RAHEEM STERLING SIGNS!
F*cking hell, people… what a day!
All the emotions were experienced and VENTED on the internet in a whirlwind of a day.
So, let’s start at the end.
Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling in a late, after-hours deal that no one saw coming—not even Edu.
I had heard late in the day that there would be no movement unless Reiss left, a player I felt was our very own Winston Bogarde.
Things also looked pretty bleak with Raheem. The player wanted to move to Arsenal, but there were some shady allegations about payments being held up and his salary being threatened if he moved.
Then things started to shift…
Ipswich was linked with a season-long loan for Reiss Nelson. A player who knew he was surplus in February suddenly became ‘desperate’ to leave Arsenal. What conversation was had? What in the Tony Soprano was whispered in his ear that was so savage, he was prepared to swap the bright lights of London’s Michelin stars for the Harvester kind of life? (I lived in Colchester, I’m allowed to make a pop at it.)
Sterling rumors then picked up pace. It was the only deal that was truly viable. He was in London, he’s Premier League proven, he’s fit, and he has a great relationship with Mikel Arteta.
Ornstein went from ‘I think they’re done’ to ‘something might happen.’
Then the Ipswich deal fell through, and Fulham came out on top—Reiss finally moved.
Then Eddie’s exit video dropped.
Then Neto was announced.
Then, right at the end of the night, past the deadline, it was confirmed that Sterling was on loan at Arsenal for a season, no loan fee, with Arsenal picking up less than HALF his wages.
Quite the deal.
So, my prediction that Arsenal was riding out the window to see if anything exciting popped up last minute was correct… just not sure anyone was too happy about how close we came to exiting the window for a third summer running without cover for Bukayo Saka.
So how happy am I? Really happy. I don’t think Sterling was anyone’s first choice, including Arsenal, but he will do exactly what we need him to do. He’ll offer Arsenal world-class output right away, cover the right and the left, be good off the bench or in the starting 11… and he gives Arteta another trustworthy body in the front three for a year, giving the club more time to hone who the permanent deal will be in 2025.
All the ‘he’s finished’ chatter is utter nonsense. He had 18 goal contributions in 42 games last year in an utterly rudderless team. That’s a big number. We took Kai out of the same setup, and now he’s a fan favorite. I don’t think this has long-term written all over it, but it could certainly give us a jolt of quality like Andrey Arshavin did before, you know, things settled in the second season.
The more important part of this move is this: We weren’t looking for a starting 11 player, but we got one. Sterling is a world-class moments man who has delivered in the past. It doesn’t matter if Chelsea fans disagree; the people who matter most are the coaches and the players. I think Saka and company will be over the moon that we’ve done this deal. Expectations are certainly low in the base, but they always are for Chelsea players. We have coverage—job done. Let’s welcome him and hope he has a big season ready for us.
We said goodbye to Reiss. He’s not my favorite Hale-Ender, but he’s a player who loves Arsenal and finally put his career ahead of a relationship that was getting pretty toxic. Young men need to play football. Reiss shouldn’t be wasting away on a bench he’s never getting off of. Teaming up with Willian, Bernd, Iwobi, and Emile is a sweet move, and it means he’ll still get that West End lifestyle he loves. Reiss has to perform and secure a permanent move next summer, so hopefully, he can deliver some BIG things and finally kick on.
Eddie exited for £25m + £5m in potential add-ons. Edouard exited. This is a huge move for the England man. I’ve got nothing but love for him. He’s a hard worker, he’s keen to learn, and I’ve only ever heard great things about how he trains… Given the right coach—and I believe that’s Glasner—I think he’ll thrive. Apparently, Eze was a tipping point, and the coach leaned in hard to get him to change his mind from Nottingham Forest. Good luck!
The only sour piece of news was hearing Merino has a chipped clavicle that’ll put him out of action until after the second international break. Not great, but a total freak accident. It’s a shame; it made me really sad, but this is just another dose of bad luck, and we should be thankful it’s not as serious as the problem we had with Jurrien Timber.
So—how are we feeling about the transfer window?
I’m gonna give it an 8 out of 10. The two points dropped are 1) because we didn’t get a back-up striker and we’re still relying on Jesus, who is already out injured, and 2) our winger wasn’t a permanent deal.
At the start of the summer - I said the strategy was going to be about deepening the trust pool.
We don’t have any major issues to solve. We are a winning machine these days. We have the best attack, the best defense, a top-2 system, and it can cope with the Champions League.
What do we lack?
Manchester City levels of experience.
They are better in the margins.
They are better at run-ins.
They can manage the load better.
They have more options with numbers—and more options with players that can do more things.
Their core squad of players that start games is older than ours, but the key difference for them is they have a deeper squad of trusted names. They can rely on 22 players to do the job; Arsenal is more like 16.
That’s why this summer was about moving towards deepening the trust pool.
Arteta will look to shift on 7 or so players who aren’t trusted and bring in at least three players he really does love and can use.
My take was that we’d look for a back-up striker, an explosive winger, a 6 or an 8, and an aggressive left-sided centre-back to replace Kiwior.
I wasn’t far off…
The biggest success of this summer was selling some of the deadwood talent we’ve accrued.
Ramsdale £18m
Emile £30m
Eddie £25m
Reiss (loan)
Fabio (loan)
Sambi (loan)
Tavares (loan)
Soares (free)
Big Mo (free)
Three chunky sales, five loans, and two free transfers. That’s all money the club is recouping in transfer fees or not spending on wages.
Players in
Calafiori
Merino
Sterling
Neto
Raya
All of these players give us something we didn’t have last season (bar Raya, who we had on loan).
We’re a permanent winger and a back-up striker away from a near-perfect squad—but where we landed is definitely capable of delivering a Premier League title this season.
I’m writing this quite late in the evening—I need to tap out—Brighton today should be fun. Enjoy it if you’re going, and remember to sign up for our On The Whistle podcast so you can join the YouTube right after the game.