Kevin Whitcher
It was an opportunity to make a statement, confirm the club’s ambition and strengthen their chances of having a more successful season than they have enjoyed since moving from Highbury in 2006.
It ended with the loan signing of a 31-year-old midfielder for the remainder of the season. I’ll be honest and admit that after 7pm yesterday, I was otherwise occupied. I actually completely forgot about the 11pm deadline until I checked my email this morning. Such was my sense of anticipation. Call me a cynic, but hell, I think events justified the amount of attention.
I think the phrase underwhelmed pretty much sums it up. Amongst the text messages received yesterday was one from Pete Mountford that hit the nail on the head: ”Kim ‘f***ing’ Kallstrom on loan!! I can hardly contain my excitement. Is this what we left Highbury for?”
So it leaves the club hoping that Olivier Giroud does not get injured or run out of steam. The back-up options have not convinced, and even Giroud still has something to prove in terms of being a matchwinner for Arsenal when they are up against, to paraphrase the manager ‘top top quality’, as they will be over the next two months. Or maybe Yaya ‘Diaby’ Sanogo will leap off the treatment table and turn out to be Nicolas Anelka mk II.
Kim Kallstrom may prove out to be an excellent stopgap for a position where pretty much every player seems to pick up injuries and suspensions on a habitual basis. So, there is no criticism of his acquisition for the remainder of the campaign. However, there is an understandable sense of, ‘is that it then?’ amongst Arsenal supporters who have been told their season ticket prices are going up by 3% in the summer, as the club announce they will be raking in £150 million from Puma for a five year kit deal.
Certainly, the price for Julian Draxler was a high one for a player who is currently injured and more of a prospect than proven at the highest level. However, if the club (or the manager if you believe press reports) were not prepared to gamble with that kind of amount of money, might Konstantinos Mitroglou, bought by Fulham for £12.4 million, been a more conservative, but necessary punt? Granted, there is no guarantee that Mitroglou will adapt to the Premier League, but that is the case with any foreign import. And if he didn’t, the club could always sell him back to a league where he would be more at home, and only suffer a slight loss, as his reputation is established.
Really, the ultimate failure in terms of striking cover was the hash made of last summer’s transfer window, leaving Wenger short of options acceptable to him now. I am sure enquiries and bids were made to address the problem, but Wenger would not pay the premium that comes with desperate need, in spite of the club having the finances to do so. Lazio reputedly turned down £2 million to allow Miroslav Klose to come to north London on loan. Yet Arsenal will make something like £3m from the fortune of drawing Liverpool at home in the FA Cup 5th Round, bonus income they could not have relied on. If they were interested in Klose to address a problem, why not offer a bit more?
The club are still acting small time, and in spite of the signing of Mesut Özil, you have to wonder if the manager is prioritising the balance sheet rather than the team sheet in his transfer activity. We could be Bayern Munich in two or three years, Ivan Gazidis told supporters last June. Well, if that is the aim, why not start acting with similar ambition when it comes to buying players…?
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