According to Sky Sports, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will move to Chelsea for around £35 million in the coming days.
As expected, Arsenal have decided to cash in on the England international who has turned down the chance to commit his long-term future to the club.
While Arsene Wenger has made it clear that he won’t sell Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, both also in the final 12 months of the contract, it appears he’s decided he can’t afford to lose a third player for free next summer.
Chelsea have agreed a fee with Arsenal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Not confirmed yet but about £35m
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) August 28, 2017
Chamberlain has played all three games this season as a wing-back, a role he claims to have little interest in.
It looks as though Shkodran Mustafi could follow Chamberlain out of the club before the transfer window closes on Thursday. The Germany international is being tipped to sign a loan deal with Inter Milan. Whether two big name departures sets things up for an arrival or two remains to be seen.
SMH
Just get done with the deal already.
Last one off the titanic!
Grow some balls stupid whiners. Like it would help to act like a crybaby for every news related. Go to support someone with less issues, if you cant take it as it is. Sounds like you really should.
Sounds like you shouldn’t take your frustration out, on other posters.
If the choice is, sell him for 35m or sign him up for four years at 180k a week, then I think sell is best.
Yeah, decent bit of business to flog a decent (but not great in my opinion) plsyrt for $35m. Sucks he’s off to Chelski, but at the end of the day, he’s not bigger than the club.
It’ll be incredible if we get £35m for a player in the last year of his contract and who clearly doesn’t want to stay.
And who has zero end product.
Exactly, statistics do not lie. Try to dribble and if you don’t know what to do with the ball, bump into opposing players. That ploy won’t work with Conte too long.
Yeah feck off and take wenger kroenke and co with you
He’ll be the best right wing back in the league by the end of the season, you watch. We’ve wasted him.
If you are not being sarcastic PFo I’d be very happy to have a bet with you on that mate.
Isn’t his whole reason for leaving because he wants to play, central midfield?
Guarantee he will be playing right wing back for Chelsea.
Spot on pfo. He has been grossly miss-managed here. One of the most naturally talented athletes I’ve every seen in the shirt. Expect him to thrive in a new environment.
Chels won the title with Victor fuckin Moses at right wing back…maybe it’s the fuckin coaching?
Bring out your dead!
Not really. In today’s market, 35mill is close to 18/20 mill as at last year
What is SMH?
I’m not naive, just a bit older…
Shaking my head
Thanks Paul. NOIHOB.
(Not one I’ve heard of before.)
HYN? 🙂
NHHN
priceless. i love it
I am shaking my head as to why such unnecessary acronyms exist.
Ffs lol.
I’ll leave now.
Are we building a new stadium?
If not, why are we selling like we are finding an ongoing project.
Or is Wenger seriously selling just to make funds to give in to Sanchez new contract demands?
Even so, with the team performances like in Anfield, I really really doubt he will want to stay.
Gosh, it’s really hard to be positive with so much uncertainty.
Player contracts expiring(Sanchez,Ozil), sudden departure of players(Mustafi, Gabriel), Players playing out of position (Bellerin, Monreal), and not playing key players (Lacazette, Kolasinac)
Watch yesterday’s game and ask yourself those questions again
It makes me think we are trying to sign some players but I expect to be disappointed
Meh. Sign who? What difference would it make? The team is in complete disarray. We could sign Mbappe and Drexler and it would make absolutely no difference. I’m not trying to pick on you at all, but it frustrates the hell out of me when there’s this much going horribly wrong in our club, and people start going “oh, but there might be a transfer coming in” or “we need transfers”. We need transfers in like we need a new painting in the hallway of a house that’s falling apart and on fire. I would seriously doubt the sanity of… Read more »
I’ve been thinking the same thing for a couple of years now. Reminds me of that Groucho Marx quote: “I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.”
It’s true. You have to question the drive of any player that wants to join Arsenal at the moment. You’re sure as hell not going to win major trophies, so what’s the motivation? I can only think it’s money, in which case I wouldn’t want you as a player at Arsenal.
I know it’s of little help but we only one point behind spuds, six points behind manure and yet to play them twice…yeah I’ll get my coat…:-)
Please do get your coat and hurry because we are only 3 games in. The spuds should never ever be a barometer for this club and we are -14 goal difference on man poo, like i said, we are only 3 games in.
