Morning folks and welcome to Tuesday, where the whirring of the transfer window appears to be up and running already, it seems.

Last night it was Emile Smith Rowe’s turn to be thrust into the spotlight, as Sky Sports ran with a story that Fulham and Palace are both interested in his signature. That’s probably good news for all parties, to be fair. Smith Rowe himself is from Croydon originally, born there and where I think his family still are, so perhaps the potential of returning to that area with Palace might appeal, but from a footballing perspective, both there and Fulham represent a decent, established, Premier League club that it feels like he could make a name for himself.

It’s good for Arsenal too that we have two clubs equally matched in their desire for him, I think, because it could open up the prospect of a bit of a bidding war and if the news is true that Arsenal have rejected £25million and want more, then you’d think if both clubs were super keen, we’d be able to nudge it above the £30million mark. He’s 23 (turns 24 in eight days), he’s played over 100 games for The Arsenal first team and as fans we all absolutely love him. He’s a perfect age for a club to be making him a key player in their team and Arsenal look like they recognise that. Fulham have just received around £47million for Paulinha and so for them to think that an attacking player liek Smith rowe is worth just over half that, seems a little off to me. I think Arsenal are probably hoping for a little too much if they want £40million for him, but nudge that £25million up to £30million and I think they’d be happy with that. Home grown player, had a couple of injury problems, but was fit for most of the second half of the season, is a good age, I think £30million represents a good deal for all parties. With a series of games and a coach who will start him whenever possible, if he stays fit, he’ll quickly be bumped up to a £40 – £50million footballer and whever he goes, I think he’d do well.

If it happens I also suspect that it will mean Arsenal start moving in to gear on incomings too, although with one less home grown player on the books and Califiore supposedly coming in, they’ll be mindful of needing to ensure that they do the necessary in terms of players coming in. The rules are that you can only have 17 non home-grown players and I think we’re on something like 14 at the moment. If Califirore comes in that’s 15. If Smith Rowe, Eddie and Reiss all depart, replacing them with overseas players may not be feasible. So whilst Arsenal probably only need a couple of players to come in for those first team spots, they might be right on the nose in terms of the squad composition. Perhaps that’s an angle they are pushing when trying to drive the fee up? After all, we all know there is an English premium, so why can’t that also be true of when we sell, as much as it is when we buy?

It’s why you can see why the club are being careful about who they bring in for that third goalkeeping slot, for example. If you’re getting close to your quota, you can’t be using up a slot on a guy who in all likelihood isn’t going to play. Raya is classed as home grown and so that solves that problem, but if Arsenal sell Ramsdale, do they want to use up a slot on an overseas players for the reserve ‘keeper position?

It just goes to show you how much planning needs to go in to squad competition these days, plus why English / home-grown players need to have a little more pounds/shillings/pence added to them when looking to sell. The market for elite talent that is classed as home grown is finite and if you’re a club like Arsenal you’re in a position where there isn’t really a point in taking a squad player from another team who isn’t going to improve you. We’re in a position where we need to be looking at any marginal gains and that isn’t going to be just onboarding any ol’ player who has a British passport. If we want to compete again against 115 Charges FC, then we’re going to need to make improvements on any player that leaves, with ones that are better.

Mind you, I’ve just remembered that Elneny and Cedric departed, so perhaps it’s not as bad as I thought. I still think they have to make these considerations when offloading players who are classed as home grown but still made part of the first team squad last season though. Nelson, Nketiah and Smith Rowe all got minutes – admittedly not loads towards the end – but replacing them all with non home-grown players may not be the answer Arsenal are seeking.

It’s still all rumour and conjecture at this stage and the players who have exited us already weren’t really massive parts of the first team squad as it is, but it looks like the next week or two might have a few bits to do for Edu and his team this summer.

Right, I’m offski for today. Catch you peeps all tomorrow.