I am really hoping that this latest little bit of Arsenal transfer news does not mean that Arsene Wenger is perfectly happy with the current crop of Arsenal defenders, despite Gabriel having a worrying tendency towards rash and costly defensive actions and Per Mertesacker having roughly the same acceleration and turning finesse of an oil tanker.
We do have Calum Chambers as well but the former Southampton star hardly featured for the Gunners last season and cannot be seen as a consistent first choice centre back yet. I think he has great potential but that is not enough for a serious title challenge.
So taking all this into consideration you would have thought that Wenger would have been one of the main suitors for the services of the Germany international defender Mats Hummels when it became clear that he would be leaving Borussia Dortmund with only one year left on his contract.
The football media certainly thought so as there were lots of Arsenal transfer rumours linking us with the classy and quality German before it was revealed that he would sign for Bayern Munich. Now Hummels himself has lifted the lid on tjhe transfer saga and Arsenal fans will have som,e serious questions for the boss after he declared in an Evening Standard report that Arsenal did not even try to sign him.
He said, “I don’t have to beat about the bush, and pretend they [Arsenal] wanted me.
“There was no offer. The same applies for Spain, there was always contact but no option right now. That’s why I now have made the fundamental decision to continue my career in Germany.”
What is worse is that Hummels sounds like he was keen on a move to the Premier League and in a Daily Mail report he hinted that he would have signed for Man United if they had just qualified for the Champions League.
He said, ‘Fundamentally, England, Spain and Germany were the relevant leagues I could see myself playing football in.
‘But at this stage there just was not that one English club where the overall package was fitting.
‘The overall package means: a club which fascinates me; a club I have always wanted to join, and where the sporting constellation is right, and which of course plays Champions League football next season. And because of the latter one club was ruled out, and you can envision which club that was.’
It sounds to me as though Arsenal could have got him if we tried and although we don’t know the exact transfer fee that Bayern paid it is rumoured to be less than £30 million, so what on earth was our manager thinking?
Bob.
To be honest Gabriel can still improve and so can Chambers, so missing out on Hummels isn’t a big concern when we can find other CBs that can do the job until either of our current ones fully adapt to the PL. We also have re-enforced our midfield with players that bring more defensive stability, the priority for us right now is to sign a goal scorer more than anything else.
I like how I’m always being thumbed down for stating the obvious. You can get a CB but it won’t change anything if we can’t score goals to win important games.
I’m glad that you like it ? Welcome to my world ??
Chambers has looked very good in midfield whenever he has played there. It’s a shame we might never know how well he could do as a midfielder.
Gabriel is a young Koscielny. He’ll be good as him in time.
We need a CB and a striker but if I have to choose one over the other then I will go with a striker…..
Hahaha less than £30 million, tell that to admin, who pointed out to me that Hummels was available for freeeee! ?
( on a Article on here, afew months ago) when I suggested that wenger wouldn’t pay £30 million for him and that he would probably end up at Munich, instead.
I wonder what wenger is thinking given that sanchez and ozil are the only quality players we have.
Cech is dwindling and bellerin almost there.
The rest can be found in newcastle and west brom
If I have to pick the best CB;s from the Euro Show then it has to be the BOSS and HUMMELS or Boateng to some extent. Smalling not even close…
Pubgooner. …Rami has been good too…..
Yes…agreed
hummels too injury!!!
i remember a time , not too long ago , when arsene wenger spoke, he always spoke the truth . alas, these days , i am not so sure about the amount of truth that he spouts anymore . i have not believed a word he has said these past eight years i have to say .the day he began to speak in riddles was the day he lost his scruples.
He was conscious at 2014 dude. When he said that he had surprise for the fans and then there was Mesut Ozil.
Well it wouldn’t be the first time Wenger ignored a quality player, and it won’t be the last! One has to remember that this transfer window will be just as bad as the previous ones, with Wenger ignoring the team’s needs, in favour of individual quality. In fact, Wenger has already admitted he will not properly strengthen the team this summer. We all know that Arsenal need four new top quality players for the starting XI (CB, DM/CM, RW, CF), but Wenger has said he’ll sign no more than three!
I won’t properly criticise as the transfer window hasn’t shut yet, but I fully expect to have an unbalanced, and injury ravaged squad, before a ball is even kicked!
Arsenal are a massive club. We’re rich – even richer with the new TV money. We have a huge fan base, a brilliant stadium in one of the biggest cities in the world. We have history. We offer Champions League football every single season and an attractive style of play.
Why can’t we attract many top players? 4 things stand out to me:
1: We aren’t willing to pay the transfer fees.
2: We aren’t willing to pay the wages.
3: No league title in 12 years and a poor Champions League record.
4: As Hummels has clearly just proved – we aren’t even going in for the top players when they’re available!
In short, most of the problem is mismanagement.
Gabriel and Chambers are not good enough YET
Mert is decreasing in quality
Need 1 more quality CB