized as a 6. He's shown he can play more advanced. He has the football brain to pull it off. Not many number 6s have the variety of skills he has. Make a decision on what his best role is.

I think striker is the least of our worries. Left back for sure, and then central midfield. We have needs elsewhere but these two positions need sorting. Timber back is huge. Tired old phrase but saying he's like a new signing is apropos considering how little he's played for us.

Saliba was immense last night again. Best CB at the tournament in my view. Also he’s playing on the left side of the Cb pairing rather than the right side he plays for Arsenal - didn’t affect his performance. Upamenco and Konatale also prefer the right but it shows something that it’s Saliba who moves over.
Similar in a way to Saka being the one who moved for England, people think that’s something to bash them with the reality it’s the opposite. They show they are the best in their natural position and because of the inflexibility of anyone else in the squad they move and perform at a high level still

Since Arteta came in a large proportion of the transfers have been on defensive or defensive mid players, partly because we already at Martinelli and Saka. There is definitely work to do in the attacking area, which is strange if you just look simply at us as the tee am who scored 90+ goals in the league but when you look at the games we lost or drew I put it more on the lack of attack than a weak defence.
I think we do need a deep midfielder to dictate play, but striker and wide cover are essential. A player who plays to give Ødegaard a rest is not obvious either. Vieira is the natural one but he’s hardly at the world on fire

You are right. Feels a bit indulgent signing a left back when there are so many players who can play on that left side and we need new players to add to our forward 3. They must feel confident of selling 1 or 2 with kiwior favourite but probably we would move Zinchenko on if we got an offer. I genuinely can’t see him getting a look in.

Feels like until we chop some of the wood off our squad it’s going to be hard to reshape it perfectly. Nketiah, Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe all in limbo really. I wouldn’t be surprised if we loaned vieira out this season.

We definitely need to sign a top quality wide player to take the load off Saka who will be participating in Gareth Southgate’s wing back experiment later and will probably have to start the season exhausted.

Hey Rich, seems like the Calafiori rumors seem strong. And although most deals won't be done till after the Euros, any rumors of our rivals making or close to any deals we should worry about? I keep hearing Zirkzee to Man Utd getting louder. I hope not, but that club will always get great top notch players.

Saka absolutely brilliant for England tonight, deserved man of the match, his goal was like the one he scored v Man U at home 2 years ago.
He’s clearly the best positionally and defensively of all the attacking players. Managers trust him, he rarely gives the ball away and never lets anyone down.

The penalty took balls and was redemption for 4 years ago

Agree, he was the stand-out player for England. Good to see him enjoying himself out there. Such confidence

I still see Spain winning it all. I don't see England getting past Netherlands.

Insipid Brazil dumped out, on penalties, by Uruguay. Had more than 15 minutes against 10 men, and yet they were poor going forward. 17 year-old Endrick was ineffective up front. Might be a wasted investment by Real Madrid. Was very good in the Brazilian league, but might falter in the big leagues. Might be the "Arsenal Pépé" for them.

Arsenal’s pair carrying England. Where is Kane playing?!

I have no idea what Kane was playing at yesterday, was like playing with 10 men. He should have been subbed after 60 minutes.

I am concerned that all these minutes will impact Saka and Rice next season. Same could be said of Saliba.

Rice in particular has to play every minute of every game for England because there isn’t a player like him in the squad and still has to listen to silly criticism about his performances.

If England get to the final on 14th of July I can’t see how Rice, saka and saliba could have a pre season they will need to be rested until the first game on 17th of August and possibly even that game.

Cozier-Duberry, one of our youth players, like a Saka-lite in his style from the right wing has signed for Brighton. We’ll get a compensation fee but he is another where his pathway to a loan or sale should have been managed better. Very good talent

Odd transfer this

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/562231 ... sfer-news/

Have to assume it’s purely focussed on the homegrown quota. Is a guy who only played 5 times last season for wolves likely to be a 2nd keeper for us.

Have to say our keeping position knows feels like a permanent issue with consistency with a keeper leaving all the time.

Zirkzee to Man U is close, €40m buy out clause and an extra €10m agent fees which is apparently what put off AC Milan.

It is a hard position to have consistency. You basically need a guy who is good enough to start for 95% of top flight teams but who also knows he’ll be second choice.
This guy from Wolves is our answer to Man City’s Scott Carson or Man U’s Tom Heaton. 3rd choice, experienced and often the most important attribute is their attitude and the positive influence on the squad - if you’ve seen any of the Man City fly on the wall documentaries you can see Carson has a humour and character that City value possibly as much as his gk training (because he’s not there for game time)

Can’t see us getting more than 25-30m for that pair tops.

Kane was lazy, ineffective and just a complete waste of space. So many time the pass into the 6 yard box was met with absolutely no one but a Swiss defender. I barely realised he was playing till he went off injured. If anyone who needs to up their game for Holland then it’s him. Also Walker who seems incapable of playing a pass to where the receiving player either is or going. Put Alexander Arnold in if he’s fit.

Symptom of having 2nd string goalies who are first string at other PL clubs. Been happening since Szczesny.

England play the Dutch next and Ake plays left back for them up against Saka. Of all the left backs I've seen play 1v1 vs Saka Ake has been one of the best at keeping tabs on him.