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The transfer window and Arsene Wenger’s antics at the north London club have to go in the same breath these days. The fans of this club will surely be one of the most precarious of the lot; and though most of them claim to have gained certain immunity towards Wenger’s tactics in the window, then again they are the ones who laboriously tread through Twitter in search of the tiniest hope of an incoming player.
This window’s arrival was announced again as being the start of a different era, as Ivan Gazdis was quick to announce:
“This year we are beginning to see something we have been planning for some time, which is the escalation in our financial firepower. That is going to happen partly into next season, it is part way available now in the summer, but the following season as well.”
The rumor mongers were quick to catch up with this and linked Arsenal with a plethora of stars. The striker’s department seemed to be an obvious choice for needed replenishment, as despite Giroud’s 16 goals in his first season away from the Ligue 1, fans were nowhere close to being pleased with “RVP’s replacement”.
Stefan Jovetic became an obvious choice as Wenger’s scouts were seen tracking him in previous seasons. And with the Montenegrin’s contract ending in the next summer, he seemed to be an ideal signing where Wenger could again claim: “he can play through the centre, right and left of attack”.
But Fiorentina’s asking fee and the player’s indecisiveness over staying in Italy made Wenger baulk away. With the rumored “transfer war-chest” bulging out of proportions, the Gunners’ were quick to be linked with unhappy Real Madrid star Higuain. The Argentine is one of the best finishers in the game, though his linkup with the wingers and midfield is still doubted.
After around 3 weeks of speculation of Higuain being at the London Airport or Wenger flying to Paris to meet the striker on holiday there, Madrid’s president announced that there was never a bid from the London club for the striker. This brought back all the high-flying Gooners to rock bottom and in hindsight this has always been the type of reports that have always been linked to Arsene Wenger.
Another factor that came into play was Ancelotti’s arrival in Madrid, and the Italian though having said that he was interested in keeping Higuain, has now accepted the striker’s imminent departure for the right bid. Strong reports from Italy indicate that Napoli’s 35 million bid in the aftermath of Cavani’s departure has been accepted by Real Madrid. And thus Gonzalo Higuain has now fallen into the category of players that Wenger will claim at a later date that he was close to signing.
A temporary subsidy of Higuain rumors in early July, led to the outbreak of a surprising and truly rebellious report of Wenger having made a bid for Liverpool’s ace beaver Luiz Suarez. The whole prospect of Liverpool selling the Uruguayan started from the terms of his ban in the EPL.
This, coupled with the striker’s eventual hunger to play in the Champions League, resulted in rumors about a move to Madrid. With PSG and Manchester City already having exhausted their spots and Barcelona still not believing in the concept of strikers, the only big takers for Suarez’s signature were Manchester United and Arsenal alongside Madrid.
Suarez’s hypothetical move to Old Trafford will surely knock Liverpool permanently “off their f**king perch”, and with Ancelotti having been bit by the ‘Spanish Youth’ bug, Arsenal seemed to be the only option with a huge transfer kitty.
And just to abolish all talks of the fantasy move to Arsenal, Liverpool went and confirmed Arsenal’s eventually rejected bid of 30 million pounds. But this statement had an immense impact on the Gooners worldwide as they stood in disbelief over Wenger bidding 30 million on a player, albeit it was being rejected.
The mere action by Wenger has now led to Suarez’s every move being scrutinized, and just his arrival in Australia for the Reds’ pre-season has set off rumors that crunch talks are going in Arsenal’s favor. If Arsene is indeed able to pull of this Suarez coup, then the smokescreen, that was Higuain, will truly be revealed. Wenger had pulled of a similar act in 2008, when his signing of Samir Nasri was initially in the backdrop of his reported interest in Hatim Ben Arfa.
Could Wenger pull out Suarez from his magic hat?
While fans might have taken Gazdis’ statement with a pinch of salt, the most important eventuality of Arsenal’s reported financial backup will certainly have an effect on the club’s recent tendency to sell top talents. As Jack Wilshere had said earlier, and now Szczesny prods upon:
“You try not to think of the sagas — Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri. But it’s always in your mind you’ll lose another top player. This time, everyone is talking about who Arsenal are bringing in. That makes us feel stronger.”
Though this statement might seem a bit hypocritical at this point of type, but the Polish keeper indeed has a point. As has been claimed by pundits in the past seasons, Arsenal indeed do have an encouraging youth setup, and the likes of ‘the stars in making’ like Wilshere , Chamberlain and Gibbs need to retained as first priority.A very good example would be Gedion Zelalem, a 16-year-old midfielder that Wenger took along to Japan this time. The teenager displayed an exceedingly special temperament in the center, and his defense splitting passes were far more impressive than what Cesc displayed at a similar age.
His initial slowing down of the game is quite similar to Diaby’s style, but his eventual picking up of the game and creating chance for the cutting-in wingers shows true potential. Now talents like him and Gnabry need to be settled-in with long term contracts, and Arsenal’s current financial competitiveness should prioritize on this first.
After the initial mist of the window has settled, most of Arsenal’s reported targets have already made the move or have signed new contracts. Apart from Jovetic’s deal to City and Higuain’s impending one to Rafa’s Napoli, others like Clement Greneir have signed a new deal at Lyon.
As the pre-season tour went on, stronger reports of certain attainable targets crept up. Arshavin’s departure early in the window meant that Gervinho was the only wing option available, considering that ‘the Ox’ is slowly being developed by Wenger into more of a midfielder.
Wenger again tends to play a midfielder on the wings, as was the case with Cazorla last season and Rosicky in this pre-season. But yet again the repetitive errors that Gervinho commits on the left wing has started to hurt the team, and many feel that his best position would be as an emergency False No.9.
This opened up reports for yet another Brazilian’s arrival in London. Bernard from Athletico Mineiro has been touted as the next sensation from Brazil and the 21-year-old’s direct and spectacular approach to goal has been compared to Neymar’s by many.
Reports from Brazil and France suggest that the winger will come to London for a medical this Friday once he plays Mineiro’s last game on Wednesday. But as usual the target deflected away all such reports:
“I don’t want to talk about this in a week as important as this one. I want to talk about the game and I don’t want to be polite or ignore it in any way. I don’t know what will happen after the game. My future at Atletico Mineiro will be in the board’s hands from Thursday onwards.”
This speculation has now made all of the Twitterati to gaga over the Brazilian and stress that this is exactly what Arsenal needed. If indeed Bernard is the player Wenger brings in, then the 21 million spent on him will leave room for a much needed central midfielder.
In midfield, despite the return of Wilshere and the re-emergence of Ramsey, Wenger does need a substitute for Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard was influential last season, but he could not evade the opposition making use of his lack of physicality. This would surely indicate in the direction of the unsettled Marouane Fellaini and the Belgian’s clause of 26 million is also in Wenger’s favour.
The initial part of the window is past us now and Wenger’s only signing of Yaya Sanogo makes sense as he has retained the rest. The next stage of the window is completely based on Wenger’s decision making; like a call of not signing a central midfielder just because Wilshere is returning does not make much sense, as one can see up to four strikers fighting for a single spot in League winning sides like Man United and City.
Another side issue that crops up here is the Cesc Fabregas saga which gives Wenger to snap up an ex-captain for 30 million Euros in case Manchester United are adamant enough to get through a successful bid for the Barca man. Infact Wenger’s mere intent to pull off such a deal would be an inclination to the Frenchman’s title winning mentality.
