Kieran Gibbs has been at Arsenal for an amazing 13 years, and is no doubt one of our most loyal and consistent squad players whenever he has been called upon. He has been an England international whenever Wenger deigned to give him some regular football, but for some reason Le Prof never felt he was quite good enough to be a regular member of our starting XI.
Now Wenger has allowed him to leave for the paltry sum of just £7m, and of course at the age of just 27 he will be a regular starter at West Brom for the next few years. Tony Pulis can’t believe his luck in getting such an experienced Arsenal star for practically loose change for the Gunners.
The Baggies boss said: “We’ve now got a deal which I think is right for the club and I’m really pleased to add a player of this quality and experience to our group,”
“Kieran’s a good age and has made over 200 appearances for Arsenal, represented his country, and has Premier League and Champions League experience.
“To add these qualities to our squad is exactly what we’re looking for.”
How does this sale make sense? If we had kept him, even for the final year of his contract, he could have played regularly in the Europa League and shown exactly how good he is and earned an even better move next season. And we are hardly going to miss £7m from our coffers. With Oxlade-Chamberlain leaving and Lemar blowing us out, Gibbs could have been a neccessary backup this year. I for one am going to miss him, and I seriously believe right now that West Brom are going to be one of our rivals for the Top Six this season, and we have strengthened them.
Makes no sense to me at all?
Darren N