Gunners shooting for top-four finish
Arsenal taking aim at Premier League rivals with summer signing of prolific French striker
The Premier League season kicks off today, as Arsenal visits Leicester City. The Gunners are coming off a penalty-kick victory over Chelsea in last Sunday’s Community Shield pre-season contest.
Arsenal is looking to get back into the league’s top four, at the very least.
The big new signing at Arsenal is French striker Alexandre Lacazette, whose $79-million move from Lyon broke the transfer record for both clubs. The prolific striker, who netted almost a goal a game last season in France, seems certain to start today.
Another impressive new addition is left back Sead Kolasinac, who subbed into the game against Chelsea for an injured Per Mertesacker and quickly made a name for himself. A dynamic and athletic figure, Kolasinac is known as the “Bosnian Hulk.” He could be a fan favourite on a club known for its lack of physicality and toughness.
Leicester, meanwhile, is hoping for a much improved season under manager Craig Shakespeare. He certainly revitalized the squad when he took over in February.
Leicester has made some good new signings, particularly young Nigerian striker Kelechi Iheanacho from Manchester City and Spanish defensive midfielder Vicente Iborra from Sevilla. Iborra, though, injured his groin in training and has been ruled out.
No longer the league’s defending champions, I expect Leicester will be happy to slip back under the radar. It wasn’t easy for them carrying a target on their backs last season.
If it ain’t broke
Tottenham Hotspur gets its season underway on Sunday as they visit Newcastle, a side newly returned to the Premier League after winning the Championship title last season.
If you combine the stats from the past two seasons, then Tottenham has been the best team in the Premier League in most categories.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino says it’s been hard to find new players who can improve his squad, which is why the Spurs haven’t added anyone to the roster.
Pochettino is looking to stick with a proven formula, but it’s one that hasn’t actually managed to win a trophy yet. And with rivals like Arsenal and Manchester United spending heavily to break back into the top four, many are wondering if the Spurs standing pat is going to be good enough.
Show me the money
The French league is already underway, but of course, the big story has been Neymar and his record-shattering $330-million move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona had put a ridiculously high price tag on Neymar’s release clause in his contract, thinking nobody would ever pay it, but then along came PSG with a massive cheque.
It seems Neymar had grown tired of sharing the limelight with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, and is looking for a new challenge. The move to PSG also reunites Neymar with his good friend and countryman Dani Alves, as well as fellow Brazil internationals Marquinhos and Lucas Moura.
Neymar is expected to make his PSG debut on Sunday against Guingamp, but that could be in jeopardy. It seems Barcelona management has been dragging their heels on filing the routine transfer paperwork, which seems rather petty. If the paperwork doesn’t get done in time, then Neymar’s debut will have to wait.
Doing good work
Chilean club Colo Colo came up with a nice idea recently for their pre-game player introductions. Instead of coming out with children or fans as mascots, the players brought out a collection of dogs from a local animal shelter to try to encourage animal adoption. Colo Colo is the club where former Whitecaps FC striker Octavio Rivero now plays. Ex-Caps captain and midfielder Pedro Morales was also there until recently.
Meanwhile, Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata is going quite a bit further to improve society, pledging one per cent of his salary to charity. Mata is hoping to be the first of many elite players to do the same through Common Goal, a movement run by streetfootballworld.
Common Goal seeks to help disadvantaged children through soccer charities around the globe. If more top players donate one per cent of their salary, then that could make a big difference to a lot of kids.