Do you know what’s nicee? Seeing pictures of players in pre-season training. And important players too. Until you see them, you have a question mark over whether they are still on holiday, what their fitness is like, etc. But yesterday Arsenal released some training pics, and there was Big Gabi, huge grinning teeth, as the first picture. And I felt at ease. With Big Bill sidelined for the foreseeable future, he is going to be huge for our defence, and if Mosquera is his partner, he’s going to need to be the guy who is guiding him through this extended run of games the young Spaniard is going to get.

At this stage, despite the noises of him being up for sale and Arsenal looking for a left-wing replacement, even Gabriel Martinelli being back is good news. With Leo gone, he’s now the de facto left winger. If Arsenal have a bit of a faceplant on the new left-wing signing, we have to look to him to up his output for next season. And whilst I am sure I am like you in thinking it’s probably best for him and the club to move on, I still have an affection for the player. I still want him to be successful. And if he has some pre-season games in which he performs well, maybe bags a goal or two, I think it helps all involved. It will help to put him in the shop window for prospective employers, might bump a fee up a little (as, we hope, will his winning goal in the World Cup knockout stages), but at worst it shows that he’s ready to be part of the team for the start of the new season. I’d have him playing this weekend against Girona – even though he’s only just checked in with the squad.

Hincapie is in there, Dowman, Big Vik, Ben White, Kai, Gabriel Jesus, Tzolis…heck, we’ve even been treated to a bit of Nelson and Viera. Getting the band back together boys and girls!

One person I will be interested to see a bit more of this summer is Ethan Nwaneri. I had a chat with Johnny about it on the recent crossover Dugout episode on the Arsenal Opinion Podcast (you can check the full episode out here), and it’s a curious case with young Ethan. I’m not sure any of us really know what to do with him. We all want him to succeed at The Arsenal; he’s a Hale Ender, he burst onto the scene with BANG BANG goal threat and an explosive dribble over 15 yards, but then last season became the forgotten man after he signed his deal last summer. The loan move to Marseille was a disasterclass in planning; anyone who’s anyone could have told you there’s an outside chance that De Zerbi could go thermonuclear at any moment, so whilst he’s a good coach, it was always going to be volatile. And so we didn’t get what we wanted, which was an Ethan Nwaneri with 20 games, five goals and five assists in France to his name, but rather a man that Habib Beye just said needs to train a little harder.

I’m not sold on Noni, and neither was Johnny on the pod, and I personally would give Ethan a go on that wing. The central spaces are just too congested, and if we have Bruno G landing on our doorstep any day now, then what does that say for Ethan? If Arteta only sees him as a central player, then his days look numbered. And that would be a real shame.

So what we need is for him to get hella minutes this summer, and maybe there can be a touch of the Saliba’s 2022 for him as he tries to wrestle a place in the squad from a more established guy. And why couldn’t he? Arteta has shown willingness with the likes of Saliba, because before that Ben White was our centre-half, plus we have a history of senior pro’s being displaced before we thought they might. Saka effectively ended Pepe’s career. Before him Bellerin took advantage of Debuchy’s injury. We have seen that if you are good enough, then you can push others out, and that’s what I’m hoping for Ethan. It might mean that somebody else sees less game time, but it is what it is.

I would try him at right wing, though. This summer, I mean, because Noni posted a picture of himself boarding a plane to get to pre-season training, which means he won’t be ready for Grona. Saka won’t be there; maybe Martinelli is just going to be able to do a 20-minute cameo, and besides, I already mentioned that he’s the left-wing guy, so why not Ethan on the right? I read/heard somewhere that internally at the club they don’t view Nwaneri as a winger; I would argue differently given what we saw two seasons ago. Try it again. He’s older, he looks like he’s filled out even more, he knows what Arteta expects from a pressing a defnesive duties perspective, so give him a chance to prove himself.

What I would say is that Arsenal shouldn’t feel the need to sell this summer. If there’s no space right now, let’s get him a good Premier League loan where there are clauses that mean he has to play 30 games. If he gets that, I think he could bang, and if he does, if we get another season of inconsistency from Madueke, then we have ourselves a ready-made understudy to Saka from 2027/28. It all feels too simple, right? That’s what happens when you play football on apps/PCs, I guess. But one thing’s for sure from my perspective: I really don’t want to hear that we’ve agreed a fee with another club for his servcies this summer. That would be the worst outcome for me as a fan.

Right, I’ll leave it there. I have to paint a brick wall and a back gate. Catch you all tomorrow. Think we’re going to do a Saturday morning Same Old Arsenal pod.