Friday morning done deal: Arsenal finally seal deal for £50m world class striker,who was the highest goalscorer for His club last season, Medical team set to welcome him today
Word on the Tweet is Arsenal star will exit to Monaco. There is a verbal agreement between the French club and Arsenal and the fee being mooted is about €45M.
Is this the best fee we could get? Well clearly. It feels a bit low in a world that contains Todd B.
So why do I like it? Well, Folarin can’t hurt us in Monaco. The big fear when you let a kid leave is they come back and haunt you in important games. Samir Nasri and Adebayor spring to mind. By going to Monaco, we don’t have to see him every week, and the bonus is that if he is eventually sold by a notorious selling club we’ll get a lovely kickback that’ll make up for the lack of a Premier League fee.
My gut says that if no one in the Premier League fancied him, no one thought he was at the level to do the job for them. Strikers are at a premium always, if Palace thought he was good enough for 25 goals this season, he’d have been playing against us on Monday.
It pains me to see him go, but Eddie is better than him.
I don’t really like the narrative of ‘HE DIDN’T WANT TO FIGHT FOR HIS PLACE’ because that would assume he had a chance. Timing is everything in elite sport and I don’t think that’s on his side for an Arsenal career. Eddie is way ahead of him, Jesus is a monster, and it’s clear that if those two don’t bang we’ll move on Ivan Toney or Evan Ferguson.
Eddie has been very good this season. No one fancies him, but Arteta does. I loved this comment from him in The Telegraph.
“I always try to train like a beast at Arsenal and give my all every time whether I’m playing or not. That’s the mentality I have. I train full gas because I think if you train well most of the time it reflects in the match. That’s the way I look at football and life.”
“You have to try and turn your situation around through hard work and showing your quality. That’s the mentality I have and always grown up with. Where I grew up, feeling sorry about yourself doesn’t get you anywhere. That’s a value and motivation that’s been instilled in me from young by my family. ”
“Where I grew up, no one cares if you’re upset, it doesn’t get you where you want to be so I think through hard work and resilience, you’ll get to where you want to get to. It might not happen straight away but over time you’ll get your rewards.”
Matt Kandela delivered me the best piece of advice I’ve had in two years when I was making excuses about failing (legitimate excuses, like ‘new baby’). He said, ‘No one cares. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you can make a choice about whether you’re going to work through your excuses. Either way, no one cares about the reasons you are failing.’ Brutal, but true. Now every time I moan about something, I doubletake.
I’m like, three years older than Eddie, so it’s wild that he has that level of maturity. Good on him, let’s see a BIG season from him, and hope he gets to where he needs to be career-wise.
Kieran Tierney has exited the club, he’s going to Real Sociedad for the season. He’s moving for minutes and Champions League. I can’t lie, the idea of Keiran Tierney speaking Espanol has me excited. That taste palette of his is going to get a severe working. No more Tesco bags for that boy, it’s El Corte Inglés all the way. I’m glad he landed his move, he’s a top player, just not suited to the system.
There are only three more players that need exiting now – Cedric, Pepe, and Rob Holding. The first two feel like TERMINATION BY MUTAL CONSENT. Not sure what’s happening with Rob. He’ll make a top centre-back for someone. Not sure why his agent hasn’t exited him yet.
I don’t think Big Mo is going to go, he’s there for the culture. He has no ambition to be anything more than a squad player and everyone at the club adores him. People don’t like that, but it’s hard to knock Arteta and the culture he’s building. He’s been a monster for 2 years, if he wants to keep Mo, he’s earned the right to do that.
Right, I think that’s all we have. Jump into our weekly round-up and tell us what you think!
P.S. Remember when people were telling you Jesus was out for 8 weeks and I said, no, he’ll be on the bench for Palace. I was wrong, but he is back in full training this week and could be on the bench for Fulham.
