The sheer volume of cash that floats around the Premier League is mental, isn’t it? I mean, when you get newly promoted Sunderland about to drop £51million plus add-ons (because you have to always talk about the add-ons these days, it seems) for Lois Openda from RB Leipzig, it really hits home. This is a side who have just come in to the division and dropped £120million if the numbers from TransferMarkt are correct. Premier League clubs have collectively spent more than £2billion so far this summer and whilst talk of Isak is now entering the ‘likely he’ll stay’ phase before inevtably Liverpool go big towards the end of the window, it really does hit home the power of this league compared to any other.

It’s why you can see leagues like the Spanish league desperately to find ways to make more money to keep up, with the Spanish league approving a motion to play Villareal’s home game against Barca in Miami in December. I just pray that our footballing values hold true in this country, because the thought of Arsenal playing one of their matches in the States, or in Asia, fills me with dread. Don’t get me wrong, I get it, the fans from those countries would have an official match with jeopardy on the line, but for me it creates a dangerous precedent that would open Pandora’s box for the global game. I can almost see it now…

Why stop at one game? Why don’t we sell the rights to six Arsenal home matches to the highest bidding country?

We’ve seen already what money does to taint the purity of our game. Just look at that abomination of a Club World Cup. The only way that competition was given any kind of priority was not because of the prestige of it, but because of the sheer volume cash that morally questionable entity FIFA put on the table with their Middle Eastern bedfellows. And the clubs chased that coin. This news of a possible La Liga game in the US is the precedent that nobody should want. What comes after that? Renaming of clubs? Why don’t we have Washington West Ham Clarets? Or Singapore Everton Blues? “Who have you got this weekend? We’re up against Manchester Hong Kongers”.

Not for me. No thanks. There’s already enough about this sport we love that has been eroded over time, but let’s not have yet another thing to slowly remove any kind of tradition that we can still hold on to with hundreds of years behind it.

Back in the Arsenal world and the now, there are noises that the Scum are also interested in Eze too. That doesn’t surprise me with the Maddison injury news and I’m pretty sure that they were also linked with him right at the beginning of the window. Given that we’re the second biggest spenders so far this summer, it stands to reason that we need to sell before we buy, with Arteta also talking about possible exits over the last week or so. I think for most of us we’ve though that would be multiple squad/out-of-favour players exiting the club like Sambi, Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Nelson, Karl Hein (funny how you always have to say his full name and not just his surname – or is that just me?), maybe Kiwior if a big offer comes in, with Trossard also touted as an exit. But I just have a feeling that Arsenal are holding off of any further interest in this and won’t also be pushed into bidding if the Scum suddenly come calling. That release clause he had as not been triggered, so Palace can now afford to negotiate and if the player has any sway it sounds as though he’d favour a move to us. But you have to actually place a bid in order for this to get going and so the only way I think the dominoes start falling is if Arsenal start movements too. So really what we have to see is Berta earning his coing by starting to shift some players.

It’s funny how none of us – well, certainly not people I talk to online or offline – talk about some of the above players as ‘deadwood’ any more. It’s probably because, actually, they aren’t. Each of the above players mentioned would, I think, be able to carve very good careers at other clubs. But we have raised our levels so that the concept of ‘deadwood’ just doesn’t apply any more. Zinchenko is a very good footballer; it’s why Mourinho apparently wants him at six. Sambi has shown flashes of brilliance, just not enough in an Arsenal shirt, whilst Fabio Vieira feels like a good player in the wrong league because of the lack of his physicality. I ‘like’ all of these players, they just aren’t what Arsenal need, so moving them on this summer needs to be priority now.

Back on the Eze thing, I think if the player doesn’t get the vibes that Arsenal are in for him, he probably accepts a move to the Scum. Take the tribalism away from it, they are a team who are in the Champions League this season (through the back door) and with Maddison out of the picture he could basically have a free run at the position he is most comfortable in. Arsenal might be a place he might prefer to go to given his ties at youth level, but his pathway to more regular game time would be more limited under us. It would be a bit of a kicker too given we’ve been linked all summer, but you can’t just magic up the cash from nowhere. Our net spend is apparently around £187million (again, according to TransferMarkt) whereas the Scum have theirs at £95million – so I suspect they have the ability to go big for a couple of £50million moves. We just have to hope that Arsenal do their bit first before they make their move. One things for certain, however, if it’s a straight fight between the two clubs, it’s no doubt which team is currently in the most attractive position to be competing towards the top of the league. That doesn’t mean we’ll get him, but if all things are equal and there are two bids on the table, then I suspect Eze to Arsenal happens.

But that feels a bit of a way away at the moment. More dominoes need to fall for us so we just have to play the patience game on this I think.

Back tomorrow with some more thoughts as we prep for the visit to United.