There were a lot of Arsenal transfer rumours linking the Gunners with the signing of the Ivorian international star Jean Michael Seri doing the rounds early in this summer transfer window, suggesting that Arsene Wenger was interested in the central midfielder and had recognised the need for more quality, aggression and energy in the centre of the pitch.
As soon as the highly rated player started being strongly linked with the Spanish La Liga giants FC Barcelona, however, our hopes and chances of signing him seemed to have gone, so when the deal collapsed recently you might have expected Arsenal to be the first club to step back into the ring.
Seri himself was furious about what he saw as his French club Nice spoiling the deal, as reported by ESPN, and he made it clear that he was desperate to leave Nice and join a big club somewhere in Europe.
So far so good and even though Nice were supposedly demanding more money for Seri, Arsenal can afford it and our situation is more desperate than that of Barca. However, Metro is reporting that Wenger and Arsenal have opted not to try to sign him and I am not sure why.
If he is good enough for Barcelona surely he is good enough for Arsenal. Does Wenger think he has enough with Coquelin, Xhaka, Ramsey and Elneny? Are we unwilling to pay over the odds even though our need is great? Have Arsenal missed a massive trick by snubbing the chance to sign him the summer?
Bob.