RAIDERS OF THE LOST PSR CLUBS

Good afternoon, dearest friends! Sorry for the slowdown of content this week. I’m getting my bearings after suffering from a bit of a post-season downer syndrome. You know the feeling: football is gone, transfers haven’t started up again, and you’re in a ‘should I get into international football’ purgatory mindset. It’s all a bit awful.

But… fear not. We’ll start cracking into transfers when I have the mental energy to up my game.

First up today, Lucas Paqueta has been charged with betting on himself to get bookings.

”The FA has been looking into allegations that Paquetá deliberately picked up yellow cards against Leicester, Aston Villa, Leeds and Bournemouth in 2022 and 2023. The governing body said in a statement that the Brazil international was suspected of directly seeking to “influence the progress, conduct, or any other aspect of, or occurrence in these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from the booking”

I don’t want to sound incredibly ignorant about the problem of gambling. We all have friends who take things too far and spend too much on it. But generally, my friends who gamble do it because the extra cash from a win can change their month. Is it the vice of elite-level athletes because you get a high by showing up to training the next day and delivering? Even if it is… why would someone on the cusp of a £300k a week contract at a mega-club risk it all to bet on themselves?

I doubt this accusation will be the last. This problem is likely far more prevalent in the game than is apparent. Betting apps, offshore bank accounts, and an abundance of betting fixers make it easier than ever to get a hit. I’m glad the FA is alert to these sorts of problems, especially if it’s interfering with the integrity of the game, but I am a little concerned that clubs might not have much of a grip on player behaviour - because there are no signs someone has the gambling bug. It’s not like booze or drugs. Quite scary.

Talking of gambling, a lot of Premier League clubs took PSR up to the line over the past few seasons. The books need to be in order by the end of June. That means there will be some deals to be had in the short term.

Above is a list of clubs that are dicing with financial death this summer.

• Forest

• Chelsea

• Villa

• Wolves

• Newcastle

• Everton

RIP to the Championship clubs in trouble, but the Premier League clubs have ways to move out of the red… selling some of their big names. No one wants a points deduction, it’s an embarrassing stain on reputation, and it fucks with the focus of the club. So in short, expect some big sales, maybe even some unexpected ones.

Arsenal could move for names at most of those clubs - but I think their focus will be on midfielders Douglas Luiz, Amadou Onana, and Bruno Guimarães. I’m not quite sure Newcastle will entertain selling us one of their gems if they have any hope of getting back to the top next season - I also have doubts we’ll want to spend £100m in any position this summer. Onana was heavily linked in January, but I really doubt he’s at the level we’re looking for. Spurs sign £60m destroyers - and that’s what he is. I can’t buy that there’s a level we’re not seeing. Douglas Luiz is an interesting player. He’s been a star at Villa and captures exactly the type of players Arteta and Edu likes. Robust, athletic, intelligent, and extremely good in all aspects of his game. He signed a new deal when we were interested last season, which no doubt came with a release clause we’re not aware of.

Winger-wise, there’s only one club in the league that has a player that ticks all the boxes: Wolves. Pedro Neto is exactly what we want. He’s not coming to sit on the bench, he’s coming to give us more options for Bukayo Saka next season. He’s explosive, unreal in tight spaces, deadly with his passing, and he looks up. There is no doubt about his talent, but there has to be deep fears about signing a back-up to Saka that has hamstrings built more sensitively than an IED trip wire. Are we really going to go big for a player who has averaged 1093 minutes a season over the past 3 years? I hope not… but I gotta be honest, I fear it.

Am I interested in Chelsea players? After righting the balance of total shit / total amazing with Kai and Jorginho, you’re damn right I’m interested in their squad of kids. I’m just not sure who is available or what crazy financial moves Chelsea will pull to escape punishment. They’re moving like Barcelona in the 2023 summer of financial levers, and they’re pulling on lever 27 if they’re going to deliver a summer of monster signings like Oshimen. Is Caicedo on the market? Would Arteta punt on Mudryk? I can’t lie - Nico Jackson reminds me of Adebayor before he banged. Under a coach that understood him, could he be, you know, quite good?

Who knows… but there’s some food for thought.

So… did you like that blog? Good, good. I’ll be putting stuff like this behind a wall over the next few weeks. There will still be plenty of free stuff, but a few of the chonkier pieces will get the paywall treatment. If you subscribe to Le Grove this season, you’ll get all the Patreon podcasts as part of your deal. So, to put that in perspective, over the past 17 years, I’ve averaged 329 blog posts a year, and we drop about 180 podcasts a year. $5 a month for all that. Pretty good IMO. Have a think on it, if you don’t like it, there’ll be plenty of the free stuff to keep you entertained.

P.S. Check out my appearance on the TWA podcast with Sascha and Sham. There’s also our last On The Whistle (Late Edition) below that.