Arsenal Transfer News:Calafiori deal delay revealed | Raphinha deal ON! Kiwior refusing to leave!

People deluded, I'm back again. Good evening, people. Well, where the UK is concerned. It's boiling, man. I know us Brits, we complain, we complained about the rain, but it's absolutely boiling and I'm not too happy. I'm quite flustered. But nonetheless, the job has to be done. I mean, we need to keep going. Now, at this point, I know people were tired of hearing about California. One minute this week is a pivotal week. It's going to get done next week. Things are dragging on, but we still have to go through that. Rufino has been linked with us again, and allegedly Kyrio or Kibio, apologies for mispronunciation, is refusing to leave as well as Smithrow's future is still subject to speculation. Now, Ed Aarons of the Guardian, if my screen shares, one love, great stuff. Arsenal yet to seal Ricardo California deal as Bologna stay firm over fee. We've heard this a lot of times and I've said this a couple of times at this point. I don't want to mention or talk about California again until he signed for Arsenal or there's a significant kind of change. I'm sure we're all tired of seeing Fabrizio Romano every minute recycle the same stuff and rearrange paragraphs. Bologna are holding out of a fee of more than 42 million to be paid up front. Apparently he's agreed terms on a five year deal. So we've agreed personal terms, but the pivotal steps in agreeing a fee so he can start his medical or better yet complete his medical and become an Arsenal player are yet to be. So we're at standstill. Arsenal remain in talks with Bologna over a move for Ricardo California, but have yet to come to an agreement on the fee for the Italy defender. California is understood to have agreed terms for a five year contract in North London with Bologna, thought to value him at about 42 million. But despite hopes that the 22 year old's transfer could be completed before Arsenal depart for their preseason tour to the United States on Sunday, they have not reached a breakthrough in negotiations. Bologna are believed to be holding out for more of the fee to be paid up front. The player they signed from Basel last summer for 3.4 million, they're greedy in it. And I get it, you know, Premier League clubs have a lot of money. They're in the Champions League. They're going to have to replace California and also Joshua Zersky and also have to, you know, give their new manager what they want because they've also lost Thiago Mota. This could be a bit of gamesmanship. It could be a game of chicken to see if Bologna will bend to Arsenal's demands or if Arsenal will say, you know what, just get the money. But who knows? California has been asked to attend preseason training with the Italian club next week, have him going on holiday after playing at Euro 2024. Don't know if that makes sense. California, he scored an own goal in Italy's group stage. He lost to Spain, but set up a late equaliser against Croatia and he excelled against Albania. Excelled at Bologna last season in a three man defence as he has helped them qualify for next season's Champions League. He can also play at left-back. I mean, statistically, he's played more games at left-back. Thiago Mota did put him at centre-half and he has played there for Italy as well as at left-back. Perfect player in theory for Arteta. Arteta is believed to view the defender as a key addition, as an inverted full-back capable of slotting into midfield positions and to provide competition to establish the central defensive partnership of Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba. Arteta, the Arsenal manager, said last week that new profit and sustainability rules in the Premier League have made it a bit more delicate to do business, but they still want to deliver what we want in the transfer window to have much more competitive team. And they knew this, you know, these rules didn't just come overnight. We knew what was going into in the market. Of course, you know, where you look at Nico Williams and paying that fee upfront, where you look at upfront fees, you know, very rarely are fees, you know, that 42 million we just saw for California. We're not just going to give them 42 million. When you get into release clauses, that's different. You know, clubs will go bankrupt if they paid all of these fees. So it has to be structured in a certain sort of way. And this is where outgoings are crucial, especially for other investments where Mico Moreno is concerned. I don't think we're getting Nico Williams, but potentially him. Moving away from California people, there's interest in Emil Smith-Rowe from Fulham, who have had a £30m bid rejected this week, and Crystal Palace, while Reece Nelson has been linked with a move to West