I must admit that I was very surprised to hear Sky Sports reporting that Arsene Wenger had rejected a bid thought to be around £10 million for the Arsenal and occasionally England left back Kieran Gibbs, despite the fact that it was from West Brom and the boss has suggested he will not sell to any other Premier League club.
Gibbs seemed to have slipped almost completely out of first team contention and was widely believed to be one of the Gunners heading for the exit door this summer. He was not taken on the tours of Australia and China and this seemed to confirm what everyone thought, so why turn down a bid for him?
Is it because Wenger thinks the 27-year old is worth more than West Brom are prepared to pay? Maybe, as the Evening Standard says that Arsenal value Gibbs at £15 million and that does not sound too much compared to the majority of transfer fees we have seen recently.
But if the academy graduate really is out of the first team frame you would think we would make a deal to free up the wages and the place in the squad, so I wonder if Wenger may just be thinking about Gibbs as the left sided wing back in the new back three formation, or at least as his second option after the summer signing Kolasinac.
Monreal looks set to be used as the left sided centre back more often than not so has the new Arsenal formation given Gibbs an Arsenal lifeline?
Bob.