The Arsenal Sentinel
Match17 May 2032
Arsenal are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 99 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad17 May 2032
20 days out for Peter Moore after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Arsenal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market17 May 2032
Christian Makoun hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 May 2032
David Raya out for 35 days
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for David Raya, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad17 May 2032
A falling-out at Arsenal
Bukayo Saka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market17 May 2032
Raul Gustavo is on his way
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Arsenal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 May 2032
Words at Arsenal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Declan Rice 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.
The dugout17 May 2032
The manager makes an example of Gonçalo Ramos
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout17 May 2032
When it matters, Declan Rice plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
- The dugout Theo Sander asks for a word with the manager
- Market The Benjamin Šeško question follows Arsenal around
- Market Still no ink between Arsenal and Chumi