I know that being an Arsenal fan can be a little frustrating at times, especially during a transfer window. But I do have some sympathy and agreement with the way Arsene Wenger has acted in recent years. His refusal to pay hugely over-inflated transfer fees has seen us miss out on some players but was also forced on him due to the financial restrictions he was working under.
And those years seem to have given the Gunners a certain reputation in the transfer market. Clubs may still try to ramp up the price of players that we are interested in, but they do not really expect Wenger to agree to paying over the odds, as they do with many other clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man City and United.
Now those years of penny-pinching, or just simply refusing to be ripped off, seem to be paying off, according to a report in The Mirror. The paper claims that Sporting Club de Portugal have realised that the Gunners are not going to meet their valuation of something close to £40 million for their young central midfielder William Carvalho. They were trying to engineer some kind of bidding war between us and Chelsea, but that has not happened.
So now they have less than a week of the transfer window left and, surprise surprise, they are now willing to accept around £24 million for him. That is still very good money for a young player but it is more like the amount that Wenger would be willing to pay. We need to confirm our place in the Champions Leaguye first, but then I would expect to see this transfer deal happen. Good news Gooners?