Arsenal were linked with a move to sign Aaron Hickey from Bologna this summer, but he has now agreed to join Brentford.

The full-back is one of the most exciting young talents around, having left Scotland to move to Serie A shortly after his 18th birthday, and after a slow initial season in Italy, he enjoyed a full season of action in the 2021-22 campaign, notching five goals and an assist from his 36 outings.

The 20 year-old is known as a left-back, but being both footed, he is also known to fill in at right-back also, while his former side also gave him minutes as a wide midfielder on both sides also.

While we will not be signing him this summer, we will be able to get a closer look at what he can bring to the English game after joining the Bees.

Official, confirmed. Aaron Hickey joins Brentford on permanent deal from Bologna, €22m total fee add ons included. #BrentfordFC

It’s a Saturday Ramble, comin’ at ya - and we’ve got some transfers to discuss!

Richarlison leaves Frank in the lurch after ditching the Toffees for Tottenham, while Romelu Lukaku heads back to Italy in the least dignified way possible. We also celebrate Mike Dean’s return, submit our application for Wigan’s pie mascot and hear yet another remarkable tale from the Misadventures of Kevin Keegan. Imagine his house insurance…

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Join Dotun Adebayo, Andy Brassell and David Cartlidge for the first of our On The Continent Transfer Specials, coming at you every week here on the Ramble feed!

We get stuck into Barcelona's underlying problems as they jostle for Robert Lewandowski's signature, while Romelu Lukaku's back in Italy for more Intertainment. There's also a rundown of impressive Premier League additions, as Sven Botman joins Newcastle and Leeds snag the impressive Marc Roca.

We'll be back with another OTC Transfer Special next week. Got a question for us? Ask away! @FootballRamble

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Today, we’re giving the definitive lowdown on football’s spiritual home: stadiums. What makes a stadium special? What’s the world’s steepest stand? And how exactly can Pete Donaldson improve everyone’s viewing experience? Control of the undersoil heating, that’s how.

Marcus, Vish and Pete tackle those questions, some stadium history, and much more in today’s Guide! 

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What’s this, a new Ramble?! Damn right - join Marcus, Vish and Pete as we sail those calm, off-season waters.

We’ve got some transfer business to tend to, as Sadio Mané puts his feet up and Pep takes Kalvin Phillips under his wing. Elsewhere, Gareth Bale heads stateside to cement a six-month legacy, while Kevin Keegan’s hosting a charity event in Sunderland. What could possibly go wrong?

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We're back with another of our favourite episodes from last season over on Football Ramble Presents. Today, it's the turn of our weekly women's football show, Upfront!

Back in December, our hosts Flo Lloyd-Hughes, Rachel O'Sullivan and Chloe Morgan sat down for a conversation about sexuality, openness and acceptance within women's football. They also speak to Arsenal's Katie McCabe and Aston Villa's Ruesha Littlejohn, one of the game's most celebrated couples, about unapologetic openness and using their platform for good.

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Why do so many of us obsess about football? Why do we do this to ourselves when it can cause so much pain? Well, we're here to help! Kind of. Welcome to The Football Ramble's Guide To!

This summer, different Ramblers will be here to walk you through the sublime and the ridiculous from our beautiful game. Today, Jim, Luke and Pete discuss the twelve hardest yards in sport: penalties. Join us as we look into their historical origins, revel in the psychodrama and reminisce about the time Arsenal took the absolute piss.

What should we talk about next? We'd love to get stuck in to some of your suggestions; email us: @FootballRamble or tweet us @FootballRamble.

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Andy's back with a hugely important episode of At The Match, as he travels to Łódź in Poland to see Ukraine's second 'home game' since the Russian invasion in February.

He walks through crowds of vibrant local supporters with British-Ukrainian journalist Andrew Todos, who reflects on a hugely difficult period for the national team. We also hear a fevered home support cheer on Oleksandr Petrakov's men, who came away with a point after a ludicrous James Collins opener.

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We're back with two bags of souvenir Bulgarian pottery for another trip down memory lane as Kate, Luke and Pete kick off with the 2015/16 season - dilly ding, dilly dong!

The Iceland horror show came and went, the Champions League served up its best season ever and the Ramble became Football Ramble Daily. After that, we welcomed our new cohort to Ramble HQ and, following a Film Club-filled lockdown, we came roaring back with over 500 episodes of glorious nonsense. Oh yeah, and England got good again!

