Andres Iniesta, the Barcelona legend, could well be on his way to Arsenal. At the press conference yesterday, Iniesta announced he would be leaving Barcelona in the summer after what seems like three decades. The Spanish great could not confirm his destination, but in uttering “all I can say is I will never want to play against Barcelona,” he gave a vital clue as to where he will end up.
With Barcelona unlikely to ever be playing Europa League football and Arsenal FC looking increasingly unlikely to return to the Champions League stage in the twilight of Andres’ career the stage seems perfectly set for him to appear in North London and really challenge himself. After all, Iniesta has been spoilt for years getting to pass the ball to Messi or Suarez. The real making of him will be seeing if he can get the same return out of Jack Wilshere or Alex Iwobi.
Someone else who can now be conveniently linked to Arsenal is current, yet soon to be departing, Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery. Having failed to deliver the European glory demanded in Paris he seems to be the perfect fit at the Emirates. His departure opens the door for Arsene Wenger to finally manage the club who have been chasing him for over a decade (although it is more likely that Thomas Tuchel will take over).
Up in Scotland, Glasgow Rangers are ‘increasingly confident’ of convincing Steven Gerrard to ruin his managerial career before it really gets going by appointing him as the new Ibrox gaffer. Yes, the last Liverpool central midfielder to manage Rangers did OK in Graeme Souness, but don’t forget what Celtic did to John Barnes, ever.
Sham Allarfarce insists he ‘is making plans for next season’ and we can only assume he means as manager of Everton and not to renovate his Costa Blanca villa. Big Sam has held talks with the Everton board and believed them to be ‘mostly satisfying’. That probably means there was some chewing gum and a pint of wine laid on for the big man. But, Everton fans, don’t panic just yet. Allardyce has been here before at Palace and quite just days before the season was due to start. You might get lucky yet.
Conversations seem to be en vogue this week as Rafa has been talking to Newcastle United about his future. No doubt, Rafa has asked for some money to spend and Mike Ashley has possibly only just stopped laughing. Rafa might have subtly suggested he might quit if not making Mike laugh even more. Either way, Rafa’s not leaving Newcastle.
Jose Mourinho has just started acting like a man who has a close relative on their last legs and is full of regret for being mean to them in the hope he can get forgiveness. Jose is full of remorse for clashing with Arsene Wenger over the years and saying nasty things like, “he is a specialist in failure”. Mourinho even went as far as suggesting Old Trafford should give the Arsenal manager a “not bad” reception on Sunday. Oh, Jose. You big softy.
Mauricio Pochettino is refusing to let the FA off the hook for their tweet about Harry Kane. Furious Pochettino insisted that “we need to protect our assets” and it was clear he was not referring to the plan to sell Wembley to the Yanks. Come on Poch, if that is enough to stop Kane scoring against Panama then we are all screwed.
