More than a month of the transfer window has expired. Quite a lot has happened – Chelsea have prepped themselves for a convincing title bid, United are rebuilding under van Gaal, Liverpool are preparing for life after Suarez (albeit not too efficiently); heck, even Newcastle have hit the ground running. Arsenal, as expected, are falling back.But fall back this far? It’s unexpected even for me. Instead of gaining players we’ve actually lost some – Sagna, Fabianski, Viviano, Kallstrom and Bendtner have left. Granted; only Sagna’s and Fabianski’s departures particularly sting, but the point is that our strength in depth has been compromised; not that it was particularly awesome before.
We need a goalkeeper. A right back. A centre back. A holding midfielder. A striker. The only players I know Arsenal are trying hard for are Aurier and Sanchez. They’d be solid additions, but not nearly enough to sustain a title challenge. I know that, you know that, I’m assuming Wenger knows that. So, why the inaction?
UPDATE: Even though Arsenal seem set to sign Debuchy according to Sky, I’m told Aurier is still one of our options. Let’s see what unfolds.
There is interest, sure. But as of today, we’re not close to signing any of them.
Chelsea’s squad is arguably complete, and they did it with around two months to spare. United need a lot more, but they’ve made a good start by nabbing Shaw and Herrera. Apparently they’re going for Carvalho now. Why can’t Wenger do the same?
This picture infuriates me. It’s Wenger having a gala time in Brazil and commentating there, when his squad back at home is in need of investment and lagging behind before the season starts. I genuinely wouldn’t mind if Wenger was taking a break from work or something.
What work, though? Good question.
It’s pretty clear that Wenger is screwing around with our trust again. This summer is a repeat of the summer of 2011 and 2013. Deals for marquee signings will fall apart – not because of failed bids or non co-operative selling clubs or whatever balderdash excuse Wenger feeds us with – but because Wenger didn’t have the pressure to goad his outdated negotiators into action.
I know for certain that Arsenal are sniffing around at the Sanchez situation, but I have a nasty feeling that he is going to be this season’s Higuain. Arsenal top the pile in fucking up major deals, and that’s largely down to outdated transfer negotiators and a miserly manager.
I catch disinterest in Wenger’s actions. I hoped, perhaps out of naivety, that winning the FA Cup would rekindle the fire within him that built our long-gone glory days in the first place. It seems not, though. Even though we need around six players for the coming season, I seriously doubt we’ll buy more than two before the opening match against Palace.
The only way we’ll see change is when the fans start to put pressure on him. And that won’t happen, because right now everyone thinks I am wrong and have faith in Wenger to be proactive. By the time they realize that Wenger took them for a ride again, he will panic buy his way out of trouble and continue the cycle of papering over the cracks.
Why is this man so predictable, and why has no one stopped him yet?
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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