What on earth are you talking about? If a player doesn’t want to resign you recoup at least some of your money. It’s STUPID to let a player go for free. That is 35m we can use elsewhere. Or in Alexis’ case 50m, or in Ozil’s case a bottle of Gatorade for halftime.
Yes its why the board love wenger. Profits in transfer market = $€£ in pockets or “cash reserves”. Any other club/board would have sacked him by now when clearly the dressingroom is lost and half the team want out. All i need is some clarity and someone to tell me WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!: Coma. GnR.
No Champions League football and Özil & Sanchez are running their contracts down. That’s at least £150m in potential lost revenue. The club needs to make up the shortfall. That crap about us being able to survive without Champions League accounts for only one season out, eats into our cash reserves and doesn’t legislate for writing off our two most valuable players.
Bring back Fabregas
That would be the most logical move but remember, it’s Wenger we’re talking about
Then we can play three number 10s at the same time
Hahaha
Yeah we could have, but Wenger chose not to. Still angers me
Cool – time to get rid of him I think.
I am not even going to go into why its the 28th of August and we’re selling him now.. because yes, this 100% should’ve happened at the start of the window. Why the fuck have we been pandering to his ego all summer offering him ludicrous amounts of money when he genuinely isnt worth it.
I cant stand Theo Walcott either, but at least he actually scores goals, what does Chamberlain actually do? Apart from dick around on all the Arsenal social media channels.
He does nothing. Good luck.
And McGregor style “You’ll do nutin”
He’s off and hopefully Alexis is next. We can’t move forward with team members who don’t want to be part of the team imo.
Not sanchez next. Ozil next.
Take Ozil with them pls
To play him yesterday was nothing short of professional gross misconduct. At the expense of the best left back in Germany last season and playing a one footed right back who has been very poor for a long while now at left back. Beggars belief
Ox made it clear he wanted to leave. He shouldn’t have played at Anfield. It’s pointless including him in the squad. Another fine mess Wenger has got himself into.
Why would you drop Kolasinac and move Bellerin to the left? It is ridiculous. Kolasinac would bring some toughness into our team which is what we need.
Probably pace was a consideration. Trying to see the glass one fortieth full…
Kolasinac is quick for a big guy. And he is definitely faster than Monreal who couldn’t cope with Salah.
Because our manager is a tactical genius ??
plus he could have gotten injured which would have made it harder to move him along. Did Ox get better since we signed him? I think not. Is that down to the player or the manager? Probably a bit of both.
I’m not sure Ox is an improvement on Victor Moses, can’t see where he plays in Chelski’s midfield.
Please turn the 35 million into a signing!
From the Guardian:
“Personal terms are unlikely to prove an issue, with Antonio Conte hoping a versatile player will challenge Victor Moses at *right wing-back*”
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Don’t panic. The Ox doesn’t look like a Guardian reader to me.
Chelsea will want him to back up the wingers, not challenge for their spots. He’s really there to replace Matic, I think, so he will get time centrally. Fabregas is best against bus-parkers, gets a little lost the rest of the time. With 55-60 matches, he’ll get plenty of playing time, and a genuine chance to get a position he wants.
Ha! I hope he IS there to replace Matic! That would be the most brilliant bit of strategery by Wenger ever!
But alas, he’s going for a bigger paycheck and maybe a bench trophy. Gotta round out those homegrown numbers!
They already got Bakayoko to replace Matic (it may not seem like that because Chelsea did the most un-arsenal of things…they signed Matic’s replacement BEFORE letting him go). I’m not saying the ox won’t get any time at CM in this thin Chelsea squad, but is it really going to be significantly more than he got at Arsenal filling in at CM during our annual injury crisis? Probably not…
But he is better than Moses (not a huge challenge, imo). So we’re directly improving a “rival” in a key area where they desperately need cover and could use an upgrade. Personally I think it’s stupid, but the stupidity is getting in this mess to begin with, not so much making this decision given that the only alternative was losing him for free next summer (we could have offered him a new deal ages ago, and if it was clear he probably wasn’t going to sign, why did we wait until the last bloody week of the window before selling,… Read more »
It strengthens Chelsea and makes us weaker no doubt about it. To claim otherwise is totally delusional
I can’t believe that wenger played him dispite he rejecting a deal and club already decided they have to sell him, if it ox was messi and we play him one last time to win the game beofre letting him go, ox became a player in our team that wenger nurture him from young age invested everything in him and it is like ox told wenger I will not renew and I will play vs liverpool and wenger obliged.
