The arrival of Gabriel Jesus may be hogging the headlines, but Mikel Arteta is similarly excited about goalkeeper Matt Turner and attacking midfielder Fabio Vieira.
The former arrives from MLS franchise New England Revolution after talks in January while the latter joined in a deal that could be worth up to €40 million after double-quick negotiations with Porto.
While both men have their work cut out breaking into the first team, Arteta has already been won over by their qualities during the scouting process.
“I’m really happy,” the boss told Arsenal.com when asked about the club’s transfer business so far.
“Matt is a deal we did in January. We identified the possibility to strengthen the team in a position we believe was necessary.
“You will get to know him, a great character, a really special person with qualities in that goalkeeping area that we don’t have, he’s going to make the group and the team better.”
Arteta added: “In the case of Fabio, again, a talent that when I started to look at him, I said, ‘This is the type of player that I feel represents the way I want to play and the type of player we should have.”
“I was on the phone with him, Edu was on the phone with him and we were all really impressed with his maturity at his age, because it’s not long ago that he’s made his debut with Porto, but again, he fits in our model, the way we want to play, the project that we are in and I’m really excited with him as well.”
With pre-season training starting in earnest this week, first at London Colney and then adidas HQ in Germany, attention now turns to readying all the players for the first game of the season against Crystal Palace.
After a disappointing end to last season, the boss thinks everyone is re-energised.
“I think the energy in the building was terrific today, everybody is willing to start,” he noted.
“We know the season we have is so exciting, the new faces help, we’ve made some changes around the staff as well. We know it’s going to be really demanding, but I think we’re in a good place to start.”
I sincerely hope the energy in the squad is just as terrific today as it was yesterday.
Cant wait for this season. Super excited for Europa league too. More minutes for the boys to bond on the field.
I just hope Arteta has the bravery to rest big players on Europa nights. It’s really easy to say we can put the kids out in the group stages but in reality, managers rarely are willing to take the risk. Emery used to take his strongest side everywhere with him.
Just don’t be surprised if you lose your mind in November when Partey and Saka travel to Estonia to play FC Cocknballs.
You kind of feel with Viera that they just really like the player. It’s not necessarily a vital piece of the puzzle and they aren’t thinking too deeply about who he can replace and where he can fit in.
He’s just a very promising player at a pretty decent price who they really like the look of.
And you can’t have enough quality players in any side.
Pretty decent price for Porto! Has gone for more than Odegaard with far less experience and not even a full season as part of a first team under his belt. Not talking him down, I’m excited to see him, but we paid top dollar.
Virtually all the teams that finished above us will be stronger than they were last season. The jury is still out on Chelsea though. Their defence needs a near complete make over considering the bodies that have gone. They might just be vulnerable. For us, I don’t think we can enter the new season with supreme confidence of breaking into the top 4 if we do not bring in more quality signings. There are big gaps yet to be filled if you ask me. Cedric, Tavares and Xhaka, to mention a few, need upgrading. The forward line still looks light… Read more »
Remember this is football, not everything happens the same every season.
Man Utd finished 2nd ahead of Liverpool in the season before last, then added Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Verane. This time last year you might be saying we have no chance against them.
Obvs very keen too add some more bodies, but we’ve already made some fantastic signings, Jesus is massive! The whole team will also learn and grow from last whilst others go over the hill.
I wouldn’t be too sure Liverpool will be stronger. Don’t underestimate how big a loss Mane might be & a large number of their key players are late 20s/early 30s. They have been relentless the last few seasons, I have a feeling their levels will drop.
Great comment.
The history of Klopp sides are just as you suggest. Takes a few seasons to get his style. Once the players “get it”, they’re amazing for 2 seasons. Then, everyone breaks down b/c the way they play is unsustainable.
Mane indeed is a huge loss. Jota a good player, but nowhere close to Mane.
It doesn’t hurt to have the Bergkamp and the Henry though.
Because your neighbour has (almost) finished building his house and installed an 80+ inches QLED tv doesn’t mean you need to get one too for your unplastered house.
I think Man City are at a different development stage compared to us.
Let’s not get greedy too soon.
Perspective is important. Without it people just get unhinged.
