Arsenal fans must hope that Arsene Wenger is just trying to keep his Arsenal transfer cards close to his chest as the January transfer window looms evcer closer. But we have all seen and heard this all before and the memory of the last winter window is still fresh and raw in many of our minds.
Back then it was glaringly obvious that we needed some more goal threat to keep our Premier Leagure title challenge alive, as Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott had been ruled out with injury. We ended up with an aged and injured central midfielder Kim Kallstrom who managed to make zero impact for us as the season went on.
And Wenger told us that he had tried hard but just could not find the right players available. The Frenchman seems to be getting his excuses in early this time, as a Daily Express report shows, by talking about how hard it is to sign good playes in January, due to lfewer top class players being available, clubs being less willing to sell and the competition from rival clubs muddying the waters.
Wenger said, “”You have to give us time. “We do our job as always. This season we bought five players who are all top quality so I think we have done really well on the transfer market and we try to repeat that in January.
“To buy football players is not like going into a supermarket and saying: ‘I want to buy a right-back or a centre-back.’ It’s to find the right quality. It’s not as simple as it looks.
“You see a player who has a buy-out clause, you watch him, think he’s really special. The next day he has gone to Real Madrid.
“I always have lists that you readjust because you come in on Monday, someone has seen a player and you have to follow up, watch him again, then watch him again and someone else has to watch him. Then when you come to conclusion I have to watch him. It takes time so that work never stops.
“Look at the history, we have made many decisions and many good ones. Most of them have worked. Some not. I’ve made over 300 transfers since I’ve been here. If I make a quick decision you will say ‘he made a rush decision’ when the guy doesn’t work.”
And if that is not enough to send icy cold shivers of dread down your spine Gooners, the manager also spoke about how pleased he is with Monreal and the left back’s improvement at central defence as he covered for Laurent Koscielny.
He went on, “Monreal is playing very well, he doesn’t get enough credit for the quality of his performances because against Manchester United, against Dortmund, he was in the top three for me.
“You have to give me some credit because I’ve seen that he can play there. I tested him before the season started at the Emirates tournament and I could see that he understands well, he reads the game well.
“After that there is the question mark ‘Can he cope with the physicality of this job?’ because he hasn’t got the biggest frame but game by game, he becomes more aggressive because he understands the game, he can get in front of people.
“Koscielny can be partnered with Monreal now, or with Mertesacker, I don’t rule that out. He can be as well with Chambers, when Debuchy comes back and we have everybody here, we have plenty of potential opportunities.”
So with Debuchy back, Wenger seems happier to stick with the players we have got. But this is Arsenal and the chances of another defender or two getting injured before the end of the season are about 99 percent. The season so far has shown us that and Wenger already admitted it. Let’s hope he does not change his mind now!