Everyone and their uncle knows that Arsenal need to strengthen significantly this summer and it is expected that clubs will seek a premium for their players but that does not mean that Arsenal should allow themselves to be exploited.
It is now being reported that Sampdoria wants €55 Million for Joachim Andersen and Dennis Praet, which is a bit of a jump up from the €44 Million we offered last week.
Apparently, the Serie A side reckons that Andersen is worth €30 Million and Praet worth €25 Million.
Now, the thing is this, there are other targets out there that are just as good on paper as those two but available for far less and we should know when to say no and move on.
This is one of the big problems these days with clubs outside of England, they see a Premier League club coming and whack up their prices accordingly and I will admit that is to be expected, they see how much we are making from TV money and they assume they can take advantage.
But just because our clubs are loaded with TV money does not mean we have to pay the inflated prices they are demanding and in my opinion, Andersen and Praet are not worth that amount of money.
Additionally, Premier League clubs have to abide by financial fair play rules, well, apart from Manchester City maybe and there is only so much they can keep splashing out.
If Andersen or Praet had Premier League experience that would be one thing but they don’t and it is not as if we do not have a record of buying players in the €30 Million range that have failed to transfer their form to the English game.
For me, it is time to walk away and look at alternatives.