Did Arsenal boss just blow off Pedro to Chelsea transfer?

He was the subject of a fair few of the many Arsenal transfer rumours doing the rounds of the football media this summer, but we now know that Pedro Rodriguez Laresma will not be joining us from Barcelona. According to Arsene Wenger, however, this particular transfer move was never on the cards.

While it is our fierce Premier League rivals Chelsea that have signed the Spanish international, it is Man United, Louis van Gaal and Ed Woodward with a hefty helping of transfer egg on their faces, not us. All the noise in recent weeks has been about United closing in on the deal and it seems clear that they have had their plans hijacked at the last minute.

But why were the Gunners not one of the EPL clubs seriously chasing the signature of this 27-year old forward who has won almost every trophy there is to win? Well the Frenchman has made his thoughts on the matter very clear in a statement reported on the Arsenal website.

Wenger said, “It was a surprise to me because I thought he was landing at Manchester but he finally landed in London. The story was out for such a long time that I thought he was going to go to Manchester, but then suddenly in 24 hours [he joined Chelsea]. We’ve seen that before on the transfer market. I don’t know what happened exactly.

“No [Arsenal were not offered him]. We have many players on the flanks. Many, many players.”

If you think about it, the boss is saying more than one thing here. The obvious one is that we simply do not need any wide players with the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and also the midfielders like Wilshere and Ozil before you even get to young Gunners like Gnabry, Iwobi and all in the squad. It is hard to disagree.

The second thing he is saying is that Pedro is not a versatile player, or at least Wenger does not see him as an option through the middle. Could this possibly be a little dig at Morinho and Chelsea by any chance?

Tags Mourinho Wenger

38 Comments

    1. @zulu-boy-sa
      The only reality is, you do not know if we’re going to sign anymore players or not…

      1. Along with the other reality that our transfer strategy is pathetic for a club as big as Arsenal.

    2. The reality is that we already have wingers… Are we to buy for the sake of buying? I think Wenger feels he has enough players in the midfield. He’s said that before… So!

  1. And i am waiting to ear what sir arsene as to say when we come 4 th this season. He has no world cup to blame, no one but himself and i Will be the first to say i told you so.

  2. Pedro????

    No! Not needed as we have great wingers (who? Walcott the striker, wellbeck the errh?, ox the promising and erh Ramsey & cazorla the natural wingmen).

    Wenger was like ‘Pedro who,what, why”

    1. Of course digit Alexis the great! But still..
      There are two flanks, many injuries and strength in depth…

  3. Yes we have quantity but I thought Wenger always goes on about Quality. Isn’t Pedro better than Welbeck?

    1. Better pure attacking winger, yes, But he doesn’t defend like Welbeck and isn’t very versatile. A one dimensional 28 year old is not what we need,

  4. That was a funny question at the end of the article.You were asking ifit was a little dig yeah.No comments there.By the way can anyone be smart and mention the 3 musketeers in the arsenal lineup.They are players who seem to do more….. than ……See if you can mention and oh!! Pedro to me is a big loss as i would not even mind if he was bought to be cf.I think peeps here should wake up and smell the coffee.I mean just have a laugh will you stop being so serious about the transfer window in that i mean let it end and start passing judgements.Cheer up fellow gunners and please answer my question

  5. Manchester United wanted Pedro. They made the move but Chelsea finalised the move…That’s the difference.

    We don’t know who we are gonna sign. Benzema news is everywhere. They said He could be an Arsenal player on tuesday or wednesday next week… I will only believe it once its on arsenal official website or @ least on skysports or bbcnews….

  6. A look at some comments here…you guys wanted pedro… Just because he is from Barcelona doesn’t make him better than the wingers we have. We are crying for a CF and some us would have signed Pedro?!!!…

    1. What do you mean?
      I will say it again…

      Ox-promising talent but injured a lot and hardly definable as a wing specialist. Also gives the ball away heaps.

      Sanchez – quality, the best player AFC has but he can’t do it alone

      Wellbeck- mmmmmmm (enough said)

      Ramsey/cazorla – talented footballers who shouldn’t be on the wing.

      So, yes…unlike you and AW…I think there is room for improvement.

      1. Shut up. Just please, all you do is whine about nonsense. We don’t need Pedor we have Sanchez and Walcott who can each score +20goals a season, we need a STRIKER. Pedro is NOT a striker.

  7. Chelsea fan here..Pedro would have been a perfect addition to your squad but I think the prof is right. You guys have more than enough wingers. Sanchez, oxlade, Walcott etc. Giroud is a striker who has been giving you guys great returns on goals but it’s still obvious you guys need to strengthen that CF position. I am no judge concerning your team affairs but I feel the “AOBs” are in for a surprise this season.

