If there’s one thing that is sure to brighten up a day, it is a shiny new signing, so today we’re hoping there’s one to speak of and I suspect there will be.

Apparently Odegaard had his medical yesterday and after that happens there’s usually some pictures and a video made up, so I wonder if we’ll get something today. And with Ramsdale’s fee also agreed – even the Sheffield United boss Jokanovic confirmed it yesterday in his post-match press conference – I suspect Ramsdale might come either tomorrow or Saturday.

If both are registered before the deadline for this weekend, you’d expect them both to be part of the squad, so I think that is 12pm on Friday. The paperwork can be done and no official announcement though, so just because we haven’t heard anything, doesn’t mean it hasn’t been done. It just means that the club hasn’t polished it’s PR launch plan. I expect both will be done by the sounds of it and that will be a boost before the game against Chelski on Sunday.

Because let’s face it, everyone associated with the club needed a boost after the last six days. A poor and insipid performance against Brentford, questions about players and their mentality, the lack of creativity and familiar problems in the final third; all of this was adding up and making it a depressing time to be an Arsenal fan. And yes, I appreciate that the next two games could – and probably will – bring us back down to earth with a bump, but at least potentially today we can have that little bit of joys in between storms that you sometimes get when the sun comes out and shines.

I do find the media narrative amazing though. Yesterday there was much chatter on TalkSh*te Radio, for example, about how the signings aren’t that inspiring and that we’ve spent a fortune on players that won’t improve us. That we’ve spent a fortune and that possibly hasn’t been well spent.

I’m sorry, wha…….what? Arsenal, who will have spent £125million on players when these deals go through, have spent big, whilst there is little mention of other teams? Lukaku has just cost £100million and Chelski sold him for £28million. United have bought two players for around the £115million mark. Man City dropped a ton on Grealish when they didn’t really need him. Yet it’s ARSENAL who are spending big?

And on players who will not improve them? Eh? We’ve resigned Odegaard who showed us what a good player he could be. We’ve upgraded on Luiz with Ben White. We’ve upgraded Ceballos for Lokonga. We’ve upgraded Kolasinac for Tavares, then when confirmed we’ll have upgraded Runarsson for Ramsdale. I still remain skeptical about Ramsdale, but it’s an upgrade and hopefully pushes more competition and Leno in to upping his game.

“Yeah, but these are squad players. The one’s for other teams will walk straight in to their side”. Indeed they might. But I don’t think Grealish is starting every week as a £100million player probably should. Sancho probably will but he was benched at the weekend. Varane most certainly will, displacing £31million Lindelof, or even £34million Bailly. Interesting that nobody is talking about that outlay by United there….

Then there are people talking about how the fee is too much. You mean like the £30million Villa paid for Bailey? Oh no, of course, that is a SUPER deal for a player who has never played in the Premier League. Or £38million for Buendia, who has played and impressed in the Premier League, but only in a short period of time for Norwich. OR Danny Ings, who is 29-years old, has a history of injury problems and last season missed 61 days, seven matches and two months of a nine month season. For some more context he also missed the whole of the 2019/20 season and 101 days of the 18/19 season.

No, they’re right, Arsenal have DEFINITELY over-paid for the Captain of Norway, who impressed when not injured last season, when he didn’t think he had a long-term future at Arsenal anyway, as well as adapting to a new league. Yeah, sure, Arsenal are DEFINITELY in the wrong compared to all of these other clubs. And people say there isn’t a media narrative around The Arsenal. There is. But not because it’s Arsenal, but because Arsenal is a big club in trouble and on its knees at the moment. In the UK we love an underdog and love to see a big player/team bought down a peg or two, especially in football culture. It’s why the FA Cup gets romanticised so much. It also gives the media more clicks, ears and eyeballs if they’re stirring the pot a bit. So you’ll never hear about Villa’s spending spree, or other clubs of that ilk, because they don’t make for as much ad revenue. And people are so desensitised to the financially doped clubs that they can drop over-inflated prices on players and nobody bats an eyelid. But Arsenal are the prime target to beat right now and that’s why we’re seeing what we’re seeing.

Meh. I stopped giving most of those media outlets any time years ago. I find out about what they’ve said on Twitter and it ensures they don’t get my advertising clicks. But what I do care about is on the pitch and my hope with this imminent arrival is that it lifts the club a bit. We all need it. But the players need it too. They will see the arrival of Odegaard and immediately feel a boost. They’ll know there is more quality coming in and that will hopefully at least give us a little more at the weekend when we play Chelski. I still don’t think we’ll win, I am pretty sure we might lose, but at least this gives a little more hope than there was before. And at this stage that’s a good thing. Let’s hold on to it, praise it, then look to Sunday and work out how the devil we’re going to stop Lukaku et al.

Catch you all tomorrow.