“Wait, sir, the club leaders pass.”
The owners of Orlando? No, it was Stan and Josh Kroenke who were taken to Orlando’s Exploria Stadium via media input.
He was followed close behind by a smiling Edu, happy to stop and shake hands with the fans. He couldn’t erase the smile from her face. It was the appearance of a man who has just sealed another major signing for Arsenal.
The arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko will put Arsenal at the top of Premier League spending. Zinchenko – who sat in the stands next to Edu as Arsenal beat Orlando City 3-1 in their last pre-season friendly in the United States – represents another deal done relatively quickly, but now it’s sealed, the word is that it has been on the cards for a while.
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Arteta is a big fan and Zinchenko wanted to work with him again after the role of Arteta’s assistant coach at Manchester City.
On Monday, Aaron Ramsdale told me it was important to sign the winners – the England goalkeeper gave a slight push over the deal before recording the interview. Of course, there was also talk of Gabriel Jesus. Jesus and Zinchenko carry their eight Premier League medals with them and countless domestic cup awards.
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Arteta declined to rule out more firmly at his brief post-match press conference, but admitted that the team has started to look a little heavy and some will go ahead.
“We have a great team and now we have to make things happen,” said the Arsenal boss.
“We have a great team, so we’re going to make some decisions even on the players that we don’t use consistently and be fair and straight with them and that’s a process that’s going to start very soon.”
What was learnt against Orlando?
Overall, the win over Orlando represented another good workout for the team. This may interest you : 10 of the most difficult video games in history.
Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson scored the goal while the Gunners won 3-1.
Did Arteta learn much? Perhaps a realization that some of his marginal players might be better elsewhere and something he already knows – he has a gem in Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian striker was very strong when he arrived. The man who signed it, Edu, will talk to me on Saturday …
Rob Holding was shown a yellow card in the first minute and suffered a frustrating hour before being replaced.
Of the marginal players who started the game, Nuno Tavares, Pablo Mari, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sambi Lokonga and Nicolas Pepe did not do enough to make a claim in the opening weekend of Arteta the first 11.
Hector Bellerin had a seven-minute cameo at the end of the game, but is still scheduled to leave.
Another thing to note: Martin Odegaard gave up the bracelet when he arrived in the second half. There has also been no official confirmation, but it looks like Arteta will choose the Norwegian to be the club’s next full-time captain when the season begins.
