Is Xhaka proof that Wenger is happy to splash the cash?

Does Xhaka’s transfer fee mean Arsenal are no longer afraid to spend big?

A few seasons ago Arsenal fans were stuck watching a bunch of ‘mediocre’ players represent the famous Arsenal in a side that had serious cause for concern in every position on the pitch. The last few years however have been quite fruitful for Arsene Wenger’s side, with big name players finally signing for the Gunners.

These past few seasons have been relatively exciting for Arsenal fans with several big name players joining the club after many seasons of transfer disappointment. Although fans of the club will still ultimately expect more from Arsene Wenger and the board, considering the money the club has available for transfers, fans cannot be entirely disappointed with the calibre of signings we have recently signed.

Mesut Ozil began the trend in 2013 by signing for the Arsenal for a club record £42 million from Spanish giants Real Madrid. It showed true intent and ambition to aim for bigger things once again at Arsenal football club. Alexis Sanchez then followed Ozil to Arsenal in the next summer transfer window, and then Petr Cech followed a year later. These recent signings have dramatically improved the strength and quality of the Arsenal side by signing true winners with a passionate mentality to be successful. Now that Arsenal have signed Granit Xhaka, subject to confirmation, for yet another big money fee, it suggests that perhaps Arsene Wenger is no longer afraid to splash the cash.

Xhaka’s fee is supposedly in the region of £30 million plus, according to Sky Sports, and will therefore by Arsenal’s third most expensive player after Ozil and Sanchez. The recent big money signings prove that perhaps Wenger wasn’t being tight with money all those years and in fact he was truly restricted by the club whilst the Emirates stadium was still being paid off.

Whilst Xhaka’s big move is surely not going to be the last incoming signing we will see this summer, it remains undecided whether we will see another top calibre of player joining the club for a high amount of money. Of course high prices do not always guarantee the best players; you only have to look at City, Chelsea and Real Madrid to understand how a club can pay over the odds for a player. However of course it is generally considered the higher the price the better quality of player and if the Gunners do make a second big money signing this summer, Arsenal fans could be in for an exciting start to next season, that will be met with much eagerly awaited levels of anticipation.

BY AH

Tags Xhaka

36 Comments

      1. We can only wish. Then again, signing Xhaka somewhat surprised me already. I’m just awaiting the article of “Transfer talks break down due to Arsenal moneypinching, Xhaka set to stay in Münchengladbach” :p

        Also read in the news that we’re going after the now availeable Benatia. He should be both top class and cheap enough. If we sign Xhaka, I can believe there’s something in those rumours too

        The biggest question is what Wenger will do with the attack. Will either Walcott or Chamberlain leave? Has Giroud’s four latest goals given him an excuse to not spend?

    1. Correct me, did we buy Alexis and Ozil at the same time? If it was true, then you have the answer!

  1. Wenger never makes more than one huge signing. Xhaka is the big signing for this season. so expect unknown names coing to Arsenal like Paulista, Elneny, Monreal in short everybody aside cech, alexis n ozil. and why is nobody talking about metersacker? that man needs to retire or at least a replacement is needed. i know arsenal cant sign laporte, varane or stones because of their fees but rugani, romanogli and rudiger are reasonable options too.

    1. Do you actually watch the matches or do you just spew the usual stereotypes? Monreal has been one of the most reliable and consistently good LBs in the league. Elneny is a good player for the bench. On the one hand you’re slating Gabriel but you fail to mention that the only time our defence looks solid is when Per is partnered with Kos. And I bet you were one of the people slating Kos after his first year at the club when he too looked shaky like Gabriel. We can definitely do with a stud CB to partner Kos but anyone coming from a different league will also need a season to adjust, like Gabriel has.

      Tired of reading the same crap posted by people who lack the brains to think for themselves.

      1. all i am saying is that we had lil or no idea about them when they arrived at Arsenal……dont you dig? now, wenger has made his big signing, so expect unfamiliar players from him.