Wenger is sick man people, this is serous shit, and I was a fan of wenger just to know
Perhaps Wenger was planning to keep him but when see saw how shit he played thought ‘fuck this, you’re off’
Come on, let’s get real. Both Seri and Mbappe’s managers sat them on the bench this weekend because their transfer situations are unresolved.
Why do we keep making excuses for a man who’s one of the most experienced coaches in European football?
Hopefully he’ll sell Ramsey tomorrow then 🙂
To call Wenger a ‘sick man’ is way over the top, mate. We can criticise without being disrespectful.
Dude i didn’t mean in bad way I meant it in a sad way that he is past it, is it because of his age he lost his touch he doesn’t know what he is doing, is the age and so many seasons doing this to him he is way way past it he is an old man. Watch him now next game he will reverse the tactic back to 4 at the back I can see his next move from the sky and watch us win a game or two before chesleae do the same liverpool did to u… Read more »
I know Arsene badly wants Arsenal to succeed, he is a great man, but as you said, his decisions are beyond baffling. He was extremely stubborn in trying to prove that playing Bellerin out of position is a master stroke.
I think he wants to keep HB happy then trying to be some genius.
He played Bellerine at left back because he was scared of Salaha’s pace.
Wenger didn’t know that Bellerine would have a total stinker against him , Bellerine is so over rated it’s unbelievable.
If you include all the out goings we’ve spent absolutely fa this pre season we are up around £40 mil if Mustafi leaves for the reported £35 mil
I know they said this pre season things would change but I had no idea they meant for the worse.
The club’s in total disarray and a shambles.
You mean the player that’s been awful for almost a year and even worse on the left, Wenger didn’t know he would have a stinker?
It probably was a last ditch effort to retain him. Remember Theo in his last 6 months? Scored a hattrick against Newcastle, signed a deal soon after. Unfortunately Ox just doesn’t want to be a wingback.
Like he will be a CM at chelsea ? are you serious. Conte giving hima chance at CM hahahahah that is a big laugh. Conte would not give a chance in CM to Xhaka, Coq, or ramsey not alone ox
Gunnerdare is right… Obviously position wasn’t the issue
Neither would I after yesterday!
Exactly. If he plays at all, it’ll be at wing back.
Serves him fucking right.
I assume the higher wage he will be receiving will change his mind about being a wing back, even though it wasn’t about the money.
Higher wage, and the chance to win the league. Which he doesn’t have at arsenal for the foreseeable.
What is there to “serve him right” about. He’s seen the writing on the wall at Arsenal. He knows it’s all fucked up. He’s getting out while he can. Credit to him. If i wasn’t married to this club for last 45 years, i’d fucking bail too. I just hope players force through a change of Manager like they did at Chelsea and Leicester. That’s what it’s come to.
It’s weird. Fans curse the club and say it’s going nowhere but at the same time curse any player who doesn’t want to throw his career away on that club. Because that’s what he’d be doing by your own judgement.
I’m not sure it’s my judgement but hey-ho.
What is wrong with ox leaving . No good player with right frame of mind would stay at arsenal . You can be dick about it all you want but unless arsenal weed out there all problem that is the manager we will never challenge the league and our players will keep on moving to greener pastures just like Van persie fabregas nasri Sanchez ozil ox etc .
Thank you
He’s a player that just wants out. Like Muatafi. Like Alexis. Like Ozil. Like Jack…
I want out too, but I can’t. And never will. At least at other clubs you can expect change when shit hits the fan, not get the promise of a catalyst for change followed by utter silence
And the shit really is hitting the fans.
He’s going to Chelsea to win things under a manager who will develop his as a player.
Thanks for reminding me.
Couldn’t agree more.
Ox is like RVP. Ox was good for 2-3 months out of 6 years? Now he thinks he is too good for arsenal so he wants to go. Its so annoying that its making me laugh.