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Join Marcus, Jim and Vish for the first of two episodes celebrating fifteen years of the wee Ramble!

We take a trip through the first few years of the show and football history more broadly, as the lads took a ramshackle production from Luke's kitchen to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and onto a studio Pete had access to. In that time, Pep Guardiola became a manager, the legend of Keggy was born and Donaldson drunkenly bought two pianos.

We'll be back tomorrow with Part Two. Thanks for all your support over the last fifteen years - here's to the next fifteen!

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Over the next few weeks, we're bringing you some of our favourite Football Ramble Presents episodes from this season!

Back in November, Andy went to a rain-soaked Barcelona as a new-look Barça took on Benfica in their first Champions League game of the Xavi era! Despite the reduced capacity, Andy said it was one of the best atmospheres he'd ever experienced at the Nou Camp. He also chatted with GOAL's Rik Sharma for the inside track on Barcelona's recent struggles and their hopes for Xavi.  

We'll be showcasing a range of shows from across the Ramble universe over the summer before we come roaring back for the new season in August!

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Charles Watts has questioned Marseille’s ability to find the funds needed to convince Arsenal to sell William Saliba, as much as they wish to re-sign him.

The 21 year-old enjoyed a thoroughly impressive season on loan with the Olympiens, helping them to secure a place in the Champions League with a second-placed finish in Ligue 1, picking up the Young Player of the Year award in the process.

While they are claimed to be keen on bringing him back from north London ahead of the new season, Arsenal appear to have made their intention to include him in their first-team squad for the upcoming campaign clear, yet they do not seem ready to give up on his return just yet.

Watts insists that it would take an offer outside of Marseille’s budget to strike a deal with the Gunners however.

“It’d be it’d be big money, he’s still got two years left has contract, he stated on his YouTube channel. “He’s a fully fledged international now, he is Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.

Hellas Verona are claimed to be eyeing a move to sign Arsenal’s Pablo Mari.

The defender was one of Mikel Arteta first signings, joining on an initial loan deal from Flamengo a month into the Spaniard’s reign in north London, but found himself surplus to requirements last term as Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White formed a strong partnership at the back.

Mari eventually left to join Udinese on loan in January, but has since returned to the club, and is now on the lookout for a new permanent home.

He could be set for a return to Serie A however with reports that Verona are now considering a move to sign him, as quoted in La Gazzetta’s printed edition (as quoted by UdineseBlog.it).

I was a little surprised by how quickly Mari fell out of favour at the Emirates, as I thought he was one of Arteta’s favourites in his opening 18 months, but it is clear at this point that he would have no role to play if he stayed into the new season.

Darren Ambrose has claimed that ‘Chelsea and Manchester United’ should be worried about Arsenal’s recent transfer activity, with seemingly the most active side in the window at present.

The Gunners have completed deals to sign Marquinhos and Fabio Vieira at this early point of the close-season, as well as having deals in place to sign Matt Turner and Gabriel Jesus also, and there is no signs of us slowing down at present.

The likes of Chelsea and Manchester United have only seen outgoings thus far however, with both losing key players in Paul Pogba and Antonio Rudiger already.

Ambrose told TalkSPORT listeners that Arteta may be putting pressure on himself to succeed with another strong transfer window, with expectations certainly going to rise after another transfer splurge.

“I think Arteta is putting pressure on himself again.” he said on The Saturday Session.

Paul Merson has claimed that Arsenal striker Eddie NKetiah wouldn’t get in Fulham’s team, insisting that we wouldn’t be able to earn a Champions League place with him in our first-team.

The Gunners narrowly missed out on the top-four last term, with Alexandre Lacazette having held down the first-choice role for much of the campaign, while Nketiah came into the side after impressing in the absence of the Frenchman. I would argue that we wouldn’t have finished as close to fourth as we did if young Eddie hadn’t stepped up when he did, but Merson claims that there is ‘no chance’ that he would be able to fire us into the CL places.

‘All Arsenal have got up front right now is Eddie Nketiah, who recently signed a new contract when it looked like he might leave,’ Merson told the Daily Star.

‘And no disrespect to Nketiah but Mikel Arteta must realise he won’t get you into the top four. Absolutely no chance. That’s a fact.

‘Nketiah can’t be spearheading your Champions League push. He’s not getting in ahead of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison at Everton and they almost got relegated.

Darren Bent has claimed that he would prefer Arsenal to sign Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku over Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus this summer.

