Arse Blog

Morning all. A quick Saturday round-up for you, and there’s only one place to start and that’s the world’s hottest striker, Mikel Merino, doing it again for Spain last night. Just as he did against Portugal earlier in the week, he came off the bench to save us all from injury time in a game that wasn’t particularly enthralling. Spain went ahead in the first half through Fabian Ruiz, but a really nice header from Charlie Kettle drew Belgium level before the break.

Morning all. Blogs is on the golf course early this morning, so you’ve got me filling in from an oven-like London. I guess we should start with the signing of Illan Meslier, whose arrival on a free transfer was confirmed by the club yesterday. The Frenchman clearly lost his way at Elland Road. He was Daniel Farke’s undisputed first-choice goalkeeper before a series of high-profile mistakes during the 2024/25 campaign saw him taken out of the firing line as Leeds chased promotion.

Welcome to another episode of the Arsecast – the original Arsenal podcast. In this episode I’m joined by Kaya Kaynak to talk about Arsenal’s pursuit of Bruno Guimaraes who has told Newcastle he wants to leave to join the champions. It has all the  hallmarks of a protracted saga, so we examine it from all sides, and try and work out what this deal might cost in the context of other central midfield transfers this summer and in recent seasons.

It is safe to say that Arsenal are a secure team in possession. Many mis-characterise Arsenal’s defensive solidity as a matter of shape. Pundits who, frankly, for the money they earn and the ease of the job they do (and I am well positioned to say football analysis is a very cushy job!) should have a better handle on why Arteta’s team don’t give many chances away. It is not because their shape is conservative- Champions League Final aside. It is not.

Morning all. Let’s start with news that emerged via David Ornstein yesterday that Bruno Guimaraes has told Newcastle he wants to leave this summer to join Arsenal. We’ve known since last month that we’ve had a real interest in the Brazilian midfielder, and this is part of how this deal might happen if it goes ahead. As yet it appears there hasn’t been ‘club to club contact’, which means this stuff has come about at the behest of agents and intermediaries.

Morning. Let’s start with a bit of Arsenal stuff before we look back on yesterday’s World Cup action, and it looks as if the first addition of the summer will be a goalkeeper. Reports emerged yesterday that former Leeds man Illan Meslier will be joining the club after his contract at Elland Road expired on June 30th. The 26 year old played 215 games for Leeds after joining them from Lorient in 2019, 107 of those coming in the Premier League.

Morning all. Let’s start with the Arsenal interest in yesterday’s games, and it came in the reliable, handsome shape of Mikel Merino. Spain versus Portugal was billed by the RTE commentators at kick-off as the ‘Iberian Classico’, but it was anything but a classic. This was not a good game at all really. Spain missed a really good first half chance when Mikel Oyarzabal fired wide, Portugal hit the bar at one point, but overall it was low quality fare.

Welcome to another Arsecast Extra, the Arsenal podcast, with myself and James from @gunnerblog. In this episode we chat about World Cup goings on, starting with England’s impressive 3-2 win over Mexico at the Azteca, and Norway’s win over Brazil – both games had Arsenal players involved and we chat about Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.

Morning. I suspect there’ll be a few tired readers this morning who still have to go about their Monday duties despite staying up late to watch England last night. I was not one of those, choosing to get some sleep and catch up on things when I woke up, and the World Cup continues for Thomas Tuchel’s side and the Arsenal lads involved after a 3-2 win at the Azteca.

Happy Sunday everyone. Let’s start with some Arsenal news today, because there actually is some involving the likely departure of Leandro Trossard. Over the years, we have heard many, many transfer rumours from Turkey, and I think it’s fair to say the hit rate on them has been low. Negligible even. So, when the Belgian was linked with a move there, I could see how it might have some logic to it, but I wasn’t expecting anything concrete to develop.