The Arsenal Sentinel
Squad17 Aug 2026
A move Jemiah Umolu would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jemiah Umolu is living that version at Arsenal, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Arsenal
Declan Rice was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Arsenal
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market17 Aug 2026
One of our own: Alexander Marshall joins the Arsenal first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Alexander Marshall is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market17 Aug 2026
John Matthews steps up from the Arsenal academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. John Matthews has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market17 Aug 2026
Arsenal promote Christopher Clarke from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Christopher Clarke has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market17 Aug 2026
David Bell steps up from the Arsenal academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. David Bell has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody is after Viktor Gyökeres’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Viktor Gyökeres suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Arsenal have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
In brief
- The terraces Everybody has an opinion about Jemiah Umolu
- Boardroom Arsenal spend it where nobody looks