Did Arsenal get their last transfer business all wrong? By SK
A former Arsenal midfielder, Emmanuel Petit believes Wenger’s transfer business last summer has not helped his position. Speaking to a French sport outlet, SFR sport, Petit has this to say; “There’s a part of me that understands the fans’ frustration, it’s been years now that they have seen other teams win trophies, that the team gets weaker every year, always at about the same stage of the season. Don’t forget that it is a group of supporters, it is not all of them…Overall, there is been a lack of ambition in the transfer market. I think they completely messed up the summer transfer window. They were hasty regarding certain players. I think Arsene acknowledges that internally with his staff, who made mistakes in that area.”
Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez all arrived at the Emirates last summer for a combined 82 million pounds. But could we have done better than these players? I will say yes judging by what they have played for us this season.
If we had gotten Kante instead of Xhaka, Arsenal would have had more steel in the midfield. In Kante, we would have a player who knows how to win midfield battles without acquiring yellow cards in the process. Look at what he is doing at Chelsea and you will agree with me that he would have been a better option for us. He has premiership experience and he had just won the title last season. We could have gone all out to acquire this gem.
Lucas Perez was a star in star when we bought him but his lack of playing time at Arsenal may go beyond what we see or perceive. He may have the eye for goals but may be lacking in other aspects that will cause him problems in the Premiership. If we had emptied our finances to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, we would probably be in the quarter final of the champions league! We miss the services of an all-out striker and this Gabonese would have been the perfect solution for us. However, I still believe if we give Perez adequate playing time, he can reward us with many more goals.
Nothing much to say about Mustafi because I don’t see where he has gone wrong so far but he can still improve on his markings. What do you think? Did we get our last transfer business wrong? And is that why we have failed to improve this season?
Sylvester Kwentua