Osimhen Deal Is On & City Put To The Sword

Arsenal delivered a fairly emphatic reminder of who the champions are on Sunday, brushing Manchester City aside 3-0 to win the Community Shield in Cardiff.

Yes, yes, it’s the Community Shield. The traditional curtain-raiser. A glorified friendly when you lose and the first trophy of the season when you win.

So naturally, we’re going with the latter.

More importantly, this didn’t look much like two teams wandering around waiting for the proper football to start. Arsenal were sharp, aggressive and, within about half a minute, ahead.

Calafiori takes 24 seconds

Riccardo Calafiori needed just 24 seconds to open the scoring, which is one way of announcing that you’re not particularly interested in easing yourself into the new season. It was also a reminder that losing Lewis-Skelly would be a blow, as he was the provider.

Kai Havertz added the second before the break and Martin Odegaard completed the job afterwards as Arsenal ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.

Against Manchester City.

That last bit is worth remembering.

The Community Shield itself won’t tell us much about where the Premier League trophy will end up next May, but the manner of the performance was encouraging. Arsenal looked like a side picking up where they left off rather than one suffering from a championship hangover.

And after finally getting over the line last season, that might be the most important thing of all.

The challenge now is doing it when points are actually available.

That starts on Friday against Coventry, when Arsenal begin the defence of their Premier League title.

And Arsenal might not be finished

Meanwhile, the transfer rumour mill continues doing what the transfer rumour mill does.

Victor Osimhen is once again being linked with Arsenal, with Football Insider claiming that an offer north of £60million could persuade Galatasaray to enter negotiations.

Whether Arsenal actually intend to make such an offer is another matter entirely.

Osimhen isn’t exactly helping to kill the speculation, either.

“There are always rumours during transfer seasons,” he said when asked about his future. “I will focus on my job. I focus on my work. We’ll see and think about the future then.”

Which, translated from Footballer Transfer Speak, means absolutely anything you want it to mean.

He didn’t say he’s leaving. He didn’t say he’s staying. And he certainly didn’t say Arsenal.

But if the suggestion that £60m-plus gets Galatasaray talking is accurate, Arsenal now know roughly where the conversation begins.

The bigger question is whether they actually need him.

Arsenal have already strengthened this summer, and after putting three past Manchester City without reply, desperation isn’t exactly the word that springs to mind.

But adding Osimhen to a squad that has just won the league?

Well, there are worse ways to celebrate a 3-0 win over City.

For now, Arsenal have another piece of silverware, City have been given something to think about and the champions head into Friday looking suspiciously ready to do the whole thing again.