The Arsenal transfer rumours about Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal board doing their best to add the transfer of Leicester City’s Premier League star Jamie Vardy to the early summer signing of Granit Xhaka has certainly served to silence most of the criticism of Le Prof, with even the most ardent WOBs pleasantly surprised by this unlikely development from the Frenchman.
But in the cold light of day, is this move really what the Gunners need to ensure that a 12 year wait for the EPL trophy does not turn into an unlucky 13? Not according to a growing number of dissenting voices in the football media. The fact that one of the first of these voices was that of the former Arsenal and England midfielder Paul Merson will not come as much of a surprise to most of us.
Merson is quite clearly and vocally in the Wenger Out Brigade and if the Frenchman said the sun was going to come up tomorrow I reckon Merson would disagree, but that does not necessarily make any less valid his point about the pursuit of Vardy being the wrong move for Arsenal, as reported by Sky Sports.
He said, “It doesn’t fit with me. Arsenal don’t get the ball forward quickly enough. I don’t get the transfer, I really don’t get it.
“No disrespect to Vardy but his strengths are getting the ball over the top. Teams come onto Leicester and they hit them on the counter.
“The vast majority of Vardy’s goals came from one-on-one with goalkeepers. Teams kick-off against Arsenal and immediately put 10 behind the ball and they’ve got to try and break them down.
“I think Vardy is really thinking whether Arsenal would suit him. If that wasn’t the case he would have signed straight away, he wouldn’t have had to talk to anyone about it as Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in the world. There has got to be a reason (for the delay).”
There are similar pieces cropping up in the football media, such as Dave Kidd’s piece in The Mirror in which he says the same thing about Vardy and Arsenal not being suited. He also suggests that Wenger could be doing this mainly to pacify his critics, take one of the main players off the only club that finished above us and use the striker only on occasions which suit him.
He wrote, “But why Vardy ? Well, while Wenger has clearly decided that financial commonsense is obsolete in a League crazed by cash, perhaps he also hopes to destroy the one team which finished above Arsenal last season, and believes Leicester’s striker can provide him with a bench-based Plan B.”
What do you make of all this Gooners? And is it the reason why Vardy has not jumped at the chance of joining one of the biggest clubs in the world?
Bob