While Myles Lewis-Skelly looks likely to remain at the Emirates, the same can’t be said for Ethan Nwaneri. The 19-year-old was outstanding in his breakthrough season for Arsenal in 2024-25 but barely featured last season and was sent on loan to Marseille. That didn’t really work out and Arsenal are now exploring another temporary move to ensure Nwaneri gets regular football this season.
Milan, RB Leipzig, Dortmund and Fulham are all thought to be interested, with Nwaneri unlikely to feature on the bench for Friday’s opener against Coventry as a result. Whether Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus are available remains to be seen as Arsenal attempt to find suitors for the Brazil duo. Ed Aarons Manchester United’s summer transfer business has focused on recruiting in central midfield.
It will be interesting to see who Michael Carrick selects in two key roles for the first game of the season. Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans have been present for more of pre-season than Kobbie Mainoo, who did not play a minute for England at the World Cup and was a late returner to Carrington after a holiday. Carlos Baleba surely will not have arrived in time to start at Hull.
Mainoo is in the best position in the long term but if Carrick decides to ease him into the season, it would be intriguing to see how Santos and Tielemans team up, the stress test for a new partnership that could provide the perfect balance of defensive awareness and ability to move the team up the pitch. Will Unwin Ipswich clearly learned a lot from what Sunderland did a year ago, as they went out and bought a lot of players. The Black Cats quickly moulded their 19 acquisitions into a successful unit but at least they had the positive of a head coach in Régis Le Bris who had his feet under the table.
Gary O’Neil is the new man at Portman Road and he has 12 signings – at time of writing – to potentially use for the opener. The record arrival, Emersonn, who has moved to Portman Road from Toulouse, is the most eye-catching of those who have been acquired. The Brazilian has an underwhelming career goalscoring record and a few question marks hanging over his head.
Even though it is their first game, Ipswich need to pick up points at home, and to do so require a striker who can cause problems for defenders. How quickly Emersonn adapts will be critical for the Tractor Boys’ success this year. WU August is the season for debuts and no one will be more satisfied than Oliver Glasner when Ousmane Diomande steps over the white line at the City Ground.
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