He is nowhere near as good or as important to us as Van persie was
RVP was a slightly better then just 3months out of his Arsenal career. RVP leaving hurt, Ox leaving isn’t. Not because he wants to leave because he just isn’t good enough. The wage he allegedly rejected is insane to offer him. When he leaves the only things we’ll miss from him is his occasional moments during games where we ask ourselves why can’t he do that more often or a string of games where he mostly plays well. The stuff I won’t miss is the games he disappears, moments in games where he makes bad decisions and most of all… Read more »
RVP, Cesc, Henry and others all left the club bcos they knew we weren.t seriously going to compete for the top players and top prizes. Call them whatever u want but they all left to fulfill career ambitions they felt wouldn.t happen with Arsenal. This is still the case.
Mustafi is leaving also, if the transfer rumors are to be believed. He shouldn’t have played either of them yesterday.
He didn’t play Mustafi.
But he put rather him on the bench than our club captain. Which tells you how much he rates Mertesacker. Chambers hasn’t featured at all so I guess that leaves us with Holding and Koscielny as our only cb’s he’s willing to play. One right back and 2 left backs of which one has to help out in the back 3. Means we have 5 players for 5 positions. Thank god we don’t get many injuries here at the Arsenal. ?
Can’t wait for us to announce our untried, untested, short on confidence, budget replacement.
Can’t be any worse than yesterday
Never say never…
It looks like wenger behave with grown man as if they were kids. If their mind is set why try to win them back with playing them. It endangers the club (aka results and seriousness) and our position in the bargaining if we re to sell them.
Bloggs, you ought to publish a book each season of the most up-voted comments. It would be a great record of the season… and a great read!
(Referring to the comment by Stringer Bell above)
Great idea. Certainly would make me try harder with my comments.
I sense there is a lesson in here somewhere…nah, nevermind.
The other tragedy is that we lost Serge Gnabry because we kept giving chances to the Ox that he didn’t deserve. Still, if we get the Ox off our books and end this ridiculous obsession with British players, at least something positive will have come from getting thrashed by Liverpool.
Adios Judas ✌️At this point Koscienly and Sanchez are the only two players I’d fight to keep.
‘Gross misconduct’ – Totally agree. If the line manager invests £50m in equipment and then uses the £16m Manchester reject equipment and the result is an inferior product then surely you need to sack the line manager as nobody will buy the product and the company will go out of business
Historically it has been very difficult to second-guess Wenger, but this season there has been no logic to his team selection. Absolutely bewildering.
Good riddance. No end product, and has clearly lost interest in playing for the club (as shown yesterday).
There’s a difference between wanting to play for Arsenal, and wanting to play for Wenger.
Wenger said last last week that Ox owes it to us to stay because we developed his career… and Ox said no. And he’s not the only one, so it’s pointless to focus our ire on individuals.
This is a damning indictment of Arsene Wenger’s last few years. Letting him sign a new contract is going to cost us a number of players.
That FA cup win is turning more and more into a curse. Had we lost that chances are Wenger wouldn’t haven’t signed a new deal and for as sad as it would have been to seek him leave like that the club might have been turning a new leaf with a new manager and a fresh perspective right now. Much preferred to this shower of shit.
I’m genuinely amazed anyone can think Arsene would have left if we didn’t win the FA cup. He had no intention of leaving regardless of how the season ended.
“I know where I’ll be coaching next season”
“chances are”
Did you read that part of my post or did you just assume I said with certainty that he’d leave?
“He had no intention of leaving regardless of how the season ended.”
Once again, you don’t know that. Unless you haver the ability to hear what he’s thinking and I’m going to assume you don’t have that ability.
‘Can think’…Did you read that part of my post or did you just assume I said that you said with certainty that he’d leave?
You’re taking offence for no reason whatsoever. I wasn’t at all having a go; I just am genuinely amazed that anyone can think that he would have gone. Just my opinion, no idea why it’s wound you up so much.
Fair point Kwame. Pardon my grumpiness.
All grumpiness understandable today….
Wow you guys talking each other down from a message board rant/insult contest was one of the best exchanges I’ve seen on these boards. Respect.
You’re right mate. I was hoping we wouldn’t finish top 4 and then wenger would have to leave. But the lucky bastard won the FA cup and now we have 2 more years of this shite. At least!
