Arsenal were interested in a move for Jeremy Monga and Louis Page from Leicester City this summer and were close to at least signing Monga.
He would have accepted a move to the Emirates, but Arsenal did not act quickly enough and did not offer enough money to complete the deal, which led to the teenager moving to Manchester City.
Page remains at Leicester, and the 18-year-old is continuing his development as one of their most important players, but Arsenal would have added him to their squad this summer.
He remains one of the brightest prospects in English football, and we expect him to move to a bigger club before too long, but it may not be the Emirates.
It could have been the Emirates, and Arsenal know this, as the Gunners did their best to sign him. However, the way Andrea Berta operates may have cost them a move for both players.
Arsenal’s approach to transfers
Mirror Football says that instead of using the club’s existing scouting networks to establish direct links with Leicester City, Berta chooses to use intermediaries to start deals.
He speaks to the selling club through these intermediaries and only gets involved with the clubs directly when the move has advanced.
This approach may have affected Arsenal’s ability to complete deals for the two Leicester teenagers. The Gunners were interested in both players, but the report suggests their method of conducting negotiations ultimately worked against them.
Berta approach may have proved costly
Monga eventually moved to Manchester City after Arsenal failed to act quickly enough and did not offer enough money to complete the deal.
Page, meanwhile, remains at Leicester and continues his development, despite Arsenal’s interest in bringing him to the Emirates during the summer.
The Gunners will now have to watch the progress of both teenagers after missing the opportunity to add them to their squad. While Page remains at Leicester, Monga has already moved elsewhere, leaving Arsenal to consider whether a different approach could have produced a better outcome.
For Arsenal, the situation demonstrates how important the timing and structure of negotiations can be when attempting to secure promising young players.
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Seems he didn’t apply same negotiating tactics to Alvarez but shamelessly went in fully even when the player insisted at the first time of asking that he wasn’t interested in us.
Maybe A B’s negotiating style may ‘drag out’ some transfer negotiations and give other Clubs a chance to move in, and that’s unfortunate in a highly competitive market, but all said he’s done OK with his negotiating style so far…
since he’s joined Arsenal he’s helped A B massively strengthen the team, with huge success and unlike other P L top teams he hasn’t paid silly money in transfer fees.
Arsenal have also heavily replenished the Academy with other additions in the summer Transfer Window.
I’ve just read, since this article is focused on Berta, that Edu Gaspar has had his contract terminated by Nottingham Forest…!!!
Not praising or criticising Bertha, but his style in his style. We won the league and CL final, in his first year. Who knows what will happen this season. We signed two top players at pretty good prices. Some you win some you lose. Its the nature of the business.
Yeah, exactly. We lost some we were interested in, and got others. U18 academy / prospects are not something I personally get very worked up over, sometimes they move up to the first team but more often than not, they don’t.
Some promising youngsters and names to watch we recruited this summer that were also interesting for other big clubs:
Igor Tyjon (from Blackburn)
Elijah Upson (from Spurs)
Habeeb Ogunneye (from Man Utd)
James Scanlon (from Man Utd)
Victor Ozhianvuna (from Shamrock Rovers)
Arsenal approach to transfer’s is slow and miserly. This allows other clubs to sweep in and sign the player right under Arsenal ‘s nose as we have seen in the summer transfer window. This is nothing new this has been going on for years. Arsenal might win the premiership 2026/2027 but they are a winger and a striker too light.
Berta seems to rely heavily on intermediaries, but this approach have a very high success rates it also sends bases too, up the wrong streets
When he and his team can find hidden gems like the Brighton team does, then I’ll clap for him.
No top.team focuses on finding hidden gems cos they need to keep winning. Brighton and other lesser clubs do that cos they can’t afford to spend like the big clubs. We need top players who can make us better and win the biggest prizes instantly. That’s why we signed Guimaraes despite his age.
A few good academy players like Saka, Nwaneri, MLS and Dowman every now and then who can make the first team is fine. We can always buy the hidden gems clubs like Brighton have scouted and developed.
Yeah, “hidden gems” has become a bit of a cliche. If they were “hidden”, then they couldn’t have been all that good in the first place.
There aren’t many Jamie Vardies around these days.