Happy Friday friend. Hopefully you are looking forward to the weekend?

I had a moment of weakness yesterday whilst watching Portugal against Poland. I thought “imagine if Lewandowski decided he didn’t want to play in England and City, Chelski and United had all played their cards, leaving us open to going for him” and for a minute or two, dared to dream about the possibility of a world-class striker spearheading our attack. It gave be butterflies in my stomach and for those fleeting moments, I was a happy football fan, enjoying a game in which I was not really remotely invested in.

But then I picked up my phone and had a flick through some social feeds, as well as reading a few Arsenal related news pieces, to see the reality of what we’re looking at right now. I think it would be fair of me to say that Arsène’s record in Japan is hardly inspiring, so the idea of us switching our attention to a young 21-year-old from the other side of the planet is enough to turn to those butterflies I mentioned into hard pieces of limestone.

To be fair to the Evening Standard, the article does state that the striker would not be Arsenal’s only attacking signing, that they would also look for another high-profile move. But my only worry that this might not be the case, is down to the fact that the player would have to be registered as one of our 25 players in the Arsenal squad. He’s not ‘home grown’ and His 22nd birthday is in November, so he’ll be 22 by then, which I’m assuming means he’ll have to be counted as one of the 25 registered players. In addition, we already have a number of strikers, so I can’t really see Arsène going for two players in that central attacking role. Certainly not whilst we have the possibility of Welbeck coming back by Christmas (har-har).

So if this interest is genuine and we do get the player, that will put massive pressure on him, Arsène and the club. Especially the first time that we draw a blank. It doesn’t matter whether in isolated situations both Benzema and Higuain may have potentially missed the same chance Giroud does, the accusation of parsimony on the part of the manager will ring out from all corners of the Arsenal fanbase. There will always be the “but what if” purely because Arsène didn’t go big on that elite striker we’ve craved for so many years.

Anyway, there’s probably not a lot of point in me fretting until we know what the true situation is, which probably won’t happen until the first week of September sadly. So I, like many of you guys, should probably just chill for now. Let’s worry about the situation when we get towards the last weekend in August, eh? 

I know, I know, it’s easier said than done. But we’ll only drive ourselves mad with the uncertainty, then madder with rage if the player does come in soon and we start to believe he’s the only incoming we’ve got this summer.

The other option of course, which is one that does probably excite a bit more, is that we’re looking at getting goals from elsewhere. That’s something that Tim Stillman talked about in his Thursday Arseblog column and quite frankly, that’s an option that does fill my heart with a lot more happiness, especially when names like Draxler and Mahrez are being used to describe that position. The idea that we could flank Giroud with Alexis and Draxler is a mouthwatering prospect. The German is super-talented, has been supposedly on our radar before and has pace about him too. He’s also having an impact at these Euro’s, so whilst that puts him in the public eye a little more, it also excites me that we could have a sniff around to see what his availability is. 

He’s been linked with United, but it seems they’re all but done on Mkhitayran (another option I’d have loved), so would they be in the market again for the player if they get the Armenian? I’m not so sure. So I hope we’re weighing up options on him and I hope they’re happening now.

It’s Wales against Belgium tonight and once again, it’s nice to have no emotional investment in either team. Sorry to any Welsh fans out there, but after the way the team celebrated the demise of England, I do think it would be kind of funny to see Wales on the end of an absolute tonking tonight. Nothing wrong with a bit of schadenfreude people. It’s what football is all about.

And on that note, I ride East for London, where I shall partake in the sitting, the typing, as well as the occasional meeting. Oh the joys of living life to its fullest…

Cheerio for now!