How often have Arsenal fans and football pundits talked about the central midfield problem? Pretty much constantly ever since we lost the services of the warrior that was Patrick Vieira, with many feeling it is no coincidence that the Gunners have not lifted the Premier League trophy since the Frenchman left our club in 2005.
That issue was supposed to have been resolved by the signing of Granit Xhaka for big money last summer, but despite some good performances, especially towards the end of last season, the Switzerland international did not instantly settle in the Premier League after impressing in the German Bundesliga.
Arsene Wenger clearly has faith in Xhaka, though, and will have expected him to be more settled and much more influential for the Gunners in his second season, but so far he has been even worse. Sloppy passing and poor form in the middle has cost us goals in both opening league games and with this season’s race for the title looking as tough as ever we can barely afford to carry passengers or wait for certain players to find some form.
So with a little over a week of the transfer window left and with The Mirror reporting that both Liverpool and Barcelona are showing interest in our transfer target Jean Seri, is it time for Wenger to stop haggling and just agree to pay the £33 milion that is the talented midfielder’s release clause from Nice?
Bob.