      2. To me, Gabriel has gone from relatively cautious in his first season to a bit too comfortable and clumsy in his second. Benatia – sign him up fam!

      3. Our new CB always need more time to adjust for each other. It happened with Koscielny and Per before. Gabriel will be at his best soon.

    2. 99/00 Lauren and Henry, Lauren cost just over £7mil and TH14 cost around £10mil
      00/01 Jeffers and Wiltord, 8 and 13 mil.
      01/02 Wright and Van Bronkhorst, 6 and 8.5 mil.
      05/06 Walcott, Hleb and Adebayor. 9, 7 and 11 million.
      2008 Arshavin and Nasri both around 15ish mil? Arshavin was Jan transfer while Nasri was summer transfer, same year though and Nasri was signed in August…

      November 2008 Gazidis.

      Who never makes more than 1 huge signing?

      Wenger doesn’t make the transfers happen, it used to be Dein and now it is Gazidis.
      You can see for yourself how our transfers changed when he arrived, please go check it for yourself, I am not making this stuff up.

      I will also say that the Ozil transfer wasn’t massive spending for Arsenal, the 2 main differences that year was we spent it all on 1 player while getting a couple freebies and we didn’t sell players to recoup the money.

      We spent big the following year, multiple buys meant we spent over double what we spent the year before on Ozil… Maybe this had a knock on effect because the following year we only got Cech in the main transfer window and then the unknown but brilliant Elneny in the winter window.

      Hard to see any real pattern other than we are spending without making big sales to recoup any money spent, getting Xhaka early is a good sign and I will watch with curiosity to what happens.

  2. I guess will all find out at the end of the transfer window.

    For me the only way I will buy all this is when Wenger spends a good chunk on a ST, buys another CB, and probably 1 more player.

    After a DM we have been crying out for in years, surely a quality ST should be top priority now.

  3. Going by the analyses om 2 posts back we should go for Vincent Janssen right left foot a complete striker there are not many out there that can use both feet and I really hope MR wenger pick him up

    1. I will say I didn’t hear off him before this transfer talk and he looks like a good gamble from everything I have found since.

      If we do get him then I hope Wenger has done his research, it would be a crime to start so well with Xhaka and then flop afterwards with the new So-no-goal.

      Ozil also needs someone ahead of him who will shoot and has a respectable conversion rate, Janssen has on average nearly 5 shots per game and that has helped him score more per 90 mins than Giroud.

      0.89 goals scored per 90 mins for Janssen yet he has only 1% better shot accuracy compared to Giroud (Giroud scored on average 0.59 goals per 90 mins).

      Maybe he could be great for us, not all stars are bought, some of them are still made at Arsenal ^.^

      1. Some of his goals remind me of our “beloved” traitor RVP. He has special something.

    2. just watched a youtube vid of him… a very rare type of striker. All his goals are unpredictable cause he can shoot with either one. Looks very special have to say. Nobody in the game like him right now tbh…

  4. According to an Instagram photo, Morata is definitely leaving Juventus and heading back to Real Madrid, who will now look to sell, to the highest bidder.
    Arsenal, Utd and Chelsea are said to be interested in the striker… So i doubt that we will end up with this player.

    It’s official, Van Gal is sacked and moaning Mo will take his place next season.
    I doubt that Mo will be breaking Wenger’s balls as much as before, as his old bitter rival will be at City next season, that should be an interesting! Affair. ?

  5. Wenger’s new dribble is to get a good player early which will sweeten the hearts of fans, then pretend to be looking for other good signings till the transfer window slams down! And without a very good CF, Arsenal will almost end up champions at the end of the next season. Almost!

  6. he’s splashed cash before, he just never completes a squad. It’s always “one or two more players and we’re good.” We’ll go another season without getting a top forward, something that fans have been screaming for since Giroud first touched a ball for us. We have no chance of winning the title as long as Giroud remains #1. Every Arsenal fan knows this.

