Arteta has a big squad ahead of weekend’s match, plus some other notes

At this point, Mikel Arteta looks to have a big squad to choose from ahead of the Norwich City clash on Saturday.

The injury list is down to just Sead Kolasinac and Mo Elneny, while Granit Xhaka remains suspended due to his red card fiasco v Man City.

Other than the nine international players still not in training camp, the Gunners squad is the biggest and healthiest it has been since preseason.

With that said, I am revising my predicted starting XI for Saturday…

[3-4-3]

Saka, Lacazette, Pepe

Tavares, Lokonga, Smith Rowe, Maitland-Niles

Tierney, White, Gabriel

Ramsdale

Other notes…

Turkey’s transfer window does not close until September 8th, so those clubs are still looking for talent to improve their squads. Cedric Soares, Sead Kolasinac and Mo Elneny have all been mentioned to have possible transfer links with some of the Turkish clubs. Football.London did reported Arsenal rejected a bid by Galatasaray for Mo Elneny, while Cedric insists he is not giving up his Arsenal wages to move to Turkey.

TicketGum.com has released their annual report regarding transfer fee monies spent by European clubs. Their report indicated Arsenal overspent this summer by $69-million (USD) for the six players they added to the Gunners squad.

CIES Football Observatory claims Arsenal is 9th among clubs on the list of Europe’s most expensive squads. I’m not sure how this translates into a 20th place position on the Premier League table, do you?

80-year-old soccer legend Pele remains in the hospital following surgery to remove a tumor from his colon. His condition is listed as being non-serious.

Next summer could involve another major shake-up of the Arsenal squad with several players being out of contract. Players on the 2023 bubble include: Alexandre Lacazette, Mo Elneny, Sead Kolasinac, Calum Chambers, Eddie Nketiah and Karl Hein.

Have great day!

Gunner1953