Nuno Taveres is a name that has been on the lips of Arsenal fans in recent days following the speculation that Arsenal has reached an agreement with Benfica to sign the left back for an initial €8m. This serves as welcome news because the left back position was one that the club struggled with last season when star fullback, Kieran Tierney, got crocked. The Cedric Soares we thought was the versatile messiah on both flanks turned out to be fresh cow dung, so our gaffer, Mikel Arteta, in his infinite wisdom, deemed it a wise decision to shunt Granit Xhaka to the left back slot, creating a void in central midfield that could not be filled by Mo Elneny or the departed Dani Ceballos.

What’s with Granit Xhaka these days? Latest gist on the block is that he has all but confirmed his Arsenal exit with AS Roma being the final destination for the Swiss deep lying playmaker. Good luck to him with his new adventures though.

Going back to Taveres – I don’t know much of the kid minus the few glimpses here and there but I am happy with the fact that we are actually gonna sign a young, energetic left back, in his natural position, instead of those square pegs, you know, like Cedric and Xhaka, that we tried to fit in round holes. On the down side, Sead Kolasinac is back at the club following the disastrous spell he and Skhodran Mustafi endured at Schalke 04 last season. I would expect that we cash in on the Bosnian, and I’m sure there will be a couple of Bundesliga sides that wouldn’t mind taking a punt at the Hulk.

With Taveres understudying Tierney, as well as getting well deserved run out in the Cup competitions (sadly no Europa), the burden on the Scotsman would be eased, as its very evident that he’s one of our most influential, talented and important players in the team. 

Moving over to the ongoing European Championships, the Arsenal presence was quite appalling with only four Gunners – Bukayo Saka, Granit Xhaka, Kieran Tierney and Bernd Leno getting call ups. While Xhaka remains an indispensable member of the Swiss side, as well as being fit enough to feature in every game so far for his side, Tierney has struggled with fitness issues and couldn’t help his Tartan Army side that crashed out of the group stages. Bukayo Saka, on the other hand, started at the doldrums of the England side before getting an influential role for his team. With Germany having a legendary goalie like Manuel Neuer between the sticks, Leno had no choice but to remain on the bench for the entirety of the tournament.

Lastly, its worth noting that the last post on this blog was in mid-January, and consistency hasn’t been one of my strong points in recent seasons due to other commitments elsewhere but I love writing about my darling Arsenal and thankfully, I will be having some support this season. The cobwebs are well and truly out, and it’s gonna be a fun campaign from us here at Gooner Daily. 11 years on, and I’d continue to serve you with your daily Arsenal digest. 

Sayonara.

Follow Gooner Daily on Twitter  @goonerdaily.

Visit Gooner Daily’s  Facebook page.

Click on the “Follow button” to join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List