Don’t want to be accused of being classically British and Goldilocks with the UK weather, but blow me, it ain’t half hot today folks. My penchant for wearing three piece suits to work is not helping the matter either it has to be said. And yet I will still have a day of air conditioned non-sun seeing workery that awaits me. Unlike when you were a kid and the teacher would suggest we all take our workbooks outside, my desktop PC at the office sadly doesn’t have leads long enough for me to cart towards the nearest green space in London.

Still, better that than horrific and biting winds, accompanied by horizontal rain and general miserableness.

As for the Arsenal world, no sooner had I been musing about Japanese footballers, than Takuma Asano pops up in the press because we can’t get a work permit for him. How about that for a bit of fun, eh? We have a player who has to stay on mainland Europe because our border controls don’t allow for anything else. Boy, am I looking forward to Brexit, when this becomes a more regular thing and the ‘English premium’ on average Premier League footballers goes up. Happy ‘effin days, eh?

I suspect poor old Takuma wouldn’t have seen much of the Arsenal first team anyway next season, but if we’re truly viewing him as a potential future option, then having him on loan at a British club would probably have been the preferred option for him. Instead he might be sent out on loan again in an effort to see him get more game time.

I’m certainly not an immigration expert, but I do find it weird that this stuff is talked about a lot more than managers and coaches who come over to the UK from outside the EU. For example this new fitness dude from Australia seems to be on the verge of signing without a single shooftie at his passport or papers by the looks of it. It only ever seems to be the players who get in to this kind of kerfuffle.

Still, perhaps the times have just changed, with no more Slyvinho-esque dodgy passports that have been printed on A4 printer paper and hand drawn by the agents with the description “he can defo play in this country. He’s well good and totally legit” on the inside front cover. So I guess we just have to accept that the goalscoring wonderboy that we all know Asano is, will just have to wait another season, before he is unleashed upon the Premier League with a 77 goal season. 

One player who I have a feeling has been given his marching orders is Calum Chambers, who is on international duty at the Under-21s World Cup this summer and unsurprisingly, he had nice things to say about Big Per. I’ll be more surprised – and disappointed – if we do offload him though. Especially in our new formation. If we’re going to go for a back three come 2017/18, then I reckon you need a minimum of five centre-halves for a season and probably six. With Mustafi, Koscielny and Holding all likely to feature, I put Chambers in the bracket just below those three and to be honest I personally believe he has a greater deal of potential to get much better in a back three than Gabriel and Mertesacker. There’s a better footballer in there I feel and certainly with Big Per getting older and probably not going to be without his injury problems, I think we’d be mad to let Chambers get sent to Everton, if that’s what Arsenal are thinking. 

Let’s also not forget that Everton are notoriously good at getting high prices for their players, so if they come knocking and the club are minded to sell, nothing short of the £25million mark should be thought of. Because I think Chambers has the potential to be an England centre back within four years.

I’d rather us offload Gabriel before Calum and I hope Arsène is saying the right things to him about his opportunities next season. I really do.

It is mad though, that every season we seem to have one position where there’s an abundance of talent, yet in other positions we always seem so short. Especially when we get in to the season and players start dropping like flies in certain positions. Right now it looks like we’re a bit over stocked with players at the back but you just know, Arsenal being Arsenal n’all, that come November they’ll be an injury/suspension crisis on our hands. Just look at the FA Cup final as a case in point.

So come on Arsène, give Calum some positive responses to when he comes knocking on your door, because we’ve got a gem that just needs to be polished up there.

Catch you all tomorrow.