Another day in to the summer off season and it’s yet more transfer related news from Arsenal, but this time it’s a juicy bit of ‘acquisition’ we can talk of and yes, I did the ‘YouTube’ thing on Kolasinac yesterday. I have no shame.

He looks good though, doesn’t he? Real good. A strong unit of a player who can operate – by his own admission – across a variety of different roles. He’s a free transfer too, which means that he’ll be a delightful addition for Arsène and the exact type of player he’ll want to see in his squad.

And is it me, or does he look a bit like Clive Owen?

Sadly it will probably see the end to Kieran Gibbs’ affiliation with the club, but given that this deal for Kolasinac was one of the worst kept secrets of the summer so far, I don’t think anybody is really surprised. Gibbs has been a good servant to the club, seems a nice and down to earth guy and is an Arsenal fan, but perhaps this is the start of a summer that sees a little more ruthlessness from Arsène for some of those players who have just been ticking along nicely. In all aspects of work life, in every profession, a bit of pressure when applied in the correct dosage is a good thing. It can drive you and regardless of whether that pressure is from somebody else or yourself, it’s good to have it, but I just wonder if there are a few players in that squad that have just learned to deal with their situation and get comfortable. Gibbs might be one of those. Theo could be argued to be another, but given the amount of work we’ve got to do this summer, I’d be surprised if he left the club.

I’d also be surprised to see Bellerin leave, especially given that he signed a six year deal at the club at Christmas, which was clearly put in place by Arsenal to ward off the inevitable Barca pawing at the player in this summers international competition. Bellerin has given an interview which doesn’t really give any indication one way or another, but that hasn’t stopped a Barca backed station calling it that he will tell Wenger he wants out after the Championships he’s at this summer.

Frankly I’d be stunned if a) he actually did that, but b) we’d let that happen given all of the other players we need to offload this summer. If Bellerin was on the ‘available’ list too, we’d essentially have ALL THE FULL BACKS UP FOR GRABS At the club. We’ve got Jenkinson, Debuchy and Gibbs who are most likely to depart, so why on earth would we sanction a departure of Hector?

Hey, like Hector says ‘anything can happen in football’, but at least the buffer of the massive contract he’s on means that ‘anything’ can also be applied to the price we’d get for him. If Barca sniff, we should just ask them to empty their pockets and bank account, then we could have a poke at how much they’ve got and make a decision. Because it’d need a heck of a big cheque to cover all those zeros on.

Anyway, let’s not dwell on speculation, certainly when we’ve got a shiny new player on our hands, and one by all account that should improve the squad. That’s exactly the type of signing that we need to be making this early in the summer and with it being one of the less ‘sexier’ positions now wrapped up, Ivan and Arsène can continue with their road trip through France, seeing which players they can fit in their rent-a-car on the way up to Calais. My guess is two, max of three, because I think Ivan is a people carrier kind of guy. Even if he lets Arsène do all the driving.

There still remains plenty of questions, not least whether Kolasinac will now be first choice as a wing back or full back, but the important thing is that Arsenal have done some business early and we need to applaud them for that.

Just keep on driving that people carrier though chaps, because if we really are going to start having a bit more hope for next season, we’ll need to see something more going on as we get closer to August.

Laters friends.