Ready to pounce here, preparing to swoop there: there’s genuine hope that Arsenal’s summer business is beginning to be done.

Clearly, the most likely and immediate incomer is defender Thomas Vermaelen, due we are told for a medical tomorrow.

All he needs to prove to Tony Colbert is that he hasn’t got balsa legs and the deal should be done. His arrival – fingers crossed and all that – could precipitate a bit of movement in the other direction. I can’t see Senderos staying (the only player currently on my transfer ‘Ins’ – strictly speaking he counts as an addition to the squad), but nobody is clear if any of our central defenders, Djourou apart, will 100% be here next season so your guess is as good as mine.

Other linkees are Marouane Chamakh, Felipe Melo and Uncle Tom Cobley. I have no idea of the veracity of any of these, except for the latter, of course. Cobley is not a footballer.

And finally, Theo Walcott’s peculiar pre-pre-season continued tonight with a second half cameo for the England U21s that was full of promise. He’s been average one moment and excellent the next, and substituted twice at half time – once for the seniors and once for the U21s.

The bottom line for me here is that Walcott is a work in progress. It’s absolute lunacy (though sadly, absolutely predictable) for people to write Walcott off so early in his international career, as some have done. He’s 20 years old. He still has a lot to learn, but overall, in a year that included 4 months out, Walcott has made massive steps.

Nothing to add, really.