Arsenal have quickly wrapped up the signing of Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach, which has been widely welcomed by the Gunners faithful, but there have also been reservations that this could be Arsene Wenger’s only signing, like last season when we saw no other arrivals after we snapped up Petr Cech in the first week of the transfer window.
But we have now received a boost from an unlikely source, as Dick Law, Arsenal’s chief negotiator, has let it slip that the Gunners will have a “new team” next season, which was set to have Alex Iwobi as one of the starters.
Law has been talking to Nigeria’s Dream Team coach Samson Siasia, who arrived to discuss the details of Iwobi playing for Nigeria at the Olympics, even though it would mean that the 20-year-old would miss the start of the new season.
Siasia was quoted as saying: “I went to Arsenal and I saw Richard Law and he said that we still need to look at the possibilities of the player going to the Olympics or not,”
“He said that he wants Iwobi to stay with Arsenal because they are having a new team and Alex is getting to play in the team for now.
“He said if he leaves to play for Nigeria at the Olympics how is he going to be a part of the team and maybe someone is going to take his position.”
This is a very promising development. If the main man at Arsenal when it comes to transfers has said we will have a new team, then we should be taking note of his words. We have already brought in Granit Xhaka, but surely a “new team” means more than just Iwobi and our new Swiss DM. It sounds like Wenger has finally realised that we have a lot of deadwood in the side that needs to be upgraded. Hopefully we will be seeing a lot of new faces and the departure of a lot of players that simply haven’t lived up to the expectations.
Darren