This truly is shite and what makes it all the more shite is that it doesn’t have to be like that. We have a great club with a proud history, an amazing stadium, huge fan base, sound economy and more than decent enough players. A couple of them are even world class. This could be so great so why isn’t it? I mean I know why but why would anyone with an ounce of decency choose to stand in the way of that? To those with the ability to influence things, for fucks sake get off your arse and do… Read more »
Regardless if your support Wenger or not, winning the FA cup 3 of the last 4 years is not luck!!!!
Agreed. All of them felt glorious and I have such fond memories of all three of them. Against Hull I had the boys over for a BBQ and a piss up. Aston Villa was me and the girl BBQ’ing and getting pissed. Last year I can’t remember where I was actually. Might have been at work. That one especially was incredible since it was so unexpected. What a day that was! And how soon that fine wine turned to vinegar.
Love the person, don’t love the player. Great dribbler with no end game. That said – if Mustafi does indeed leave as well, Van Dijk and Lemar coming in would be a dream.
I’m the other way round to a degree. I find him a bit childish for his age, which reminds me to much of the ‘banter era’. I love the closeness of a lot of the players, but there’s a time and a place for having a laugh, taking selfies etc and a time to train and focus. We did well clearing a lot of deadwood the last few years..the problem is that a lot of the players with ‘potential’ have become the new deadwood, so we start again clearing out. Ox I would have kept another year, but if he… Read more »
Will people please cop on, van dijk or Lemar are you having a laugh? Why would any top class player join this sinking ship with captain clueless in charge
Exactly. Stop saying, “it’s ok if we use it to being in Lemar, etc, etc” OF COURSE it would be fine in that case. But OF COURSE we’re not signing any top class player between now and Thursday.
Liverpool are going to get Lamar, how sad is that? Sums up everything about our club right now. Zero ambition. The inmates are running the asylum. Crazy
Seriously its not going to happen but not because world class or good players don’t want to join a sinking ship. They will join if there are no options or if the money is there. Seriously though we all know Arsenal (Arsene or whomever is in charge of the transfer budget/philosophy) isn’t going to spend that much on a player during this transfer window lol I would be stunned if that happened. I wouldn’t even know what to think. The money being spent on top players this window won’t be spent by Arsenal until that becomes the norm for 2nd… Read more »
Give me a break.
What top player is going to want to sign for a crisis club like Arsenal?
We cannot even keep crap like Chamberlain much less sign top class replacements.
Crisis is temporary. Bring in a couple of good players who are determined to do well, stitch together a few wins and the good will creeps back in. Arsenal is still one of the biggest football clubs in the world and the followers ‘us’ will make sure it stays that way. COYG!!
You could have said the same about Chelsea and ManU the last couple of years. Did poor EPL results stop top players from joining?
Difference being that those two clubs brought in superstar managers with recent major successes, which would suggest improvement, whereas Arsenal just handed a new (improved) contract to a manager in steady decline.
To be fair Arsenal isn’t in a steady decline. You make it sound like Arsenal is going the way of Liverpool. I know top 4 isn’t always great but the clubs been there year in and year out up until this past season. Now that we dropped out of top 4 I can see the club dropping fast because the core is rotten at this point. The duct tape has finally given out lol
Yeah. A dream. That’s about as close as you’ll get to that happening. And what would it change? Absolutely nothing.
Agree completely. That’s about the only way AW digs his way out of this current hole.
Dream on
Who can blame him?
Burn it all down. Start again.
Wenger Out, Stan Out, Ivan Out, Chips Keswick Out, Dick Law Out, Steve Bould Out, Ozil Out, Sanchez Out, Ox Out….Hell even the medical team Out!!!
Im sick of this Shit, we need change…all round, Top to Bottom change….we need to stand up as Fans and do something about the club….WE ARE THE CLUB…not Wenger, Stan or the Board….WE THE FANS ARE!!! We don’t deserve this, and we need to show that we are not happy…we need to show them that we have a voice, and that they WILL listen…..WE NEED CHANGE!!
But when the protests came for change no one wanted it,at least not a lot were prepared to show it,maybe next time a group wants support for a time for change we will join in,in our 1000s
BURN THEM ALL!!
BURN THEM ALL!!
Wenger is turning into the mad king..