  7. Yes & No…for all we know there could be no activity going forward & Wenger will come & say there was no target available at the price they were interested. To further add insult to injury he will say how good the departments that need improvement are & how much trust he has in the actual players!! So we’ll wait if he goes and buy another player for at least 25m to more like the figures we hear (50m bid for Morata) than YES!!!Otherwise anyone can make there opinions…

    1. That’s pretty much spot on, as history keeps on repeating itself at Arsenal/ with Wenger.
      In the last few years Wenger only seems to spend big on a player when he has come under heavy criticism from the fan’s.
      But we live in hope that he does more than just the signing of Xhaka, As a proven striker is and should have been the main priority during this transfer window and I really do hope that he spends the available funds on transfers instead of wasting it on jack wheelchair’s contract extension lol ?

      1. Pick and choose your history?

        Wenger and Arsenal started more than 10 years ago, go learn history if you wanna talk about it.

        I talk about the history of Arsenal and I do mean history, not just the last decade like a fool, what idiot only takes 50% of something and say “ooh look history shows us…”.

        You miss a lot of facts if you ignore HALF of the subject.

        Go back to Wengers 1st day and work from there, see if you can see the changing factors at ARSENAL FC during the time we went from aiming for number1 and then aiming for top 4.

        I will tell you now as I know the history of Arsenal during Wengers reign, the old board who inherited money and who thought Dein was crazy for investing his own money into the club, they got greedy and wanted to bump up the share prices.

        Background politics happened and the result was the board not aiming for top spot anymore but top 4.

        1. I’m sorry mate, I’m fresh out of medals!
          So there’s no prizes for you this time. ?
          Wenger’s history at Arsenal fc has been documentated more than any of the World War’s! ? So I really don’t understand your bigheaded boastful point! ?
          Send me a self – addressed – envelope and I will stick a peanut init for you. ???

          I couldn’t care less about the board and the running of the club! ?
          All I care about is the results on the pitch and how the manager works his team!.. As that is where trophies are won and lost! ?

          It is crazy that some people think that Arsenal fc are not interested in winning trophies! ?
          And if you really knew about Wenger’s history at the club, then you would have known that he makes more decisions in the running of it than most manager’s at other clubs.

          The buck stops with Wenger, especially since Kroenke became the major share holder.

          1. You sounded fantastic fatty, you must took the right pills now. I thumb you up dude. LOL!

    2. Wenger will not turn round and say any player he has isn’t good enough, he wants to support the players and that is a good thing from a manager, if he is happy with what he has or unhappy… he will not let the players see that so how are we suppose to see?

      Wenger has slipped up occasionally though, as recent as Welbroke, Wenger admitted that if he stayed at home then Welbroke wouldn’t be here.

      Maybe Wenger wanted someone better? Rumors are that Wenger only wanted Welbz on loan for 12 months, that would have been until the next transfer window and instead of spending that £££ on Welbz it could have been put towards a WC CF…

      All fans must remember that not everything that happens at Arsenal is down to Wengers choice, the board wants their targets met and Wenger has to meet them.

      When the window slams shut then what we have is what we got to work with, I think some fans play a bit too much football manager to understand that players have feelings and they need to be dealt with on a personal level, how would the players react if Wenger openly says they are not good enough?

      The mentality that has been shown… I think it would have broken them, they are not strong mentally.

      If Wenger could have blocked the Welbroke transfer then he would have YET he still supports Welbz like he is going to turn into the next TH14, doesn’t that tell you and every other fan that Wenger may publicly support a player to try and get the best out of him while thinking that player isn’t good enough?

      I would say Wenger is happy to spend big but the real question is if the board and owner willing to invest enough?
      Maybe they have learnt from past mistakes? Maybe not. Time will tell either way.

  8. Wenger is not afraid to spend money and was severely cash strapped before signing Ozil. The problem was that the club and manager told fans for years that there was cash for new players when there was not.

