Even though the long suffering Arsenal fans were finally able to see Arsene Wenger spend a decent amount of the club’s money in the transfer market this summer, with the signing of Mustafi, Xhaka and Lucas Perez taking the total layout close to the £100 million mark, the Arsenal coffers were left far from empty.
Is this because Wenger did not want to spend any more or thought that he had got what he needed? Possibly, but we also know that our long serving manager is not the type to plan only for the present or the near future. His signing of the Nigerian teenager Nwakali, Rob Holding and the young Japanese striker Takuma Asano showed once again that he is always planning for the long term future of the club.
So perhaps leaving a large amount of cash in the bank was part of his plan to step aside and let another manager take up the reins, as whoever it is will surely expect some money to spend to bring in the players they want to start building the team they want.
I am thinking specifically here of the Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone who this week dropped a big hint that he might be leaving the Spanish club soon. If this were to happen, which player would be the one we would want him to bring with him?
Antoine Griezmann of course, and the France international just happens to have paved the way for a move by dropping his agent and declaring that he will represent hios own interests from now on, as reported by Metro. Griezmannis one of the most sought after players in world football and so you would think that he would be too expensive for the Gunners but without an agent he may just be within our reach.
Am I being too optimistic here or putting two and two together to get five? Or could Arsenal be set to swoop for Atletico’s manager and best player next summer when Wenger retires?
Bob.