Football's transfer window is generally one giant shit show. Lots of rumors and very little factual information. This particular transfer window has been incredibly busy and it hasn't been light on the amount of bullshit that pierces the airwaves on a regular basis. Teams like P$G, A$ Monaco, Bayern Munich, and Napoli have all been very busy during the window. Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger is still busy trying to figure out how to zip up his ridiculous puffy coat. (I'm a huge Wenger supporter but come on am I supposed to be excited about Yaya Sanogo signing for us? Especially when several fantastic strikers are on the market and have subsequently been signed by some big market teams. I shouldn't be surprised though, this isn't the first time that Arsenal has pulled this kind of dance. Become linked to a player, rumors and speculation grows, Facebook fan pages begin to post pictures of the player Photoshopped into an Arsenal kit, and news that the player is due to arrive for a medical the next day persists for weeks. Then we hear news like, clubs can't agree fee or Wenger doesn't want to meet the players wages, or even worse; there was never any actual substance to the rumor at all. The most recent example of this is former Real Madrid and soon to be current Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain.
 |
| Dortmund's signing of Henrikh Mkhitryan from Shakhtar Donetsk to replace departed star Mario Gotze is the kind of moves Arsenal needs to make
Frankly, I'm sick of it. I'm tired of the crap and all the false information. Arsenal has lost too much over the past few years to simply sit on their hands and make ineffectual youth signings. (I do love Arsenal's youth team though. Gedion Zelalem is going to be a STUD). Arsenal needs to follow the model of Borussia Dortmund. Last summer, the German club lost star playmaker Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United. In response, they acquired Marco Reus with the money gained from Kagawa's transfer. This summer they lost Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich and could be on the verge of losing star striker Robert Lewandowski as well. Instead of just taking the money and pocketing it, Dortmund went out an used it once again. The signings of Henrikh Mkhitryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang show that Dortmund wants to remain competitive despite losing Gotze's quality. I want to see this from Arsenal; if the club sells a player they should make sure to reinvest such funds to acquire replacements. It's not enough to ask young players to step up, today's game does not allow for such patience. It really is a shame, if there was such caps on spending there is no doubt that Arsenal would be very well set up. Unfortunately, such a cap does not exist and Arsene Wenger needs to get off of his philosophical high horse and get back in the game.
The most prevalent rumor that has been circulating around the Premier League is Arsenal's new interest in Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. When the story first broke I believed the news to be a load of bull. Luis Suarez is certainly disgruntled at Liverpool but his grievances are less with the club itself but rather with the English media. Why exactly would a player who hates playing in England want to relocate to another English club? However, I continue to ask myself these questions as Arsenal's interest in the controversial striker grow each day. In fact, Arsenal just bid 40mil (along with a a hilariously attacked 1 pound sterling) The bid was rejected by Liverpool but I wouldn't be surprised if Arsenal came back with more later. Another interesting note is that the 40mil actually is the trigger for Suarez's release clause which would enable them to talk to the player. Part of me wonders if this is to gauge Suarez's interest in joining the Gunners. If he does have genuine interest in joining them, Arsenal could use this as leverage to Liverpool's asking price. If such a thing happens, Liverpool will surely regret writing such a clause into Suarez's contract. Suarez, while controversial would be a massive signing for the Gunners. As for the Higuain saga, I'm actually not angry at Wenger because I believe he made the right call. The fee that Napoli will reportedly pay Madrid for the strikers services comes out to around 37.8mil. Higuain is a great player but not worth that much money. It's not surprising to see Wenger thinking if I'm going to pay over 35mil I should get someone of higher quality. Thus the bid for Suarez begins to make more sense.
Despite my negative attitude about Arsenal I actually do believe that there are some massive things coming this window. For one, Wenger has cleared much of the deadwood out of the club (Arshavin, Squillaci, Djourou, Denilson, etc.) Gervinho and Nicholas Bentdner could follow those men out the door as well. Sure these players are hardly stars and nobody will really miss them but Wenger is clearing out a large amount of his squad depth. I highly doubt that he plans to leave his squad so thin. Secondly, the team is off in Asia on tour at the moment. Perhaps Wenger wants to get players in after the tour? It's wishful thinking, but it would be a very Arsene move to ensure that his youth players get some first team experience in low pressure situations. I would love to see Arsenal add Suarez this transfer window and I would also love to see them add a defensive midfielder such as Everton's Marouane Fellaini. Until then though, everything is simply rumor...
|
No comments:
Post a Comment