As far as I am aware this is what has been going on. Arsenal were interested in Fernandes / Tonali / Pablo Barrios (exclusive). When Tonali was offered to us at the end of January, it peaked everyone's interest at the club. Berta kept in contact as did City. It became clear the deal was not feasible due to Newcastle wanting £85m or even more. To further add, the agent fees are incroyable. Barrios was not available for several reasons. Fernandes is heavily involved with Jorge Mendes and it became quickly apparent that there would be a bidding war at a minimum of £85m. It has now even been stated, 'whoever pays the most can have him'.
Berta then made contact multiple times to explore the situation of Alex Scott, the interest is real and there was a feeling a potential bargain could be secured around £65m. Bournemouth began to panic while Alex Scott was out in the USA with the England pre camp and want to rush to secure a renewal for Scott with a possible release clause. Their stance currently is he is not for sale at any price.
Is it becoming apparent we have approximated budget for the midfielder? (Investing in other areas)
As for Bruno G let me clarify… Berta made contact with his camp via Kia. A loose offer below £60m was floated to Newcastle via these middle men to understand their appetite for any deal. Newcastle say he is not for sale. Kia being involved is something you must keep an eye on for reasons every Arsenal fan should be aware of. When an offer is serious, it is officially submitted to the club hence me saying Newcastle have had no contact yet from Arsenal as of 9am. Newcastle will not lose both of their midfielders, so maybe Berta tried a cheeky offer before the Tonali deal has gone through. Until a serious offer is presented or our budget changes, we wait.
Arsenal have contacted the likes of Bouaddi / Kone and others I don’t want to discuss yet but no one else is providing these step by step updates and its incredibly exhausting. Personally think Bouaddi or Bruno would be incredible.
@deplorabletrdr@leevalueroach Like your FinX and Lending plays. Both really undervalued
I’ve got concerns over the foward EPS growth of $TREE.
Thoughts on $UPST and $FOUR
Bradley Barcola Situation
• Moussa Sissoko has been trying to renew Bradley Barcola’s contract for the best part of 9-12 months. Talks have been difficult, and it reached a point where both parties agreed to put negotiations on hold so that Barcola and PSG could focus on important fixtures in April and May.
• Soon after the UEFA Champions League final, talks resumed and remain ongoing. The player reportedly told people close to him that he was disappointed not to start a number of important fixtures.
• PSG’s position is clear: renew or we will sell, as his contract expires in June 2028. Personally, I think that is a significant stance for the club to take.
• Barcola’s agent also represents Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué and maintains a good relationship with PSG. The club is also in serious talks regarding Yan Diomande and Maghnes Akliouche, which could further influence the situation surrounding Barcola.
Both Arsenal and Liverpool are interested, but I want to explain Arsenal’s side of the story.
• Andrea Berta made serious enquiries into Barcola’s situation last summer. At the time, Arsenal were informed that the player would stay for at least one more year. Since then, Berta has remained in constant contact with Sissoko and has made it clear that Barcola is of serious interest to Arsenal. He has also asked to be notified if PSG become open to a sale. Should Arsenal make an official approach towards PSG, there will be a further update.
• Arsenal also hold an interest in Morgan Rogers and one other player(sensitive info currently). More on that in due course.
• As always, Andrea Berta is willing to agree personal terms with multiple targets and make a move when the timing suits Arsenal.
Before I sign off, there is something worth noting. Berta is very happy for misinformation to circulate publicly. Berta & Co are busy behind the scenes, and many details remain unknown as Arsenal move silently.
Allow me to provide a free exclusive as an example of that which is unknown. Arsenal made standard checks on Nico Paz. Nico was reportedly left confused following a recent call with Mourinho, although another conversation may be scheduled. Arsenal have also made serious checks on Christos Tzolis, the Greek winger.
My point is that a great deal is happening behind the curtain. Embrace the silence and, as always, choose your sources of information carefully.
HandofArsenal
APPLE $AAPL HAD A SECRET CRISIS MEETING IN EARLY 2025 ABOUT AI
The topic: Apple Intelligence was a flop. The new Siri was about to be delayed. And rivals like OpenAI, Google, and Meta were lapping them.
Here's what came out of that meeting:
John Giannandrea, Apple's AI chief, was stripped of his portfolio and pushed out. Mike Rockwell, the engineer behind Vision Pro, was handed Siri. A deal was struck with Google to replace the underlying Siri models with Gemini and Google Cloud.
Tim Cook himself became more involved in AI than any other product initiative in a decade, personally voicing feature preferences and overriding his own lieutenants.
This Monday at WWDC, the result of all of it goes public: a completely rebuilt Siri with a standalone ChatGPT-rival app.
The new Siri is also one of Cook's final acts as CEO before John Ternus takes over
(Source Bloomberg)
@StanbicIBTC@0hammiri Lol @StanbicIBTC BluNest are scammers.
I advise people to withdraw their money from there as soon as possible or risk loosing it.
Only giving my opinion of a lived reality.