It’s a hot one today. Some say the hottest in the south east since 1976 which, if you weren’t alive to experience it, is all older people like your parents talk about whenever you talk about whether or not we’ll have a decent summer in this country.

Ahh well, you see whatever they say about this year, nothing’ll beat that summer in 1976. Eggs were melted on pavement, nobody wore any clothes and there wasn’t a patch on English soil that wasn’t yellow or brown.

Hopefully today can break a record and we can consign the historical talk to…err…well…history. 

Just like when people stopped talking about us not having won a trophy for ten years before 2014. Yeah, screw you trophyless years and cold summers. Of course, it’s not the league title we’re craving I know, and with Arsenal at 12/1 to win the league next season there’s probably a bit to do before we all start lumping our money on, but at least people have stopped talking about how many trophies we’ve won, a bit like my Dad only really talks about how hot that summer was when he’s prompted to at times. 

All of this filler is really to say that there isn’t really anything going on in the Arsenal world. Again. It’s quiet. I haven’t really talked much about the tie up with Portland Adelaide and the fitness guy Burgess because, quite frankly, it doesn’t really peak my interest too much.

I’m sorry. I know it should. I know these things all contribute towards better team performance on the field and an enhanced probability that we’ll have less injuries, but in many ways I’m a simple fan, with simple desires. That’s why transfers are important to simple people like me, because it’s the most demonstrable way in which we can see potential change for next season for the better, which is why for a lot of us the summer we sign Cech was such a poor one. Not because we all like listening to the rumours, or because we all want to see Arsenal spunk cashola after cashola, but because that summer was an admission from Arsène and Arsenal that we didn’t need that much improving. When in fact we did and it was another missed opportunity.

Still, no point dwelling on history, after all I’m not a Liverpool fan. We need to look forward and to this summer in which we look like we’re going to sign…and…as well as…

As usual there’s plenty of noise from the gutter press but equally as usual it’s hard to distinguish the bluster. The Mbappe stuff seems to have petered out and with City targeting Auba, Aguero staying, Belotti looking like Torino want megabucks and Morata practically a United player, Lacazette is looking more and more like the player we should just slap the money down and get. The hope is that we don’t hold out on the off chance we’ll get Mbappe and end up with someone pulling the rug from underneath us on Lacazette. 

I’ve said publicly that I’d prefer Aubameyang for us, but it doesn’t look like we’re after him, but what none of us want is a wasted summer of unreachable targets. If Lacazette is the option then just show him the love and get it done Arsenal. Let’s not have another Higuain situation. None of us want that.

At least Giroud seems to be going nowhere, with Arsène talking him up as a player we need in the squad, which is something positive I take away from yesterday’s Arsenal-related soundbites. As I said a few days ago, parting with the handsome Frenchman is not the right move, because he offers us something different that none of the existing targets supposedly do. If Arsène can convince him of more game time or more preferably that he can have an impact as a rotated player, then we have that ‘Plan B’ ready and waiting and of the requisite class to give us hope that we can have a successful season, and ‘hope’ is something that we need in abundance going in to the new season.

But we still need the club to do their thing soon in the window. We need to see signs for the ‘catalyst for change’ now and Ivan will know the most visible sig of that is new acquisitions to play on that green stuff surrounded by seats. 

So we wait in eager anticipation.

Righto, offski for another day, so enjoy yours wherever you are.