It’s only been 11 days since Arsenal’s final game of the season finished with a big German holding a small pot, but that’s been more than enough time for the relentless and merciless machine that is the transfer rumour mill to take over our lives and our social media feeds.
Usually when this happens, it’s because of one of four reasons;
- Arsenal are trying to buy a big name
- Arsenal are trying to buy a youngster who nobody’s heard of but are basing their opinion on him on one YouTube clip anyway
- Arsenal are desperately trying to keep their best player from leaving
- Arsenal are desperately trying to flog off their unwanted players to the first possible bidder.
This time is different though, because even though the season has just finished, Arsenal find themselves dealing with all four of these problems simultaneously.
The Big Gun
Arsene Wenger has precedence when it comes to spending big money on players, and the same criteria gets ticked off again and again; the player is always young or just about to hit his prime. Granit Xhaka was 23 when he was signed, Shkodran Mustafi and Mesut Özil were 24, and Alexis only a year older.
At 18, Kylian Mbappé is clearly in the same mould, a player for both the present and the future. But………….€130 million? For a player with twenty nine professional starts to his name?
It’s very hard not to look at that sort of fee and think that it could be better spent somewhere else. It’s like your wife sending you out to get the shopping in for the week and you only buy the biggest pot of caviar you can afford.
Great, the first meal you have will be awesome, but after that, all you’re left with is an empty stomach and an angry spouse.
If Arsenal were merely one player away from competing for major silverware, then justifying such a price tag would be a lot easier. But we’ve just seen that the squad as currently constructed isn’t good enough to finish in the top four of the league, never mind winning it.
Arsenal have already brought in Sead Kolasinac, who should slot in at LWB straight away, but they still need another centre back or two, a right back and a centre midfielder if Jack Wilshere gets let go.
That’s on top of needing a striker to play with Özil and Alexis.
If Arsenal are going to spend that sort of money in the summer, it needs to be spent throughout the team, not just up top.
The Young Gun
The mysterious saga of Henry Onyekuru continues.
First David Ornstein says that reports are ‘wrong’, then Onyekuru comes out and says that Arsenal have made an offer for him and he’s looking forward to playing for the club, then the European press confirms that a bid has been made, then it’s reported that West Ham are in for him, then Onyekuru says that the amount of playing time assured to him will help decide where he plays next season.
Huh?
I’m not saying there’s something fishy about all of this, but there are seagulls hovering over my laptop right now.
I’m just saying.
The Wantaway Star
No, this isn’t about Özil or Alexis, because clearly nobody has a clue as to what either of them are thinking right now.
But it’s hard to look at Hector Bellerin’s comments over the last few days and not come to the conclusion that we’re going to have another ‘Fabregas’ situation coming soon.
Just like with Cesc, there’s not going to be a lot Arsenal can do about it once they lose their leverage in any negotiation with Barcelona.
But just like with Fabregas, it’s going to be a while before Arsenal lose that leverage.
Bellerin has five years left on his contract.
He may have legitimate reasons for wanting to move back home, and the word ‘home’ is key here, just like it was for Fabregas. As much as we want him to be ‘one of our own’, after being the club to give him a chance to develop in the first place, he’ll always be a Barcelona lad.
That’ll never change.
What expedites matters a bit is that Barcelona are a bit miffed at seeing Real Madrid romp to the double this season, and need to make a statement of intent.
Yes, it wouldn’t be as flashy as a striker or creative midfielder, but they need to have eight home grown players for their European squad just like everyone else and Bellerin fits the bill quite nicely.
Plus they have nobody good at right back anyway. It’s almost a no–brainer.
So, if they offer silly money for him, let him go.
Kyle Walker is about to go to Manchester City for £40 million, so if Arsenal should expect at least that.
Replace him with Nelson Semedo from Benfica or Ricardo Pereira from Nice.
Fabregas, as captain and Arsenal’s best player at the time, was irreplaceable.
Bellerin, even as the best young right back in the world, is more than replaceable.
The ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ aisle
Is anyone else a little worried that Arsenal are selling both David Ospina and Wojciech Szczesny at the same time?
Wasn’t the point of letting Szczesny go on loan to Roma be that he would cut the mistakes and the occasional petulance out of his game? It’d be one thing if a club that wasn’t of the stature of Arsenal wanted to buy him, then it’d be easier to justify.
But when it’s Juventus???
If Juventus are saying that they think Szczesny can succeed Gianluigi F. Buffon, then that’s got to say something about how well he’s played in Italy, no?
We all know that Szczesny and Wenger had a falling out during his last season at the club, but if Szczesny is willing to sit on the bench for a year at Juve, I don’t think it’d be too much of a stretch to suggest that he’d sit on the bench for a year at Arsenal, a club he holds so dear to his heart.
If Ospina was staying, then having having three #1 goalkeepers would be overkill, but with the Colombian on his way to Fenerbache, Arsenal need backup for Petr Cech.
Szczesny even qualifies as home grown for squad quotas, so we can’t hold that against him either.
Either Wenger is really, really, REALLY holding a grudge here, or Juventus know something we don’t.
All of this and we’re only 11 days in.
August can’t come quick enough.