  8. I don’t agree. We don’t need Pedro. We have to first resolve other positions. Striker and backup DM. On wings we have Ox/Walcott/Welbeck. Ox is really looking promising and if you sign Pedro means Ox won’t play and will go to some other team in next summer and if he really performs well then everyone will cry here. Always soln doesn’t come from outside. Best eg is Bellerin. Wenger should play Ox regularly on wings and stop playing Ramsey

    1. I think Arsene was right to blow off Pedro.
      We are aiming for the 4TH PLACE TROPHY so we don’t need Pedro.
      Chelsea are aiming to Win and defend their EPL crown and so they got Pedro.
      Fair game. I think our team is fantastically equipped to fight for 4TH PLACE and I believe we can do it.
      So long as we make 4TH and are eliminated in the CL Round of 16 we are fine as we are. We are set for the season.

  9. @ArseOverTit there is always room for improvement…that’s why Sanchez was bought last year, he is better than Podolski and Cazorla on the LW.

    Please understand, am not defending Wenger. İ hate it that we haven’t bought a prolific CF yet…but if you really think Pedro is the CF we needed you are out of contact with reality. Do you actually think Pedro will score more than 10 goals this season?… i would have Walcott playing on the right winger any day. Just compare the stats…

    1. Yup, true. You never know he (Pedro) may end up like FabreGAS, who runs out of gas at the crucial times in the season.

  10. «Il y a plus d’argent dans le football, plus de clubs avec de gros moyens et moins de joueurs disponibles, a déclaré l’entraîneur d’Arsenal, qui n’a recruté que Petr Cech cet été alors que ses rivaux ont acheté plus de joueurs. C’est un gros problème. […] C’est simple, quand vous voulez acheter quelque chose, vous allez voir le propriétaire et s’il ne veut pas vendre, il ne veut pas vendre. Vous ne pouvez pas acheter. Dans notre métier c’est exactement pareil. En Europe, il y a 15 clubs qui ont d’énormes ressources financières.» (L’Equipe magazine)

    This is an article that has appeared in L’Equipe magazine and other major sports newspapers in France.

    I am talking about L’Equipe because I feel the author made more effort to analyse Wenger statement. I have to add that most of the sport journalists in France wonder why Wenger is still Arsenal current manager based even though he has won f*ck all for years and he keeps promoting Arsenal as a major European force (again that’s his opinion)…!!

    In this article Wenger talks about how difficult it is to find top class players and how complicated it has become to negotiate transfers.
    He also talks about 15 clubs having most of the resources and able to bring anybody they want.
    The article also talks about our “only” recruit so far, Cech and criticise Wenger on the fact that all our rivals have made significant signings.

    The author of the article then analyses the Arsenal squad and wonder why Wenger is talking about “trying to bring new world class players” when he already said that his squad was completed, but he will add if he can find a player who could improve the current group.

    The author said that Wenger could easily find someone better than Gibbs, Wilshere or Welbeck…! And those potential players did not need to be top class since those mentioned were no where near to become as such.
    ——————————————————————————————————————————-
    I believe that we will try to finish in the top four again and may be justify another FA cup.
    League and CL wise we are just no where near the quality (for the CL) or the potential and effective (for the league) to achieve anything major, AGAIN…!!

    1. Arsenal is unique, i dont know any other club in the world who acts in the same way as we do. I dont know if Wenger is unable to change or simple he dont want to. Its a pity knowing what potential as a club we have.

    2. @lockay
      You really go all out when you hang your hook dude. If your rabid dislike of AW were not so well known, you might be taken serious…

    1. Pedro hasn’t played in the PL, what makes you think he’ll get +10 assists and +20 goals like Walcott ?

    1. Nothing better than reading facts. But haters will still find a way to say Wenger was wrong for not buying Pedro.

  11. Pedro
    Age: 28
    Goals:58
    Starts:138

    Walcott
    Age:26
    Goals: 54
    Starts: 132

    For me, Pedro signing would not have been an improvement of what we already have… That is playing in the team with the best midfield in the world and easily better providers than at Arsenals.

  12. What’s this i see here.This site is also in a crisis and that is understating the qualities of our players.I for one will take Walcott over Pedro and i am just responding to a question.I just dont get it.To me Walcott really is that good and we need him inform.Injuries have hampered his progress a lot as a player but at least i am happy with him.I do not even get why peeps criticize him so badly.To me he should be our starting right winger.We need him because he is a game changer.I just dont get how he is on the bench.Peeps are so ignorant and will gather whatever facts they can to make him seem average.Talk about the certain 3 musketeers in arsenal lineup but not him.He is a very dangerous player

  13. @kev I agree with you some arsenal fans have a tendecy of comparing our players with those of our opponents have signed siting they aint gud enough
    surely how can you say walcott is better than pedro I heard someone say monreal is better than azpili haha

  14. If we didn’t get Schneiderlin, who it is almost universally agreed that we did need, I didn’t see us getting Pedro who we almost certainly don’t need.

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