Happy with this one, but is it just me or are we still desperately short a ball carrying midfielder? We seem to be chasing Martinez in defence but someone along side Partey us what we need, right?
We are very short of a backup to Partey. 2.4 points a game when he played last season, 0.8 when he didn’t.
Arsenal is rumoured to sign Tielemens who will be a good partner to Patey lying deep, will distribute the ball well and can definitely intercept runs and passes from the opposition side.
I would definitely prefer a strong physical presence up front or in the CDM to withstand any bullying which Arsenal have been lacking for some time.
I think the bullying thing is over now
A ball carrying midfielder should have been the priority anlogside a striker.
We can do so much better than Xhaka
When there’s confirmation that it isn’t a Sp*rs player and Granit is on hols, it doesn’t look too good.
But it’s still total speculation and guesswork.
But if it were true, we are so fucking screwed.
‘When there’s confirmation that it isn’t a Sp*rs player’
Sorry, didn’t see this – confirmed how ?
Paul O’Keefe, who is very closely linked with Sp*rs, stated on Twitter it wasn’t a spud.
I dunno. A lot of shit being flung around and treated as gospel. God bless Twitter!
I had a quick Google earlier and whilst won’t name names here, Internet says it’s a spurs player.
If one of our players is involved, yes arrest him. Don’t care who, don’t need them in the team.
Twitter is a cesspool. No matter who the player is he deserves to have his name withheld until there are charges brought against him.
Has he been named on Twitter?
If so, who is it?
I don’t know, I’m not on Twitter. Was just making a point because someone above said they were naming players on it.
Always remember that absolutely everything on Tw@ter is somebody’s opinion, no more, no less.
Thus, if you just assume that everything you see from that source is opinionated bollocks, you’ll be right at least 99% of the time.
I avoid Twitter, I don’t even have an Facebook account. I don’t get the fascination with it.
Not all accusations of this type are true. There is a particular social media personality who has been accusing various members of an international football team which one of Arsenal’s players is a member (and assorted other prominent people from her country), of all manner of impropriety with her. In fact, she thrives on all the attention and appears to be making a living from it, with new accusations against different people coming out on an almost monthly basis. All are total nonsense, and when proven false, she blames it on being bipolar and on being on medication, then moves… Read more »
Dhaka has been good for two seasons now but need to be changed, we need another style player who is more dynamic and direct, can defend well and replace partey when he isn’t available. We probably lost up to 6 points due to Tierney’s absence, we need a better cover. Admittedly, the team is getting better, we just need addition of one more goalscorer, LFB and DM
We should go for Damsaard the Denmark player
Isn’t he a bit similar to Vieira Francesc?
I reckon both Vieira and Turner will both get a decent share of game time in this coming season.
The funniest right now must be Chelsea seriously contemplating Ronaldo on their team. Way to go to undermine any idea Tuchel might have for building a team that is competitive in both PL and CL.
Not that I’m complaining. I hope it happens.
Ronaldo behaving like the proverbial spoilt bastard he is.
You would think that a player in the twilight of his playing days, such as he is, had joined his ‘parent’ club to round off an admittedly incredible career in – much as we all hate Man Utd – an admirable, dignified fashion.
Nope.
Mr ‘Me First’ himself wants ECL football and to Hell with admiration, dignity and, it would appear, any self respect.
I sincerely hope he goes to Chelsea too – they’re perfect for each other. Flash Trash.
He’ll last a year there and Tuchel will demand either him or Ronaldo with the hopes that Christiano is over the hill enough to get booted out in a fittingly undignified fashion. Preferably with Chelsea languishing at sixth or seventh.
two problems with these moves, the Turner acquisition, albeit a fairly competent Keeper, shouldn’t have been completed until Leno was sold on…secondly, Vieira might be a tidy player, but he’s most impactful when playing in more central spaces, in the opposition’s final third, which certainly hasn’t been something that Arteta has focused on since his arrival…not to mention, this is where ESR is most effectively deployed, yet he’s been shoehorned out wide or come off the bench ever since Ode was brought in on loan…just think he was a luxury buy that should have been placed on the backburner until… Read more »
Totally Agree on ESR point.
Dude, for us it’s a squad game now.
“The Next Level.”
The more tactical variations to keep the opposition guessing that Arteta has at his disposal, the better. 😉