Hello from Singapore : Big Vik progress at last

Good morning from Singapore where I believe it is Wednesday.

I got here yesterday morning having not slept at all on the flights over. No matter how I try, I’m not a plane sleeper. I did get a couple of hours in the hotel before I met Elliot and we went to the stadium to pick up our accreditation for the games here. I suspect tiredness/travel fatigue was an issue as we failed to spot the door which said ‘Media Room’, and ended up down near the player’s tunnel, and eventually in some weird corridor from which there seemed no obvious exit.

Eventually we found our way back, got our passes, and then headed to an event at Molly Malone’s pub, involving the Singapore Supporters Club. There were local fans, and fans who had come from all around – like Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, Australia, New Zealand – and they got some Arsenal legends action when Gilberto and Bacary Sagna took to the small stage with Frimmy. After that, me, James and Elliot did a bit on stage too before a couple of very welcome beers were had.

We had some local knowledge too with Hatta (who does some stuff for Arseblog News), taking us to a food market for an assortment of delicious and quite messy things. Thanks man. After which, I slept and woke up now and as I said, I believe it’s Wednesday. I’m still not 100% convinced though. Thanks to everyone for the kind welcome to Singapore yesterday!

Anyway, as we were doing stuff last night, news emerged that things with Viktor Gyokeres had taken a positive turn, with David Ornstein reporting (£) a conclusion is imminent. Whatever the stumbling block was, we appear to have sorted that out with Sporting, and all going well now we can get this deal well and truly over the line. Perhaps it will all come out in the wash at some point, but it does feel as if the selling club have been difficult rather than this being an issue where Arsenal have dilly-dallied, for example, but in the end what matters is getting the deal completed.

I suspect it’s probably a bit too late for Gyokeres to join up with the tour, but who knows how quickly things might progress. We’ve seen Cristhian Mosquera make his way to Singapore in the last 24 hours despite the fact that the deal hasn’t officially been announced yet, so perhaps there’s some chance the same could apply to the Swedish international. It’s a long way to go to break the ice and probably not play any football, but you wouldn’t put it past Mikel Arteta to insist he becomes part of the group as soon as possible. Let’s see how it goes.

Update: Just saw a headline on the Independent which said Gyokeres would be flying to Singapore to have medicals, but found nothing in the subsequent article about that.

I did think it quite interesting that the manager spoke at a press conference this week about more transfers before the window closed, because, ‘In terms of numbers, we are short, and we have to improve the depth and quality of the squad.’

If we make the assumption that Gyokeres and Mosquera are done deals, that’s six additions this summer, and although there have been some departures, we still have a pretty big squad at this point. At some stage, we need to trim another couple of players before we add any more, but having taken 30 players on tour (albeit with some very young players in the mix), we’re hardly struggling for numbers right now. Could we add a bit more quality? For sure, and I suspect if there’s another signing it’ll be in the forward line, but I struggle to see how we do it without letting someone go – whether that happens first or as a consequence of the new arrival, we’ll have to wait and see.

Anyway, for those who love transfers (and who doesn’t really?), the idea that six is not enough for Arteta this summer should be pleasing. Now it’s about what else happens and when. In the meantime though, the football is starting again, and pre-season begins in earnest tonight in Singapore when we face AC Milan. I’ll be at the game, and we can cover any interesting/stand-out bits from that, and the post-game stuff, in tomorrow’s blog.

I think James and I will have a podcast for you at some point tomorrow too, so hopefully there’s a decent game to talk about later on. For now, I’ll leave it there, and I’m gonna try find some coffee and breakfast.

Have a good one!

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