Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
August is upon us. One month to go for all the transfer dealings to happen, and – somewhat predictably? – Arsene Wenger and Arsenal haven’t arranged the requisite dominoes to fall into place. Targets are dropping like flies as other clubs have gone about their business early. Among the ruckus, we have signed a player, but not nearly enough to bolster the squad – or indeed, bolster us in that particular position.
Rob Holding from Bolton Wanderers is, let’s face it, an absolute nobody. Who knows where he will be in three years, but in the immediate short term, he solves little. I don’t think he has a major part to play this season, and I don’t think that’s even why Arsene bought him. Calum Chambers is pr0bably ahead of him in the pecking order, and look how many games he played in last season.
In fairness, a statistic like that might change this season with Per Mertesacker injured for half a season and Gabriel Paulista finding himself out of favour with the fans, but if anything, that would partially open the door for Chambers and yet leave it tightly shut for Holding. While these intangibles are hard to predict, you would imagine there’s hardly any evidence to suggest Holding would have a Koscielny-esque debut season.
Keeping this in mind, it would be very, very bold if Wenger shuts his checkbook in the center-back area after Holding. Everyone knows he can’t afford to. Mertesacker’s peak days are done, and Koscielny’s downward trajectory can begin any day. Paulista and Chambers have a few good years ahead of them, but neither currently have the self-confidence or sufficient amount of games under their belt to make that climb so soon. One of them might, but it’s a massive gamble to assume they will.
Why won’t Arsenal go after players like Kalidou Koulibaly, for instance? He’s in his prime age, tall, fast, strong and definitely worth having a punt on. Antonio Conte is willing to pay £38m for him, and before you scoff at that money, please remember how awash with cash this transfer market is. The market dictates the price, and the same Koulibaly could be worth £60m in a year or two. Each year as we hold our pot of gold closer to our chests, the value of it falls. Today, we may be able to buy four players with the reported £150m we have, but tomorrow, the number might reduce to three. That’s simple economics – inflation.
I’m not saying Arsenal must sign Koulibaly, but showing signs that we understand how modern footballing transfers work would be nice. If the club isn’t ready to take a gamble and push the boat out for a player who has more chances of being a success than Rob Holding does, isn’t that a neat summation of how risk-averse we are?
UPDATE: A while after saving this draft, reports of Arsenal’s interest in Mustafi emerged. Thank God.
It’s the same, to an extent, with Alexandre Lacazette. Lyon confirmed a while ago that Arsenal had a £29m bid (?!) rejected, and reports suggest we could return with a better one. From what I’ve seen of him in France friendlies, I like Lacazette and I think he’d be a better pick than someone like Jamie Vardy. His pace will offer a very different outlet to Olivier Giroud, which sets the cards for Lacazette being a moderately decent signing.
However, the very fact that we’re ‘settling’ for targets like Vardy and Lacazette speak volumes of how low we’re setting the bar. Lacazette won’t be a bad buy, but he isn’t a huge statement of intent either, is he? He may be good, he may be very good, but he won’t be the kind of marquee buy who would send repercussions down the Premier League.
Manchester United are signing Paul Pogba. Regardless of your opinions on the baulked transfer fee and if the player deserves that valuation, there is no doubt his purchase symbolizes ambition. It’s a black-and-white message to the rest of the league, and will bring with it an aura of excitement around the club. It’s players like these, more than players like Lacazette, that do wonders for the image of the club and instill a sense of respect from others.
Remember when Arsenal signed Alexis Sanchez? What if we had bought someone like Kevin Mirallas instead? He would have been useful, yes, and would have scored a few goals. But would the signing have nearly as much as an impact as Sanchez’s?
Morning, remember when Wenger said TV money would be used for transfers? Now he’s scared of everyone’s spending ???? pic.twitter.com/I7gFWtrN3U — Mr DT © (@DeejayDt) July 30, 2016
Speaking of Sanchez, what will him and Mesut Ozil think of this pantomime show? It’s worth noting that both of them have two years on their contract and neither have showed signs of wanting to renew them. Like us, they’re playing the waiting game. They want to see if Arsenal have the ambition to match theirs. Except, unlike us, if they find out Wenger isn’t winning anytime soon, they’ll be goners. And could you blame them?
In times when we should be putting our money where our mouths are, Arsene Wenger is falling flat, and he’s not even doing it valiantly. He has reiterated his wish to buy a forward, but the lack of conviction with that wish is what’s hurting us. Identifying a problem is an important step and Arsenal have evidently done that, but solving the problem is the decisive step. In terms of money, we don’t have a bottomless pit, but it’s larger than probably every major footballing player in Europe. Whichever way you look at it, not spending most of that on positions requiring immediate attention is anything but ambitious.
As Wenger hesitates to reaffirm that ambition, time is slipping out of his hands like sand. Can he pull it out of the bag, to make sure we start our season with much more optimism than we start previous ones?
I don’t think so, but then again, I’m no prophet.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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