Great Berta’s Bake Off

Ahead of the first roaring Howes Growls print column of the forthcoming 2025-26 season in our new issue out for Arsenal vs Leeds United, The Gooner’s irreverent scribe returns to N5 to find Andrea Berta covered in flour.

Our sporting director is from the province of Brescia, Italy, where they make Bossolà di Brescia — a sweet cake traditionally scoffed at Christmas.

Andrea Berta will serve himself a massive slice if his summer bakes rise to perfection, having joined in March following Edu Gaspar’s sudden departure late last year.

By the time Berta wishes his friends ‘Buon Natale’, we’ll know if we’ve got a chance of finally going one better and winning this season’s Premier League, or the whole thing is more likely to fall flat (again).

It’s hot in the kitchen — and Berta’s perspiration has matted finely milled Italian wheat flour on his brow.

Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey, Nuno Tavares, Marquinhos, and Takehiro Tomiyasu have all departed; Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martín Zubimendi, Christian Nørgaard, Cristhian Mosquera, Noni Madueke, and Viktor Gyökeres have all signed (at the time of writing).

The problem is, this time last year, we felt like we had a team that was in an advanced phase of its evolution; we had finished the previous season with the same second-place finish as a year earlier, but we felt closer than ever before.

Berta’s baking seems a little frantic. And I’m not sure it really feels like only adding finishing touches. Is Gyökeres the cherry on top of the cake, or is our pasticcere still manically kneading his dough?

Bossolà di Brescia is tall and round, but has a hollow centre. Let’s hope Berta strayed from the recipe and mixed up a rich filling — perhaps made of Swedish lingonberry jam.

See Howes Growls in our new season issue out for Arsenal vs Leeds United on Saturday, August 23 in glorious, glossy, sweet-smelling print for more on the Arsenal midfield clown car; a deep-lying playmaker with gloves on; and the full story about who said, “T*******m are s**t!” in a French accent before they could even order a slice of Eccles cake.

Plus: who needs rivals with fans like you?

Pre-order jam-packed new print issue now and help Save The GoonerPre-order our 2025-26 new print issue which will be out for Arsenal vs Leeds and help Save The Goonerhttps://t.co/Pwxuk8Y3bk

— The Gooner (@GoonerFanzine) August 8, 2025