Just last week there was a story doing the rounds of the football media in which the rumours about Arsenal trying to sign the Argentina international star Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli in the summer were confirmed by the president of the Serie A club.
Aurelio De Laurentiis also said that the reason that Higuain did not come to the Premier League with arsenal but signed for the Italian champions Juventus instead was all down to the money involved. With the Turin club having paid around 90 million euros for the striker, the idea that Arsene Wenger and the Gunners were outbid is not exactly a surprise.
But the latest revelation about our summer transfer dealings may not be met with such understanding from the Arsenal fans. The Daily Mail reports that Wenger’s attempts to get the PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City also failed because of the price.
Mahrez himself said, ‘There was contact with Arsenal. But Leicester wanted to keep me and I was pretty expensive. I did not want to create a conflict when the offer came in.
‘Personally, I think it is a good thing I stayed put.
‘It’s now up to me to prove myself again.’
So while it is clear that the Algerian was not going to try to force his way out of his club, it also seems clear that Arsenal did not really test the resolve of the Foxes even though Mahrez was a player we wanted. More evidence that our timid approach to transfers is damaging our chances of trophy success?
Bob.