As news broke last night that Croatian international Mario Mandzukic was moving to Atletico Madrid for £17.5 million, we here at Soccer Transfers could not understand how Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could let a centre-forward of his quality slip through his fingers at such an affordable price.
All last year we have been hearing of how the Gunners need a striker, and while we have absolutely no complaints seeing Wenger sign Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona for £30 million why would you not sign a 28-year-old world-class striker like Mandzukic for less than £20 million.
The problems he had at Bayern Munich only surfaced after the arrival of Pep Guardiola and his style of Tiki Taki football he now wants to instil in the Bavarian team, with Mandzukic openly saying that the Catalan manager’s style of play did not agree with his more direct approach.
When talking to the press regarding his departure from the Allianz Arena Mandzukic said:
“I met (Bayern chairman) Karl Heinz Rummenigge before the (German) cup final and told him I wanted to leave the club. I’ve had a fantastic time at Bayern. It’s a great club and I never thought I’d want to leave, and especially not at this point in time. But, let’s be honest, I cannot play to my strengths under (Pep) Guardiola’s style – no matter how hard I try.”
Had Mandzukic joined Arsenal he would have brought with him the ability to lead the line and dominance in the air that surly would not only defensively helped Arsenal but would have added to this goal scoring ability also.
All you have to do is look at this summer’s World Cup with Germanys Thomas Müller and Miroslav Klose to realize what Mandzukic could have brought to the Emirates, yet instead we will all have to read about his exploits in Spain as he tries to help Atletico Madrid retain their La Liga title.