    Wenger doesn’t like buying new player but after buying Ozil and Sanchez it is hard to say he is afraid to spend.

    Keep in mind that in today’s market £30 million is not what it was. For that type of money you barely get one leg of Aubamayang, Higaun or Lukaku. The market has been inflated as a result of all the money rolling in form TV etc.

    Is it me or are there other who would have liked our big money singing to be a striker and not an other DM. Sure Coq and Eleney might not be the best DM’s in the game but they are far better DM’s then Giroud and Mert are striker and CD. So on a relative basis our striker position and central defender positions are weaker than our defensive midfield situation. Money spend on a top striker might get a bigger bang for our buck then on replacing Coq or Elneny.

    1. Yeah ST should be #1 priority this summer. But either way we always needed more than one top class signing this summer. Even if we had only gotten a top striker, our midfield still isn’t good enough without Xhaka, and our defense is average. Only way for this summer to be successful are at least two big buys. There are a pretty good amount of defenders available this summer, but I haven’t heard many rumours about us looking for one. We should really be looking to sell on several of our players this summer, but that’s not going to happen it seems. I can’t believe Walcott is staying. That’s embarrassing. Wenger has a lot of work to do and a lot of money to spend if he wants to realistically win the title. Cause relying on players that have consistently let the team down isn’t going to suffice.

  9. Ozil
    Sanchez
    Cech
    Xhaka (not confirmed)

    Let’s be honest here – those are 4 top signings and that is consecutive summer windows.

    The issue isn’t really buying. It is that chronic under investment over the Emirate years has meant that big signings in isolation don’t make an impact. It doesn’t reverse the lack of leadership and lower standards for those years. And secondly we are still at a place where the squad has a hangover from the years of under investment, e.g. Giroud is still here when in today’s money he most probably wouldn’t have bought him. Same with Gibbs and a few others.

    Realistically I think Wenger’s job is not to win trophies because he has a year or may be a couple left and he needs to clean out these problems. He did to a certain extent this year so I do actually give him credit because at the end of the day the easier he makes it for the next guy the better for everyone.

    1. yup, this basically. The fact Ozil is playing with someone of Giroud’s caliber highlights this problem. If summer spending ends with Xhaka then history will repeat itself. It can’t just be one big signing per season.

      1. At least not yet anyway, in a couple/few years we might be able to get away with just 1big signing and then promotion of youth… but we need to build up to that, while building up to it we have to get ‘more’.

        I defend Wenger on how much the club allows to be spent but 1 thing I do think Wenger is to blame for is not wanting too many signings in 1 transfer window, preferring to get fewer players to help keep the close bond between players.

        That part of Wenger was always going to result in us taking a few years at minimum to resolve.

  10. I just don’t c morata any better than the players we have….the guy scored just 12goals in 47 appearances and he even looks soft to me.

    We need a striker but I prefer spending 10minllion on vincent janssen than spending 40million on a hyped player….

    1. Morata’s finishing is suspect, which is our main weakness in attack. He’s a great, great player, but simply not worth 40mill.

    2. I never heard of Janssen but since we been linked to him I have looked him up several times, the more I see of him the more I like him, if we got him then I would support the guy and see how he can do for us.

      It is hard to imagine him being worse than Giroud for us… and if he clicks then we have a great CF for a bargain, win/win right?

  11. What Arsenal fans want to see

    Auba
    Sanchez Ozil Mahrez
    Cazorla Xhaka
    Monreal Boss Benatia Bellerin
    Cech

    What Arsenal fans will probably see

    Walcott
    Sanchez Ozil Ramsey
    Cazorla Xhaka
    Monreal Boss Mertesacker Bellerin
    Cech

    1. Team 1 but swap Mahrez for Costa from Bayern, that guy would fit with Ozil feeding him ^.^

  12. Before you think Wenger has finally changed transfer policy, there are plenty of players Arsenal will sell to get that £30m back.

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