Every Arsenal fan was left bamboozled this summer when Arsene Wenger allowed Thomas Vermaelen to leave (and Carl Jenkinson to go out on loan) but failed to bring in adequate replacements. The Frenchman admitted that he had made a mistake when he told fans at the annual AGM: ‘I agree we could have bought one more player but we didn’t find one.
‘But we will try in January to rectify that because we are a bit short because of the injuries we’ve had.’
It has since been revealed that Arsenal made a last-minute bid to buy Virgil Van Dijk on deadline day, but Celtic refused to let the Dutchman leave as they had no time to find a replacement. Now they have had more time to source said defender it is highly likely that the Scottish giants will be happy to take Arsenal’s money in the winter transfer window.
Van Dijk has also now made it clear that he would have no qualms about moving to the Emirates if Celtic accept our offer. He said in the Telegraph: “Arsenal are an amazing club,”
“It’s a big club with a great history but so are Celtic and I’m very happy here just now. I just want to play well and we will see what happens in the future. There are stories but until there are bids I can’t say anything.
“I have ambitions but Celtic is an amazing club with a lot of history. There is no rush to leave but you never know in the future.”
He may not be in a rush to leave but Arsenal are definitely desperate to bring him in, with Laurent Koscielny the latest player to move into the Gunners overcrowded treatment room. I would not be in the least surprised if Van Dijk joins us on the very first day of the transfer window.
Is he good enough to play for Arsenal?