Arsene Wenger is not afraid to spend ‘the big money’ this summer, but as always, it must be spent on the ‘right candidate’ as a sense of deja vu and nerves start to kick in among fans after quotes from Ivan Gazidis (via Arsenal.com).
The Arsenal chief executive’s suggested that the Gunners already had a squad to compete for the Premier League title. Gazidis also regurgitated the same story about being disciplined and not buying in the transfer window for the sake of it, which has naturally rustled a few feathers. At a time when Arsenal’s cash reserves are ripe to stay the least, all of the other title contenders severely strengthening and gaping holes obvious in the squad – this is the last thing Gooners want to hear.
Wenger has quickly moved to clarify Arsenal are very active in the transfer market and is willing to spend the necessary cash to bring in the player/s the squad requires. After spending somewhere in the region of £30m on Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka, the Frenchman reiterated the club have already spent big and will be willing to do so again before the transfer window closes on August 31st.
“I am sure that my chief executive didn’t want to dampen the expectations on that front,” Wenger admitted to Arsenal’s official website after Friday night’s 1-1 draw with Lens. “We are very active. If we find the right candidates then we will spend the big money. We have already spent big.”
“Until now, nobody has spent more on a transfer than we have in this country. Even if Pogba might fly from Italy to England today, I don’t know… Overall we have made a big investment already but we are active.”
Should said Paul Pogba fly to England, it certainly won’t be to London. Manchester United are looking to smash all sorts of British transfer records to sign the French star from Juventus, and don’t kid yourself Wenger, you certainly wouldn’t be seen spending £100million on one player.
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The Arsenal boss was also quizzed on reported interest in Arda Turan, Alexandre Lacazette and Mauro Icardi. “I wouldn’t like to come out on names because if you don’t get them afterwards, people ask why,” he said. “We are active, very active every day and it’s not over.”
“Today we are on July 22 and the transfer market finishes on August 31. You know that a lot happens in the last week, so it’s a long time to go, but we are active and we are working.”
Although you cannot expect Wenger to give much away, it is obvious he and his negotiating team are well aware of the deficiencies in the squad despite Gazidi’s nonsense. This season will be hugely competitive all round and a step up from last season in terms of quality across the board. The expenditure in Manchester alone is worrying, not to mention their managerial appointments.
If Arsenal don’t act fast and capitalize on this so-called transfer activity Wenger speaks of, Theo Walcott will be leading the line against Liverpool in three weeks time.
Uh oh.
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