There was immense amounts of frustration from Arsenal fans that Arsene Wenger did not bring a new striker into the Emirates during the three-month summer transfer window, despite the overwhelming rumours that the Gunners were trying to persuade Karim Benzema to move from Real Madrid.
The French international denied that there was ever a chance of him leaving the Spanish capital, but now it has been openly revealed that Wenger did try to bring in a striker, but it was the Dinamo Moscow striker Aleksandr Kokorin. There were some whispers that Arsenal were interested at the time, but now their coach Andrey Kobelev has revealed that the Gunners offer was seriously discussed, but was rejected outright. “I was among those who vetoed this deal,” Kobelov was quoted as saying. “We think that a loan move to Arsenal is a wrong option for Kokorin. He deserves better. Everyone is laughing, but he has a great potential, and the best coaches in the world see it.
“The point is that if a club pays good money for you, you are given time for adaptation. If a club invests a small sum, he can be benched after a couple of games and returned to his mother club.
“For example, if [Gareth] Bale was loaned to Real Madrid he wouldn’t have become the Bale he is now, because it took him time to fit into the system. Kokorin deserves to play at a decent club, and he has to move there as a fully developed player who can deliver results.”
Kokorin’s agent, Kirill Loginov, was even less impressed with Arsenal’s bid, and made no bones about his thought’s regarding the deal. “Aleksandr has chances to play [at a big club] if everything will be OK, and it doesn’t have to be Arsenal,” Loginov said. “Dinamo refused to let him go to Arsenal, but that doesn’t mean that he was desperate to go there. I don’t remember them winning any titles, apart from the FA Cup, so… I don’t know [how attractive they are].
“There was an offer, it was reviewed and refused. The decision was absolutely right. There were some quite disrespectful parts in that offer. He has very good relations with the Dinamo coaching staff and management, and naturally was updated about everything.”
He certainly didn’t sound very happy about whatever it was that Arsenal offered, and to be honest I don’t think the Arsenal fans would have been overly impressed either. Consindering he is 24, his record of 10 goals in 39 appearances last season is hardly earth shattering and would he be likely to improve on that in the Premier League?
In my opinion I am glad that the bid was refused and we took the chance on Walcott instead….