Arsenal has just been linked with a move for Feyenoord’s Orkun Kokcu.
The Turkish youngster has been tracked by Arsenal for a while now and he is just 19 and we covered that speculation in this article here.
Mikel Arteta reportedly thinks highly of him and could make a move for him in the next transfer window.
I have been impressed by the data about Kokcu, but buying youngsters of his calibre just shows that Arsenal is not ready to become a top side in England at the moment.
I expect the rest of this season to be used for experimentation, but the next transfer window should be one that Arsenal shows the world how ready they are to be counted among the big sides in England.
Arsenal cannot risk trusting the likes of Kokcu, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah. These are talented youngsters, no doubt but experience is more important than talent when you are running a marathon and that is what the Premier League season is.
There will be movement of top players when the season ends and I want Arsenal to start competing with other teams to sign the best players.
Arsenal did spend big on Nicolas Pepe last summer and while that has not worked out it should not mean that they should be hesitant to spend that sort of money again.
The really top clubs identify a weak position and spend significant money to fix it. Liverpool is a classic example with Virgil van Dijk and Allison.
Man City needed full-backs and dropped serious money on two of them. Man Utd needed to shore up their defence and went big on Harry Maguire and on it goes.
The point is that loan players and young hot prospects does not deliver the big silverware. Top expensive talent does.
An article by Jacob B