Arsenal have been handed a fitness boost after Aaron Ramsey was involved in full training ahead of Sunday’s Premier League opener against Man City.
The Gunners face the champions in Unai Emery’s first game in charge hoping for a good start to the season, so having as many players fit and available as possible is a bonus.
The Welsh international pulled out of the friendly against Chelsea in Dublin last week with a last-minute calf strain, and he also missed the final warm-up game against Lazio in Stockholm.
However, it looks as if he’ll be ready for Sunday and that’s good news. Unai Emery will hold a press conference tomorrow at which we’ll get a full injury update, and news on who might fill it at left-back if Nacho Monreal can’t play – Sead Kolasinac has already been ruled out for two months.
Meanwhile, hopes that the 27 year old was on the verge of committing his future to the club were dampened somewhat by an update from the BBC’s David Ornstein.
In a Tweet dismissing reports of a €100m move for Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele, he said, “#AFC optimistic on Ramsey contract but not close.”
Reports of Arsenal bid for Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele false. As previously reported incoming business completed a month ago. Were open to exceptional deal if chance arose (admire & have links to Dembele) but never realistic. #AFC optimistic on Ramsey contract but not close
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) August 9, 2018
This is contrary to stories from earlier in the week which said we were close. Closer than close. Closer than you could ever imagine us.
So there you go.
What is life.
Haddaway’s cerebral follow-up to What Is Love?
Rosie Gaines-Closer than close, not haddaway, can’t believe nobody noticed!
Me either!
Ramsey don’t hurt me.
(before i get my coat….) “don’t go”
Baby don’t hurt me.
No more.
Life is Life… La la, la la la.
Great. If he’s to leave on a free then let us get every minute out of him.
If he’s to leave for free next year with a nice bosman, he better play on a stretcher.
Ornstein delivering a gut punch there
No new signings today it seems, but a Ramsey plus Nelson contract extension would do just nicely.
I hope it’s not a hurried boost
that’ll end up sending him to roost
What a shame. An above average market by all means.
Agree, Unai in his first year couldn’t demand much more transfer money so he used the little he got wisely. He wouldn’t have done the transfers he did at sny of the top clubs. He would have targeted Vidal instead of Toreira, Pavard or Sidibe instead of Lichst, Maguire instead of Papas. He never did such underwhelming recruitment at PSG.
Torreira a much better signing than Vidal and he would have to pay a ridiculous price for Maguire who defensively is not the finished article as shown at the World Cup. I do agree that a younger and more solid centre half should have been signed. Loaning our best central defender certainly hasn’t helped.
Don’t know why Vidal would be better than Torrreira. Pavard is a centre half by the way. (though he did brilliantly at right back in world cup) We have a potentially brilliant right full already who has lost his way. Lichsteiener is a great signing to challenge/mentor him. Leno’s quality is obvious to Cech at least who has clearly upped his game with the first competition of his AFC career. Centre half is a worry undoubtedly but we have to hope Sokratis beds in quickly & Mustafi improves dramatically. Guendouzi has masses of potential. Might not ready yet but better… Read more »
Let’s hope Nelson stays on and takes the next step in quality- between that and shoehorning in Ozil, Mkhi, Auba, and Iwobi we’ve got a number of players comfortable playing outside even if they’re not natural to providing real width. Our flying Spaniards are going to continue to be busy it seems
Ahh transfer deadline… Or as Arsenal fans call it… Thursday.
This summer on the transfer front has been efficient, functional and underwhelming, which isn’t an endorsement or a real criticism either.
But Kroenke taking us private has turned it into a disastrous summer.
Suppose I’ll just have to try and enjoy the football, whilst trying to forget that I’ll be part funding Kroenke’s purchase with every penny I spend on the club.
It’s so frustrating….. I have nothing but pure hatred towards KSE, which really isn’t healthy or productive…
I don’t often agree with you Rich but with you all the way on this
If we are close to closing then we should bring the matter to a close
A boost from a SQUAD perspective, but truth be told our best and most efficient starting 11 does not include him. Sorry, I know it’s not a popular opinion…
He’ll have a belter in the first half of the season and then have the club over a barrel. The Ozil and Sanchez sagas have created the precedent that, unlike at most clubs, we won’t sell players even if they enter their last 12 months. That means come January will have a lot of leverage.
Arsenal will not make Top 4. Infact, there is a big chance we might finish behind Everton. We’ll be scrapping with the likes of Everton, Wolves and Burnley.
Anyone being optimistic clearly didn’t learn anything from last season.
Arguably City and ‘pool look good at the moment, but not sure that the other top-six sides are stronger than Arsenal. United is being maureen’ed. Chelsea lost their no 1, new manager, etc. And Tots, who are entering a period of belt tightening, haven’t (so far) strengthened.
Trez and fat gooner are the biggest pair of melts here..
The truth is a painful thing to swallow.
There’s no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you’ll fiiiiiiiiiind
We are certainly not worse than last season and so cannot think why you think that.
Yawn. Pool and Citeh are strong. United have Mourinho ruining them from the inside out, Chelski haven’t strengthened and Spurs still only have Kane. Get over yourself.
Ramsey is a plus if we get him on the new contract.
Ozil and Mhki play relatively similar roles. BOTH are close to 30 and beyond.
I think Mikhi and Ozil have a better sense of space than Ramsey, and will stay out of one another’s way. That said, new year, new manager. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out and optimistic that we’ll rotate and be fresh in midfield for the entire season!
Looks like we have prioritized tying down players on long term deals.
With Adidas coming in from next year we can expect some big signings. We need to go all out for PL and at the very least finish in top 4.
Let’s forget about FA cup and Carabao cup.
We have Welbeck, Campbell and Iwobi. It’s a good window if we manage to keep these 3 as squad players instead of selling/loaning someone to balance the books.
Also, quality scouting is back again. Very impressed with Guendouzi.
Squad as it stands :
………………………………….Laca/Welbeck…………………………………..
Auba/Iwobi…………………………………………………………..Mhki/Nelson
………………………………….Ozil/Ramsey…………………………………….
………………..Granit/Guendouzi………..Torreira/Elneny……………………
AMN/Kola/Monreal………………………………………….Bellerin/Lichsteiner
………………….Sokratis/Holding…………Mustafi/Mavro……………………
………………………………….Cech/Leno/Emi………………………………….
Nelson and Iwobi in particular will have to give us width. They have something to offer this season but not ideal.
Ramsey is frankly an alternate to Ozil.
AMN I suppose is utility.
Welbeck and Elneny may move subject to offers but unlikely.
Nketiah also on peripheral as Smith-Rowe but risk in bigger matches and will not feature regularly apart from maybe League cup.
Cback partnership. Yikes.
Thanks for the awesome reference, Blogs. I think you should try shoehorning these in on a regular basis.