After Arsenal lost to Liverpool on Sunday, talk in the Sky Sports studio inevitably turned to the Gunners’ lack of new signings this summer with Thierry Henry even raising the valid point that players no longer want to come to us.
Arsenal used to be a huge name in world football. However, when we moved to the Emirates and went on our trophy drought, we lost a bit of that. Now we’re supposed to be earning it back but it’s hard to do that when we’re not willing to offer players any more than other clubs can.
When Leicester won the League, they showed that you don’t have to be one of the ‘big four’ to win titles. It gave hope to other teams that are lower down in the League. Perhaps this is a good thing for English football from an entertainment point of view, but for Arsenal who need something to attract new players, it’s not.
Henry: "It looks like players don't want to come and play for #AFC."#SuperSunday https://t.co/bBFDmaNOrO
— Sky Football ⚽️ (@SkyFootball) August 14, 2016
For example, what could we have offered Jamie Vardy? A slightly bigger pay packet maybe. Premier League titles? Already won one. Champions League football? The Foxes already have it. First team football? 100% guaranteed at Leicester. Long term success? There’s no way of proving that we’ll have that and Leicester won’t. History? Leicester are making their own.
It’s taken the honour of signing for Arsenal away.
Of course, I still believe when you look at the bigger picture that Vardy is foolish for turning us down and that Arsenal are obviously still the bigger team but players may not see it like that. And that’s a problem.