There are a few areas in the Arsenal squad that need changing or strengthening and for the fans the January transfer window offers the club the opportunity to make those changes but it is unlikely to happen if the comments of Arsenal’s managing director Vinai Venkatesham are anything to go by.
He has not specifically ruled out any winter transfers but he has played down the possibility.
Speaking to Bloomberg, as cited by the Metro, Venkatesham said
‘Well listen, we’ve just been through the transfer period in the summer, that’s what we always call the main transfer window. ‘We were very aggressive in that transfer window, signing a number of new players that we’re very excited about, predominately targeting young players that we believe can grow and develop with us over future years.
‘When we look forward to January, we’ll see when January comes. I’d say that we always treat the summer window as being the more strategic window.
The feeling I get from these comments is that Venkatesham is basically saying we have provided Unai Emery with all the tools that he needs and it is now down to him to make it work.
If that is the case then I make Venkatesham right, the club has invested big, it has removed a hell of a lot of deadwood and fringe players from the books and while there are positions that need sorting the club can only dip its hands in its pockets for so long before they say enough is enough.
Maybe a couple of deals for players approaching the end of their contacts if their clubs don’t want to lose them for free in the summer; fraser and meunier, perhaps?
Saliba to come in also this summer so I dont think any new signings come this January unless a major injury happens or sale. Summer wont be too busy as it will all depend on if we get into the champions league group stage again and players running down contracts whe need renewed or sold and replaced.
Only business I wanna see in January is Emery sacked .
He’s put our clubs football brand in the gutter with is bland nonexistent football knowledge.
If this is aloud to carry on we will lose what good players we have and will need to start again with our next manager .
Let’s move him on now and start another rebuild with a manager who atleast can entertain us .
We don’t have to wait till January for this, Dan Kit, as it may be too late by then.
I agree, he got to my nerves, absolutely useless coach.
Thanks Dan, I stand with everyone, sack him now, January is too far.
Well we were supposed to have only a £40 million transfer budget and we bought Pepe so anything is possible. We don’t know what’s going on backstage so to speak
I can only see Loans but if someone of quality is available for purchase in January then who knows. Also I’m hoping we can at least offload Mustafi or Ozil (highly unlikely though)
I think getting a backup RB on Loan would be useful. Not sure about Chambers yet in that position and Bellerin coming back from injury is susceptible to re-injury. Niles isn’t the answer either.
I’m not happy with CB position. We have plenty of CBs but not the quality we require. We need more quality not more quantity. If not January then in the Summer. Get one solid experienced CB to join Saliba (if he is good enough)
Sounds reasonable from the board. We already spent heavily in the summer..can’t keep on blowing money like it’s nothing.
Those guys are jokers…
It’s already been admitted that it was Kroenke who financed the summer transfers with his own money so why would they let other clubs know we have money to spend in January?
No one can say that the kronkies haven’t invested heavily and the question must be…are they getting value for money??
If I was kronkie and watched the football being served up at the moment, I wouldn’t invest another penny.
Well I would actually: sack UE, pocket the £6,000,000 a year he gets while bleeding the club dry and let Freddie have a go, with the promise of the job if he performs with the £225.000.000 plus already invested in transfers.
I agree with you Ken. I expect the club to hold Emery to the same standard as Wenger.
No CL in 2 consecutive years, goodbye then. Not to mention the 12 new players, over £200 million to boost Emery, so he has to deliver or else.
Personally it should be top 4 finish, or goodbye based on the financial support handed to our current “coach.”
At least Freddie got results with youth and had the boys playing good football; 2 things Emery has massively failed at.
Sorry Durand, Emery cannot give what he doesn’t have already. I think fro, last year til now we have seen him all. Nothing special, to compete we need something a bit better than Emery. Sack him now if he comes out with an L against Man U. Seriously I fear for that game.
Emery has enough tools to work with as it is. Unless a major player becomes available, I wouldn’t expect a new signing. The usual obscure youngster is the most I expect to see.
I think we need to be patient and see where we are in January. If by that time we are still leaking goals, then I feel it’s time to act. If we’re already way out of top 4 placrs, Unia should be the first to go!
GunneRay. January might be too far to react. Assuming we are left behind with points I don’t January will make any difference. If we have to act it’s now. We have the player but the Unai Emery tactics aren’t clicking at all. I think Allegri we suit our style and set an aggressive mind set