We have some actual football to chew over and, I tell you what, there were some great finishes yesterday as Arsenal beat Girona 4-1.

I liked Dowman’s performance, who assisted for Kai’s smart finish, then also bagged a good effort from the edge of the box. For all the talk of new signings, yesterday was a timely reminder that we have a potentially generational talent coming through into this team this season. Dowman is a year older, a year wiser, a year stronger, and he’s going to take somebody’s minutes this season for sure.

Speaking of new signings, Christos Tzolis also got on the scoresheet, with what feels like it might be a bit of a trademark goal of his that we will hopefully see more of. I, like you, I’m sure, did the whole “watch ALL the YouTube comps” of this fella when he was rumoured to be signing, and his finishing from distance was certainly something that stood out. He knows where the goal is and wants to run at his defender and get a shot away. That’s exactly what he did with his finish yesterday, and I hope it is more to come.

I am always wary though, because I remember seeing Gervinho bag two goals for us in his first game for The Arsenal – I think it was against FC Köln – and I remember thinking then that we’ve got a baller/killer on the flanks. That obviously didn’t work out, with the culmination of that being the now-famous horror miss of an open goal at Bradford City in the League Cup. So whilst it’s still great to see Tzolis (unofficially) open his account, we need to be mindful that one pre-season goal does not make a career. We’re going to need to see it on a more regular basis from our new Greek winger.

One player who was on the scoresheet, with whom I don’t think we’ll be seeing a lot of, is Gabriel Jesus. It sounds like all parties are up for a move this summer, and certainly he’ll find himself very far down on the pecking order if he were to stay beyond August. His finish had an element of fortune about it, as he pounced on a tackle won in midfield to be put in on goal. It was a smart finish, it was a tidy finish, and it’s one that I think will be good for a shop window or two, but I can’t see him wanting to replicate last season, in which he made 27 appearances but only 988 minutes in all competitions. He’s a guy who is 29, will only have a few more years of a playing career left, and has already won titles at Man City and The Arsenal. What use – other than money – is there for a player of his pedigree and with the career he’s had? He’d be far better suited to getting himself back to Brazil, or to a European club who want to make him first choice. I could see him do well in a less-intense league; perhaps Italy? It’s somewhere that he would be able to at least get another two to three years playing, I would have thought – just look at how Giroud got on after he left the Premier League?

I didn’t watch the whole match, because I refuse to pay for pre-season friendlies, but I’ve seen people talking up Ethan and Myles as well, which is really good. I spoke about Ethan in Friday’s blog, and Mikel had some nice words to say about his maturity too, and with the Community Shield happening next weekend, as well as a friendly in Dublin in midweek, it does feel as though we need to be seeing him get some more minutes and continuing to impress. Maybe even a start in the Community Shield? With Martin still not back, and Kai and Gyokeres only just being eased back with the first 30 minutes, there’s a spot there for both Ethan and Myles. And with Norgaard on his way to Everton, there’s more space available in that midfield, because even if we announced Bruno literally this second, I don’t think Arteta would through him in next weekend after just one week of training with the team. If I was to guess, I’d think that it’ll be a lot of youngsters starting next week’s showpiece opener.

Scratch that – just seen it’s the week after that the Community Shiled kicks us off, but there are still three games to play between now and then, and if I’m ethan I’m looking to play plenty of minutes to impress the boss.

That’s probably all I can give you for today. I suspect today or tomorrow we’ll get more Bruno noises, as Norgaard completes his Everton deal, which will free up space for the Brazilian, and when that is confirmed, you can’t say we’re not now in a stronger position than at the start of the transfer window.,

Catch you tomorrow – if you want some bonus content, we did a summer pod with Gooner HIllsy yesterday on the Same Old Arsenal podcast. Watch that here.