There have been a lot of doubts from Arsenal fans and members of the football media about why Arsene Wenger did not strengthen the Arsenal defence more in the summer transfer window. And for those of us that are not entirely convinced by Arsene Wenger’s vague words about not being able to find the right player available, there is today some evidence that he did at least try.
According to a Sky Sports report, the Greece international defender that we were linked with in various Arsenal transfer rumours over the summer, Kostas Manolas, has revealed that he did have the choice of Arsenal and the Italian champions Juventus.
But the 23-year old says that he has no regrets over his decision to join another Serie A club Roma from Olympiakos on a transfer costing a little over £10 million. With the side from the Italian capital fighting Juve hard for the title and looking like they might pip the Premier League champions Man City to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League, it is hard to say he made the wrong choice.
Manolas said, “It’s true, Juventus sought me out after the World Cup.
“I could also have ended up at Arsenal. But I never went to London, as it was reported.
“Now, for me, there is only Roma. I’m very happy to have come here.”
We’ll never know but it seems likely that one of the reasons for him snubbing Arsenal was the greater likelihood of regular game time at Roma and he has only missed one game for them so far. This is why our captain Thomas Vermaelen left as well, allegedly, so how does Wenger attract a defender of the right quality? Should we be looking at someone to replace rather than cover for one of our current stars?