On Thursday afternoon, the interweb was all a flutter with rumours that Arsenal’s secret striker signing is Jamie ‘I was only a racist that one time I was filmed’ Vardy.
Craziness, I thought, so I went digging.
Normally at this time of the year we can point to at least one publication that starts any rumour, whether grounded in fact or not.
This one, however, seems to have all stemmed from some guessing games and a few tweets.
First up, @AFCAmden tweeted
No bid for Morata, but we are actively in talks with another player. #striker #afc
— Pablo (@AFCAMDEN) May 25, 2016
This, of course, prompted questions with many seeing AFCamden as a guy ‘in the know.’
His reply was innocuous enough
as soon as I can
— Pablo (@AFCAMDEN) May 25, 2016
But of course, that was never going to satisfy the internet.
Up pops another ITK who claims there is lots going on behind the scenes, but no name is given:
https://twitter.com/DeejayDt/status/735378551701155840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Before someone decides to kick it all up a notch and throw in a name:
https://twitter.com/joshualloyd_/status/735412317169537024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Now.
I don’t know who this guy is.
Nothing in his Twitter bio or profile would lead you to believe that he is privy to top secret Arsenal information. Some of his other tweets are pretty offensive as well. But stranger things have happened, I guess. Like Leicester winning the league, or Tottenham thinking they can finish above Arsenal.
Even if you were to take the rumour at face value, do you really think £20m sounds like the price Leicester would accept for their record goalscorer when he has three years left on his current contract and just enjoyed the season of his life?
You might think he has a release clause for that amount but, for the record, it was revealed in March that he doesn’t have such a clause.
£20m is, however, the amount that the Daily Mail said he would be available to Champions League clubs for just a few days ago. They claim this is a release clause that was inserted into his contract in February, however Sky Sports have already covered that and found there to be no release clause in place.
Are Arsenal after a striker? Yes.
Are they after a 29-year-old one-trick pony who cheats, irritates and can’t be trusted not to be racially abusive when in a casino?
Don’t be daft.