Garth Crooks has hailed the free signing of Sead Kolasinac following his performance against Swansea.

The Bosnian helped turn the game around with a second half goal and assist and earned a place in Crooks’ team of the week.

In his weekly column for the BBC, Crooks described Kolasinac as the signing of the season, and believes he “knocks the stuffing” out of supporters who feel big money has to be spent on players.

“I was very impressed with Sead Kolasinac when Arsenal played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season and he has since become a regular feature in the Gunners set-up,” he said.

“Kolasinac only joined the club at the beginning of the season, and on a free transfer, which really does knock the stuffing out of all those Arsenal ‘know it all’ supporters who have been caning Arsene Wenger for not spending millions on players the manager thinks are not worth it.

“Kolasinac must be the signing of the season and he already looks like a player who has won the respect and admiration of his team-mates. The goal he scored against Swansea was well taken, but the move and assist for Aaron Ramsey to score was just fabulous football from the Bosnia-Herzegovina international.”

There’s a point to be made about transfer fees determining how good a player is. Few expected Kolasinac to perform at the level he has simply because Arsenal didn’t have to pay a transfer fee for him.

It shows that large sums of money don’t have to trade hands to bring good players into the club.

At the same time, Alexandre Lacazette, who cost the club a record fee, has also been doing very well.

Likewise, Romelu Lukaku at Manchester United could also claim to be the signing of the season so far, and he cost £75m.

Ultimately, Arsenal fans are very happy that Kolasinac has settled in so quickly and is doing a good job on the left flank. How much he cost is secondary to that.