Ham. Their sales could enable Arsenal to pursue their interest in signing a central midfielder. I mean, I know we have to get people out, but we should be bringing in a midfielder regardless. With Real Sociedad's Mikel Moreno and Martin Zuber-Mendy, who were both part of Spain's Euro 2024 winning squad on their shortlist, Moreno is also wanted by Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Has been linked with Barcelona as much as he's been linked with Arsenal. Reports today are saying that Atletico Madrid are the frontrunners, but who knows? What's reported in the press and what's actually going on are two very different things. Romano has said there are no substantial changes to the situation yet. Arsenal and Bologna remain in contact, but there's no agreement over the €50m fee. The issue is that Bologna want guaranteed money, while Arsenal's proposal includes add-on structure to get €50m potential fee. Despite what's been suggested elsewhere, there's no issue with Basel. They'll receive 50% of the deal, that's it. Bologna wants €50m fixed, exactly, because they have to give over €20m to Basel. This is the point. Fair enough. Okay, so Basel are cool. So that means, you know, there's not four parties, there's only three parties. There's Arsenal, there's Bologna, and there's obviously California versus them three plus negotiating with Basel. Allegedly, Romano also said, sorry, Bologna asked for Jacob Kivio during talks with Arsenal for Ricardo California, but the Polish defender is currently not keen on the move. Why is that? Is he wanting to stay and fight for his place at Arsenal? Does he want to go to another Premier League club? He has been linked with the Juve's, the Inter's, the AC's, the Napoli's, the Roma's, whether these are severe in fact as well, whether these interests, you know, amount to bids are another thing. California keeps waiting for Arsenal. Maybe they've briefed him and told him this is the calm before the storm. California, I'm sorry, Kivio can leave Arsenal on loan with mandatory buy option or buy clause as reported in June. I mean, that's good because it's one less player to deal with next summer. We've already gone through that, of course. Di Marzio has said there are Italian clubs interested in Jacob Kivio. Inter Milan and Juventus at the moment tried only for a loan, but Arsenal did not give a green light. If they decide to sell the player, they want a permanent deal, not a temporary one. So then Kivio's got two choices on that, isn't it? You know, well, three. There could be interest from other clubs that want to do a deal that makes sense for Arsenal. Obviously he could stay and fight for his place or he could go to Bologna then really, if I'm honest with you. I think that Juventus could be interested because he'll be reunited with his former coach Thiago Motta. So it depends on which player Juventus will sell and how much. So we'll know the money they can spend on another defender. They've been linked with, you know what, Rabiot's left on the free. So that frees up some wages. Chiesa is linked with a departure. We'll see Sule as well, who I've got a video coming out on people's been linked with Roma amongst other clubs. So maybe these clubs need to get rid of players before they can bring people in. For what it's worth, if I was Kivio, respectfully to Bologna, because again, yes, Dzerzhinsky's gone. California is going to leave either to Arsenal or elsewhere and Motta's gone. But Juventus is a massive club. Obviously, you know, Bologna are in the Champions League, but Juventus are a massive club, reuniting with a former manager as well. AC and Inter Milan, obviously of the same ilk. So we'll have to see how that's going on. Kind of tired of looking at Nico Williams, but for what it's worth, HITC understands Barcelona winger Rafinha is keen on returning to the Premier League this summer. So that probably fuels Arsenal links, especially if they get Nico Williams to go with Yalma, who is young and they're going to have to tailor his minutes. It's probably peak for Rafinha people, if I'm honest with you. Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle were all interested and apparently that interest hasn't gone away. And Aston Villa, Spurs and Manchester United have all been made aware of the situation. There's also interest allegedly from Saudi Arabia. The same articles are saying that Barcelona are leading the chase for Nico Williams, as we know people. Allegedly Deco and the manager Hansi Flick have stepped up reports, stepped up talks. President Laporte has spoken of his eagerness to get a deal done. Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Aston Villa have all allegedly held talks with Williams reps. And it's also said that in recent weeks, Chelsea have made interest people. He has a £43 million release clause and he's on 200 odd grand a week in wages, which who's against that? Aaron Ramsdale is likely to push for a move away from Arsenal this summer. Southampton have expressed an interest, while Newcastle could be an option. Newcastle could be an option, but you've got Nick Polk there. Are you necessarily going to be the number one? Chelsea's been linked with him. Are you going to be the number one? Are Southampton going to take you on? Because respectfully to Southampton, they probably won't. I don't know if you'll stay in the Premier League. Ramsdale will probably be one of your highest earners. He's on over 100 grand a week. Arsenal are probably going to look for 30, 40 odd million quid. So I'm not too sure. Maybe a loan. You go out on loan, you play well, you take on some of his wages and then next summer we'll see what we can do with Ramsdale. But that'll be an interesting one to watch. Athletico Madrid's interest in Mikel Moreno is the most advanced. Arteta likes the player and is interested. Barca's interest is dependent on getting rid of Frankie de Jong in order to be able to sign him, which is interesting there. James Baines has said, from what I understand about Thomas Partey's situation, he intends to stay for the final year of his contract. Everyone talks about Saudi Arabia. There have been no conversations with the PIF so far and no offers from any other Saudi clubs. So if you've got no offers, there's nothing to talk about. I'd imagine Partey is someone that the club will be open to letting go if things make sense. Big up my guy Kaya. He has said, Nico Williams is a player who Arsenal have looked at, but any move for the player looks unlikely. As it stands, Williams is likely to command a significant fee while his wages at Bilbao would be a stumbling block for Arsenal to match. But I get that. And we finally got our wages under wraps. And obviously, you know, if you bring in someone on big money, when it comes to potentially Saliba, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, you know, them kind of players renegotiating of contracts, then obviously it's a spanner in the works. But if you want good players, you have to reward them. It's like any other job. And to be fair, if he puts in them performances like he's been doing for Bilbao, as well as at the Euros, well, 200 grand, what is that now? I've never seen 200 grand, so I can't talk on that. But you get the point and you would imagine, you know, like getting rid of a few players. You know, Eddie Nketi is on 100 grand. Allegedly, Reece Nelson is on that. You know, El Nene is gone. You know, Cedric is gone. Ramsdale could potentially leave. So, you know, Smith-Rowe, obviously, is probably not on that kind of money, but you get one going. Resources are starting to be spread out. But this is all assuming Nico Williams would want to sign for Arsenal. It seems that his heart is set on Barcelona. In relation to João Felix, Atletico want to sell Felix. Barcelona can't sign him, as they want to repeat last year's formula. This may drag out unless an English club arrives with an important offer. Premier League interest is there. George Mendes is knocking on a few doors. He has been linked with Arsenal. I don't know if you lot would be for it or against it, but let me know. There's nothing there. And finally, former Arsenal man, it's quite heartbreaking. But, you know, Nicolas Pepe was reflecting on, you know, his time at Arsenal. He said, I suffered a kind of trauma as if my passion had been snatched from me. Now, he's a free agent at 29 years of age, people. He said in an interview with L'Equipe, he said, he suffered a kind of trauma as if my passion had been snatched from me. I had a disgust for football. When I stopped playing, I wondered why I was in this profession. I had so many doubts that I thought about quitting. I wonder how they could have been so hard on me. They went so far to call me the biggest flop in Premier League history, but I refused to moan. That's harsh. And you're up there, but you're definitely not the worst. You know, Casemiro ain't done nothing. Pogba, what did you do? You know, I'm not even getting at them. Ndombele is the worst of the lot, you know, throw Spurs under the bus there. They spent 50 million on Brendan Johnson as well. So you're definitely not that. But it's obviously heartbreaking to see that. So let me know your thoughts on California, if you've still got some, on Rafinha, on João Felix, on Smith Rowe, Rhys Nelson, and any other fallout talking points that I might have sparked in your brains, people. Check out the rest of the content, turn on your notification bells, any other transfer news and rumours and all that kind of jazz. I'll get vids out for you. But for now, people, DG, I'm out.