STM

Some great content that. Got to see the first time Botman met Ashworth and Nickson face to face (although I'm sure there would have been a facetime or two), probably Mehrdad too. I don't think it's a case of him bringing his family with him, I suspect his family are invited by the club, the same with Bruno. It seems a brilliant way of making a player feel welcome, by inviting his family to come and see the stadium etc. Wouldn't be surprised if the club didn't lay on some dinner in hospitality or something too. The club is being run in an entirely different way.

Wonder if he jumped or was pushed. Golden handshake me thinks. Another department that needed serious upgrading, I reckon we will see a physio team come in.

He won't.

He's had a few interviews with him and fair play, he's asking decent questions in front of a camera and a crowd of people, he's done well to keep his nerve.

Knowing Eddie Howe he won't play the starting 11 on the final pre season game. He likes to keep an element of surprise. That said, there aren't that many decisions to be made, as things stand; Pope Trippier Schar/Burn Botman Targett Bruno Shelvey Joelinton Fraser Wilson ASM

I might be wrong but we're Manquillo, Darlow and Clark all missing from the returnees today? I wonder if they are the first ones out of the door.

Liverpool, City, Chelsea and Spurs will have top 4 nailed down next year, which means regardless of anything Arsenal and Man Utd will be considered in crisis. In this scenario ETH will rightly get another season because he's got shitloads to do but Arteta will get sacked. We need to aim for 7th and I will say it until we are blue in the face. We are competing with West Ham and Leicester for that spot and alot will come down to who gets the most results against the top 6.

it's been too long in hearing your voice.

He seems like a right fucking hard nut. He's only 22 but has the jaw of a superman cartoon. I liked his Van Dijk answer. "I'm not that good yet", was the perfect response.

The club seemed fairly confident they were signing Ekitike and if you go somewhere in between the 30m that's been reported and the 15m that Edwards claim, lets say that's 20m. We were being linked with some fairly big names regardless of whether Ekitike was happening; DCL, Diaby, Raphinha for example. Let's say for arguments sake that they were prepared to pay 30m for Diaby (conservative estimate), that in my mind says we have at least 50m kicking around potentially.

We will sign at least one quality attacking player this window and when we do that I will be more than satisfied with the spending we have done in the first 2 windows. That said, I can see there being 3 more for the first team squad. 1 big signing and 2 more with scope for the future. To be honest I'm already in dreamland and any cunt in here even hinting towards any negativity wants a slap in the face. This is ace compared to the last 16 years (that's right, pre Ashley was spiralling down hill). We've already come on miles, we have plenty of miles yet to travel and I'm just here for the ride. HWTFL.

Don't think Richie is leaving.

Aye, I'm desperate for some Botman content.

Someone abducted Lukes twitter. No mention of a restricted budget.

Personally think it's fantastic. Been wondering when they would just use the same technology on offsides as they do on goal line tech. They just need to get it so that it runs smoothly and quickly and doesn't go to VAR.

There are black stripes on the training gear, if you look closely. Looks nice.

Hellao Callum you sexy thing.

Oh goodie, we get to watch all the shite players train.

I thought training starts today?

Smart move.

Been planning sessions for tommorow.

I did a list of domestic options in January amongst players who I deemed realistic, if we didn't sign Botman or Carlos and Dan Burn was one of the names I mentioned (okay, I got lucky). With that I mind I thought I'd have another crack, focusing exclusively on players who play on the wing or up front. Arsenal: Pepe (high wages, perhaps a loan) Aston Villa: None Bournemouth: Solanke Brentford: Toney Brighton: Trossard Chelsea: RLC, CHO,Broja, Ziyech (loan) and Pulisic (loan) Crystal Palace: Eze, Zaha Everton: Gordon, DCL Fulham: None Leeds: Harrison, Bamford, James, Geldhart Leicester: None Liverpool: None Man City: Cole Palmer Man Utd: None Forest: Johnson Southampton: None Spurs: Moura, Bergwijn West Ham: None Wolves: Jimenez, Neto, Hwang Conclusion, lads we are going to have to shop abroad.

Pie in the sky stuff about him wanting to stay in London, who knows what he wants? Eriksen would be a dream signing but I'd be genuinely floored if he joined us. Yeah of course we are a decent option for him but you can't tell me that one of the "big six" hasn't already sounded him out. I'm absolutely sure that one of them will have already sorted stuff out with him. Don't be surprised to see him rock up at Liverpool or whatever. He's an absolute no brainer.

Over paying by 20m in my mind. Richarlison is good but has a lot of flaws in his game.

I AM reasonably content with our centre midfield, baring in mind the same midfield contributed to 6 months of top 4 form. 6 months IS sustained form, it's not a purple patch, it's their genuine capabilities. Saying we have weakness in centre midfield is fine but we have weaknesses in every position on the pitch if you want to go through it with a fine tooth comb and considering CM a priority over RW or ST is madness IMO. FWIW, I do think we will get another CM in during this window but I imagine it will be a younger player who will come into the squad to grow. Don't expect a big star signing unless we get Eriksen. Before you get all defensive, nobody is saying our CM is perfect or couldn't be improved but isn't this thing about growth and window by window getting better and better in each area of the pitch? Let's get those two attacking players in and see how things play out until January. If by then it's clear that Bruno needs company in terms of proper top quality, we can start looking at Paqueta or someone else. The point is, we can't do it all in one go.