The Gunners appear to be closing in on the Brazilian’s signature at present, with reports claiming that we have now agreed a £45 Million fee with the Citizens, but talking to TalkSPORT, Bent has claimed that his preference would be the Belgian star.

When asked who he’d sign if he was in charge of Arsenal’s transfers this summer, he said (via the Metro): ‘I’d take Lukaku on loan, 100%. I’d be over the moon.

‘I look at Lukaku and I think he wants to go somewhere where he’s going to feel most loved, and at Inter Milan he was fantastic.

‘He scored a lot of goals and felt the passion from the Inter fans.

Arsenal have been linked with a move to sign Richarlison from Everton this summer, but Tottenham are now claimed to be considering using Everton’s interest in Harry Winks in a swap deal.

The Gunners have been actively looking at attacking targets to add to our front line this summer, with both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang yet to have been replaced. While Gabriel Jesus looks likely to come in this summer, we are expected to add one more, likely someone who can not only provide backup at CF but also in behind, and Richarlison ticks those boxes.

The Brazilian has proven to be a consistent performer during his time with both Watford and Everton in the Premier League, and after helping his side to avoid relegation he now seems open to a move to a bigger club.

While we have been linked with such a move, it is Tottenham who are now claimed to have been asked to be kept informed about his situation, and that they are considering using Everton’s interest in Harry Winks to work out a deal.

Tottenham are still well informed on Richarlison – was discussed during talks for Harry Winks-Everton. Richarlison would be open to Spurs move #THFC

Willam Saliba is set to stay with the Arsenal squad for the upcoming season, but with Marseille said to be ‘confident’ of a deal, I’m not wholly convinced that the player has completely made up his mind.

The Gunners are readying themselves for a return to European football ahead of the new season, having missed out on any form of continental football last term, and are believed to be building up their squad to tackle just that.

Willam Saliba joined the club from St Etienne in 2019, but as yet has not made his senior debut for the club, spending two-and-a-half years of that on loan with his former club, Nice and most recently Marseille.

While everything coming out of north London has stated that he will be staying to vie with Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White for a first-team role this season, the player is yet to come out with a statement which firmly backs up his intention to do so, and the fact that Marseille are claimed by RMC to be ‘confident’ of persuading him to return tells me that the defender may be in contact with the Ligue 1 side.

I would be pretty annoyed if we allowed Saliba go without giving him a fair shot, with not a single minute of competitive yet in his three years under contract with us, but at the same time, he isn’t guaranteed to earn a place ahead of either White or Gabriel regardless.

Charles Watts claims that Arsenal are really disappointed that Fiorentina opted against triggering their option to buy Lucas Torreira following an impressive loan spell.

The Uruguayan midfielder has spent the last two years on loan, enjoying a La Liga winning campaign with Atletico Madrid before returning to Serie A to impress for La Viola, and it was a surprise when they opted against meeting his pre-agreed fee to sign him on a permanent basis.

He has now returned to north London but isn’t expected to stay beyond the current window, and Watts claims that we are unhappy with the way it played out.

“Lucas Torreira – Arsenal are so disappointed with how that one turned out, over what happened with Fiorentina,” Watts told listeners to his podcast.

“They thought that one was pretty much a given that was going to happen.

The amount of Arsenal transfer rumours being shared by usually reliable transfer gurus like Romano, Ornstein and Watts has been incredible this summer, and even with the imminent arrival of Gabriel Jesus, there would appear to be many more incoming deals in the pipeline, if the “insiders” are to be believed.

One of our most-needed targets this summer must be a backup to the injury-prone Kieran Tierney and the inexperienced Nuno Tavares, so the links with the Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez is hardly a surprise, and at 24 years old is perfect for Arteta’s long term project.

Out interest has been confirmed by David Ornstein in the Athletic, who wrote: “Arsenal would like Martinez to join the defensive block — Ajax’s left-sided centre-back would add more depth in the position Gabriel made his own last season. Sources indicate Arsenal have had an offer — in the region of €30 million — rejected already. The 24-year-old, who is said to be keen on joining Arteta’s side, would also provide cover at left-back for Kieran Tierney, similar to how Takehiro Tomiyasu is also able to play both positions on the right side of defence.”

As we heard earlier, Fabrizio Romano has stated that Edu will be concentrating on the Leeds winger Raphinha after Jesus is in the bag, but personally I believe that Martinez should be the priority out of the two, and should be signed quickly so we are ready for the beginning of the season.

Admin Pat