So we’re on the move with Big Vik it seems, as yesterday both Ornstein and Romano confirmed that the deal was fully agreed and the player could travel to London for his medical. That will likely happen today, then I suspect – all being well – he’ll do his pictures and other video work, interviews, etc, tomorrow before flying out to meet his new teammates post the Newcastle game.

You’d be a fool if you were to bet on when Arsenal would make the announcement, but given they haven’t officially announced the third kit yet (a white abomination that there is no way in hell I’m buying), I’m guessing if Adidas and the media teams at Arsenal had their way they’d announce it in the launch video with him smiling at the end. Now that would be a way to announce yourself as an Arsenal player!

In terms of the transfer itself, is anybody else just glad that all of this will soon be over? I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted he’s signing, but when you think that we’ve had practically two years of striker search and being told “they need a centre forward” rammed down our throats, it’s nice to know that there will be an alternate stick to beat us with from the media next season, because we’ve finally gone out and brought ‘the big fella up top’.

Of course the reality is that our problems won’t be solved with this signing. Even if he ‘bangs’ and bags goals, we still need it to come from all over the pitch and last season our problems wasn’t because we didn’t have a striker, but because we had a big chunk of the season in which we had four of them missing from our front line (if you count Gabby J as one of those guys which, ostensibly, he still is). That we have padded out the front line with a striker and wide forward who can play both flanks will help (Madueke surely has to have more of an impact than Sterling!) for sure, but we still need to find ways to spread the goals around, be more unpredictable in attack and unlock those stubborn low and mid-block teams.

But I’m happy i don’t have to lament “if only we’d have addressed the striker issue’ because the club have now done it. Fine. Good. Now can everyone please stop talking about it??

As for the rest of the squad, they are of course doing their media bits out in Singapore and there’s a nice puff piece on the official site where Mikel has spoken to the media team about how great it is to meet young kids from the Arsenal soccer schools, the support in the ground, good facilities and how thankful he is to be out there. There’s nothing really massively informative about the interview and he’s not really talking about any new incomings (yeah, I know, like he would!) or any kind of new tactical approaches he’s working on (again, that’s a little like expecting water to not be wet), but it’s still great for the people out there who will have seen a few years of us going to the States and probably wondering “when’s it our turn?”

I take it for granted that I see the games all the time at home. I’m in Cologne visiting an Aunt and I was showing her pictures last night of where my seat is and the atmosphere pre Real Madrid. She doesn’t have any interest in football but even she went “wow!” When she saw it via an almost pitch side view. She even said “it would be lovely to come along someday”. Needless to say I didn’t tell her about the waiting list or clamour for every single match-day ticket!

But it did hit home – along with thinking about these tours – the privilege I have and the fact that I just know that providing I’m fit and able enough, I’ll be at the first home game of the season in just over a month’s time.

A month away. Well, less than that really, because we have the small matter of United away. It’s just as well because as much as I needed last season’s cursed season to go away towards the end and after the Champions League semi final, here I find myself, tapping away at an iPad, starting to feel the pang of longing for The Arsenal to return. I want to smell that north London grass on a (hopefully) warm, August day. I want to meet up with mates I haven’t seen over the summer. And lastly, I want to feel those nerves kick in at kick off.

Bring me back to My Arsenal.

Catch you all again tomorrow.