WHAT DO TEAMS DO WITH TRANSFERS? ARSENAL SHOULD REALIZE by Nick
What do PSG, Manchester City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich have in common? When it comes to the transfer market, these are the guys that will pay huge monies for all manner of talent available across the planet. It is what Arsenal have had ambitions to do but have been unable to reach these heights.
But others have been quietly using the transfer windows to build their sides to have the capability to challenge for top honours. Tottenham sold Luca Modric and Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. Liverpool sold Luis Suarez and Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona. Manchester United sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Real. Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski moved to Bayern Munich from Borussia Dortmund. Borussia also sold Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona.
Barcelona too have sold Neymar to PSG. Today, Hazard is the best player Chelsea have and he might just be sold…
At Arsenal the plan has been that the player wants to move or sign an extension of their contract but Arsenal somehow waited until the last moment to try and convince the player to stay and often have had to sell huge talents at throw away prices. Prices that would not help develop the squad at all. Sometimes, a messy negotiation for extension of contract should signify that the player is about to evolve into a problem for the squad and can be sold at much higher profits. What if Ramsey was on a contact right now and Arsenal opted to sell, he would be going for 50million. How about Ozil right now? He is ever ‘mysteriously ‘sick and perhaps the best is to look for a team that can accommodate his huge wages right now and sell while he still has value through the years in his contract.
Liverpool and Tottenham are right now challenging for the league with Liverpool looking the real deal. As a result of selling the best assets to reinvest the money to build at the most important areas in the squad. Liverpool look a well-balanced team that Unai Emery believe can match Invincible Arsenal. Liverpool reinvested their Coutinho windfall in Virgil van Dijk for 75M. Clearly, Arsenal can sacrifice some players with high talent right now in this window to reinvest in the right areas – selling Ramsey, Ozil, Koscielny, Mustafi, Elneny, Monreal, Welbeck and Kolasinac may be considered some clear out of sorts, but for me it’s a necessary and if done now will help the team settle for a successful summer window. With those wages freed, inconsistent performances gotten rid of and getting players with playing styles suited for the system, is useful to build up towards being able to challenge as soon as possible.
All Arsenal need to do is to find a link player to replace the creativity of Ozil and Ramsey. Someone that can bring into play both Lacazette and Aubameyang into the game; two quality centre back defenders and a left wing defender/attacker. These players are there and Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi will have a good idea where to find them and how to recruit them, even through the winter window. After all, Sven Mislintat was part of the engine room that has kept Borussia Dortmund operating optimally despite losing their best players frequently.
Nicholas Oyoo