Nice ending wasn’t it. Only problem is now we have to wait 18 months to find out what happens next AGAIN 🙁
Insane that he played yday. But great deal for AFC imo. Get this one done quickly and the club can focus on the larger issues in hand.
why are you ppl so happy about a better deal shit. Stan is making profit already in all his 5 clubs. how could you be happy for his business while its making your team more shit day by day is beyond me
Anyone sad about this? After yesterday, I highly doubt it.
I’d ? to see his reaction when he finds out he’s competing with Moses for RWB and not with Kante, Bakayoko, Fabregas in the middle… & for wages less than the insane sums Arsene offered ???
He doesnt have a problem with wingback. Playing for Wenger is the issue. And we can all undrstand that stand…
You guys seriously think Ox cares about playing wingback or not? He just wants to get away from the catastrophe that is Arsenal under Wenger these days
That is all.
There was a piece in the Guardian today suggesting that Ox doesn’t want to be another Walcott (i.e. an immensely talented player who never quite reaches is potential). That Walcott didn’t turn into a world class player is down most certainly to him mostly and the club slightly…. and though Ox is a different player, it’s a compelling comparison to make.
No, that Walcott didn’t turn into a world class player is down to the fact that he’s not immensely talented, not even close (Ox, on the other hand, is closer).
Agree, lol only thing Walcott had was amazing speed and was a solid finisher with his right foot. Other then that he wasn’t anything put just speed. The worse thing to happen to Walcott was making the MNT at his age he did
Yeah, he’s really going to regret leaving comfy ol’ Arsenal. Imagine, giving up the money to buy a new Lambo every week in exchange for escaping a stagnant club and potentially developing as a footballer by getting new input from one of the best managers in the game, and maybe winning league titles, too. Way rather have 52 Lambos, can never have enough of those.
You’re right. That’s the extent players will go to to get away from this shit. Says it all.
Ox said last season he doesn’t mind wingback though he prefers CM. And you’re right he won’t get what we’re offering at Chelsea cause it’s not about the money. Ox is leaving because he’s Wenger Out. Let that sink in for a second
Nope he’s been very disloyal. Can’t see him getting into Chelsea’s team at all.
I’m delighted. This is crazy money for a very average player in the last year of his contract. We’re fleecing them.
Normally I would have been so happy to take such a huge offer for a player who promises to deliver yet somehow doesn’t kick on.
But in the light of recent events, it doesn’t feel like a move that will go down with Arsenal fans….
Yes he asked for a lot of money that he isn’t worth. And yes 35m is a lot of money. Yet it could strengthen Chelse if they manage to get a tune on him.
I am so confused right now…..Just like how Arsenal are run.
I’m OK with it. He’s good, but nothing special.
Hate this, but we have to do it. Good luck to Ox in all things but his new teams results.
Now get Seri, Carvalho, and Van Dijk. God knows how or why they’d come, but please do it.
That has to be the most naive thing I have read all day.
Are you really believe that we can sign VDV ? we could sign lemar and wenger didn’t met monaco demand and pissed them off, and now he is gone to liverpool, we could sign mbappe but wenger refuste to pay commission to his family o 7-8 mil last year.
If you fans believe that we will sign VDV, draxler od some big names you are far worse than wenger, we will spent the 35mil for Johny evans and that will be it.
Also mustafi going.
True. Surely VD knows that if he comes to us, his reputation as a great CB is gone.
VDV?? Why would we want to sign that grotty ex-spud? ?
As for Virgil Van Dijk, Southampton will need absolutely crazy money to let him go this late. I will be very surprised if we were to do what is needed to get him.
Man. Can you bottle that optimism and send some my way? I am genuinely impressed.
Dreams, Kevin. Wild dreams.
If we sign all of them it might actually make a difference
Good. He can rot in blue for all we care. Sadly he’ll probably have a few laughs with Cesc. Let them both rot.
im told its 75 mill ox and sanchez
Good! Add another 5 or 10 mil and have them both!
The saddest part is the way we would (not) spend that extra 5-10 mil.
Crystal Palace player waiting to happen. Well, Bergkamp-willing at least…
Crystal Palace player waiting to happen.
Whoops, internet lagged and didn’t think my original comment got posted. But I suppose it’s probably a fair sentiment to keep reinforcing; Ox will definitely be at Crystal Palace in two years and this comment won’t come back to bite me in any way… :/