December 10, 2021 | Awake & Dreaming

With contracts for forward pair Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah still yet to be resolved and speculation surrounding the future of the out-of-sorts Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Gunners are tipped to splash out on some more firepower in the New Year. Off the back of a busy summer of spending, it seems Arsenal could be set for more movement when the transfer window opens in under a month’s time. One such name who is being touted with a move to Arsenal is that of Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez.

Tottenham were reportedly trying to sign him in the summer, but it appears the Argentine could well end up on the red side of the north London divide. According to in-the-know journalist Fabrizio Romano, the Gunners are planning to sign an “important striker” in the near future and Martinez is very much on the radar. Inter has admitted the interest from Arsenal but would prefer to sell, if at all, in the summer. Despite failing to find the net in any of Inter’s six Champions League group games, the 24-year-old has been in a rich vein of form domestically, having struck eight times in 14 Serie A appearances so far this term.

Perhaps the answer to Arsenal’s forward dilemma is a player closer to home and one who put the Gunners to the sword as recently as Monday night. Richarlison headed home Everton’s equaliser to spark the comeback after seeing two strikes ruled out by VAR and can reportedly count Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as an admirer. According to Fichajes, the Spaniard is keen to bring Richarlison to the Emirates as the search for a successor to Lacazette and Aubameyang heats up. The Spanish outlet report that Everton are a “club that is too small” for the Brazilian forward, who joined the Toffees from Watford in 2018 for an initial £35million fee, but a summer move appears more realistic.

While Arsenal may have to wait until the summer to snap up either Martinez or Richarlison, one player who could join up with Arteta’s squad sooner is that of Jonathan David. The Canadian forward has struck 14 times in 24 appearances for club side Lille so far this term, with his latest effort coming in the 3-1 Champions League triumph over Wolfsburg on Wednesday night. With Lille clinching top spot and securing European football for the New Year, Arsenal’s chances of snapping up the 21-year-old – a player they have been scouting for a long time – have suffered a setback. Lille president have also reportedly slapped a whopping price tag on his prized assets to dissuade clubs from launching January moves for the highly-rated hitman, is rumoured to be around £47m fee.

Take a line from a song you love and turn it into the title of your next blog post. Let the content follow.

Since I have already done a similar blog prompt 7 years ago I am changing the song up and choosing another lyric from another great song by another great band – Rush! This line from the song Dreamline off their 1991 album Roll The Bones was, at the age of almost 16 like a blast to the brain. Ofcourse it rings true every time a relative or friend passes away but especially in your teens or early 20s when someone you know and see regularly passes away. That is when you realize that everything is not going to be the same forever.

You realize as you take a look around that you are not going to see those people again. You will meet with your family ofcourse but there will be those gaps in between where those people used to be. The same with your friends; you will see the rest of them but there is that empty seat at the table that used to be filled. And that hits you for a long time. You are made aware of your own mortality. You will not see your dog or cats again, your loved ones who have passed away again. You will miss that friend who died in an accident for the rest of your life. And then you realize that life goes on without them and that life will go on without you.

Learning that we are only immortal, for a limited time. When you are young and life is good and sweet, you do not think about dying. You do not think that you will die someday and you will not get to experience the things you like anymore. This is a powerful moment, not necessarily all sad and doom/gloom. But it lets you know that your time is limited and we need to enjoy it while we can.

Prompt from 31 December Writing Prompts at Mama Kat’s Losing It