Even if Arsenal made the funds available to him, I still have my doubts about whether Arsene Wenger would ever be willing to pay really top dollar for any player. But I don´t think we will ever get the chance to find out because, despite Arsenal Football Club being in a very healthy financial state, it still appears that the club is unwilling to compete with the big boys when it comes to spending money.
I know that the last two summer transfer windows have seen the Frenchman smash the transfer record in paying over £40 million for Mesut Ozil and then spend the largest amount in the club’s history in signing Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers, David Ospina and Danny Welbeck, but in all honesty it was still not enough.
Don’t forget that Arsenal have a whole lot of catching up to do on the likes of Chelsea and Man City, while Man United spent twice as much as we did last summer, despite all the debt hanging round their neck. We signed Ozil but not a top class striker or defender and arguably it cost us the title.
The latest proof that Arsenal are still counting the pennies like the Ebeneezer Scrooge of the Premier League comes in the form of an ESPN report on Paul Pogba. His agent has been talking about the number of clubs interested in the talented French midfielder who would supposedly cost around £70 million. When he lists the clubs that could afford Pogba, guess which name was missing?
Mino Raiola said, “He is wanted by seven clubs and that is certain, because they all told me so. The ones that can afford him are Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
“If I just whistled, I’d sell Pogba tomorrow to PSG or City in a heartbeat. But Paul did not tell me to find him another club. As of today, it’s 99 percent [certain Pogba will stay at Juventus].”
I am not saying that we should pay all that money for him, but it makes me wonder why we are not among the clubs who could, especially after the news recently that the club is making loads of money and sitting on over £130 million. Anyone know?
VIDEO – Danny Welbeck’s winning goal at Old Trafford