Piers happy to give his transfer opinions!
Whilst the latest news coming out of the transfer camp may be that Arsenal have reportedly been turned down by Leicester and England Striker Jamie Vardy, a Gunners legend is instead looking at the other end of the pitch as to where Wenger’s next signing should be.
In a report with the Daily Telegraph, Arsenal legend Robert Pires, has given his say on Arsenal’s transfer dealings and has even suggested that Everton defender John Stones, should be Arsenal’s next summer signing. Pires said: “Arsenal need English players, the Premier League is very physical. [John] Stones would be a good player for Arsenal. Can you imagine Stones and Koscielny at the back? It would be a good defence.”
It is true that for a English club, Arsenal are heavily under-represented by the home nation, although there is of course no real obligation for Arsenal to actually field a certain number of British players each game. But Pires does make a good point in that although we do of course fill our ‘homegrown’ quota, which the Premier League and FA enforce each season, many of those players are either mediocre or young talents.
Stones however may not be the right answer. Overall I do think the young English centre back has a very promising future career ahead of him and he is surely destined to join one of the top clubs in the coming years, possibly even this summer. However I cannot see that club being Arsenal, personally because although the likes of Koscielny and Mertesacker are ageing towards the latter ends of their careers, the Gunners do of course have Gabriel and Chambers waiting in the wings. Therefore such a move remains unfavourable for the Gunners unless one of those decides to move elsewhere.
Chelsea were interested in Stones last summer and reportedly had a bid of £30 million plus rejected by Everton, which just goes to show that firstly Stones probably isn’t worth the money and secondly, English players are massively overpriced in general.
AH