“Stand back, sir, the club executives are passing.”
Orlando owner? No, it was Stan and Josh Kroenke being led into Orlando’s Exploria Stadium through the media entrance.
Close behind them is a smiling Edu, happily stopping to shake hands with fans. You can’t wipe the smile off his face. That’s the look of a man who just signed another big deal for Arsenal.
The arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko will put Arsenal at the top of Premier League spending. Zinchenko – who sat in the stands with Edu as Arsenal beat Orlando City 3-1 in their latest pre-season friendly in the United States – represents another deal that was done relatively quickly but it’s now sealed, which in turn means it’s been on the cards for a while time.
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Mikel Arteta calls Oleksandr Zinchenko a ‘special player’ as Ukrainian players near completion of move to Arsenal
Arteta is a huge fan and Zinchenko would like to work with him again following Arteta’s assistant coach role at Manchester City.
On Monday, Aaron Ramsdale told me it was important to sign the winners – the England goalkeeper offered a little incentive on the deal before we recorded the interview. Of course, he was also talking about Gabriel Jesus. Jesus and Zinchenko carry eight Premier League medals and countless domestic cup trophies.
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Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale reflects on the signing of Gabriel Jesus, his first season at the club and what he must do to get a chance to play for England at the World Cup
Arteta refused to rule out more signings during his post-match press conference but admitted the squad is starting to look a bit heavy and some will continue.
“We have a big squad and now we have to make things happen,” the Arsenal boss said.
“We have a big squad so we also have to make some decisions about the players we’re not going to use consistently and fairly and be frank with them and it’s a process that will start.” very early.”
What was learned against Orlando?
Overall, the win over Orlando represented another good workout for the team.
Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson scored to give the Gunners a 3-1 win.
Did Arteta learn much? Perhaps realizing that some of his fringe players might be better elsewhere and something he will know – he has a gem in Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian striker was very sharp when he was introduced to the field. The man who signed him, Edu, will speak to me on Saturday…
What else have we seen?
Rob Holding was shown a yellow card in the first minute and spent an uncomfortable hour before being substituted.
Among the fringe players starting the game, Nuno Tavares, Pablo Mari, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sambi Lokonga and Nicolas Pepe didn’t have enough bets on Arteta 11’s opening weekend.
Hector Bellerin had a seven-minute guest appearance at the end of the game but was still expected to leave.
Another note: Martin Odegaard handed the captain’s armband when he came on in the second half. There hasn’t been any official confirmation yet, but it looks like Arteta will choose the Norwegian as the club’s next full-time captain when the season kicks off.
