I have often wondered what goes on behind closed doors during the winter and summer transfer windows ( not much it seems of you are an Arsenal fan) as it seems to be a strange system. Arsene Wenger is always saying things like he is working around the clock trying to find and sign the players that he feels would improve the Gunners.
But what does that actually entail I wonder? Certainly not going out on a limb and trying to persuade a club to sell us a player they do not really want to. Wenger spoke once again this week about the new Man United forward Anthony Martial and while he repeated the assertion that Arsenal had not actually tried to sign the young Frenchman this summer, a report in The Mirror reveals that this was not because we did not want him.
On the contrary, Wenger admits that he has been a fan of Martial for some time and he suggested that the only reason he did not try to bring him to Arsenal was that he was not on some mystery transfer list and that because he weas not, our manager assumed the player was not for sale.
Wenger explained, “I was surprised they sold him.
“The amount of money was massive. I believe that you could think that, if you are Monaco, you could have sold him as well next season.
“So I thought they would not sell him this year because they sold many other players.
“I thought they would maintain their word. He was not sellable. He was not on the list. He was one of the players Monaco did not want to sell, so we never made an approach for him.
“Only an acceptable amount of money after could do it. We always liked him, even when he was in Lyons.”
Am I the only one a bit bemused by this? It was clear that Liverpool did not want to sell Suarez or Sterling but they did. Is Wenger missing a massive trick here? And does this prove once and for all that Arsenal need to get someone to help the manager with his transfer business?