Arsenal might have completed the signing of Martin Odegaard this week, with Aaron Ramsdale to follow suit shortly, but this season already looks like we’re going to see more of the same from Mikel Arteta’s side.
We touched on the sad state of affairs at the Emirates in last week’s newsletter, highlighting a worrying lack of progress in the transfer window ahead of their humbling 2-0 loss to Brentford in their Premier League opener.
It seems almost fitting then, that Odegaard was signed too late for him to feature against Chelsea on Sunday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was one of four players to test positive for Covid-19 before the Bees clash, should be available for selection, but the captain’s form has been awful in recent months – and Alexandre Lacazette is still recovering from coronavirus.
Arteta has been looking for positives of course, but his assertion that fans will “love” Ramsdale once he arrives was more amusing than comforting. Ramsdale might be a wonderful person, but one doubts the Gunners faithful will “love” their club spending £30 million on a back-up goalkeeper.
Things will get better soon though, right?
Unlikely. Chelsea’s new signing Romelu Lukaku is fit and ready to play on Sunday – as is N’Golo Kante – and anything other than another loss for Arsenal would come as a massive shock.
They then take on West Brom in the Carabao Cup in midweek – a match Odegaard could feature in – but the Baggies have been in fine goalscoring form, notching 13 in their last four matches.
▪︎ By Goal.com Newsletter