We all know that Arsene Wenger likes to plan for the future, and even though his current contract with Arsenal is due to run out at the end of next season I do not expect that to change. Even last month when the January transfer window gave the Frenchman a brilliant opportunity to sign some players with the specific idea of boosting the chances of winning the Premier League this season, he seemed to spend as much time and effort getting the two teenage prospects from Nigeria as he did on the first team.
We are hoping, of course, that completing just the one first team transfer in the shape of Mohamed Elneny will not cost us the title, but if it does, then the frustration of Arsenal fans will be massive. The pressure on Wenger to ‘spend or go’ will be greatly increased and it will be players that can come and make an instant impact that we will want to see.
That is why I am less than overjoyed to see a report in The Mirror which claims that Wenger and the chief Arsenal scout Steve Rowley are lining up a summer move for the West Ham starlet Reece Oxford. Talented he may be, but he is only 17-years old and is not a regular for West Ham yet.
At the same time there have been media reports over the last few weeks about the excellent Dimitri Payet being possibly ready to move on, but Wenger and Arsenal did nothing and now he has agreed a new contract. They also have some other very good players that have thrived in the Premier League, like Kouyate and Valencia.
Is this more the sort of player that should be on the Arsenal transfer list or would you be happy for Wenger to sign young Reece Oxford as a potential star of the future?