Arsenal fans were livid last night when the transfer window closed and all the Gunners had to show for it was a 31-year-old bargain basement Swede that they managed to sign on loan from Spartak Moscow.
As a fan you get excited over the idea of a star player coming into the team as was the case this transfer window with us all expecting to see one of Germany’s hottest prospects coming to the Emirates and yet when push came to shove with Schalke sticking to their guns on the £37 million valuation they had put on Julian Draxler what was Arsenal thinking?
I tell you what they were thinking and that was to make a small opening offer and then show that they were willing to go the extra mile by bumping it up to £30 million while expecting the Germans to say “Oh that is so kind of you, of course we will accept you’re generous offer.”
In the end and for the sake of an extra £7 million Arsenal came away with nothing leaving Schalke to bask in the knowledge that they will get what they want for the 20-year-old during the summer, and perhaps more if two or three clubs decided to bid on him.
Then there was the debacle regarding a striker with the Gunners going after two over the hill players in Mirko Vucinic who is 30-years-old and Miroslav Klose who is even older at 35 when they realized that Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata was not interested in a loan move to the Emirates.
February is a massive month for Arsenal with a lot of tough games over a short period of time and should God forbid Olivier Giroud get injured the fans will turn on Wenger for not signing the back-up striker that they all knew the club needed as insurance while challenging for the Premiership title.
Telling us that there is a £100 million war chest available for players and that a record breaking sponsorship deal worth £150 million with Puma will allow for some top signings is all well and good, but none of this is going to happen if Arsene Wenger continues to look at cheap options all the time.
