Bard
I know it’s a statement of the bleeding obvious unless you are Wenger and the board. At this stage of the season all things being equal, it looks like a straight shootout between City and us. That is no disrespect to Leicester, unless of course we have a meltdown. (I’m not in denial about this possibility!) We are in a fantastic position but we need a couple of reinforcements as Santi , Coq and Danny won’t be available for the rest of the campaign and you wouldn’t want to rest your hopes on Jack making a major impact any time soon. It would require a massive amount of luck to triumph in May with the squad we have.
However there are two other reasons why we need to buy, City, United and Chelsea are in need of reinforcements and will spend huge amounts. And secondly we cannot be sure we will hold onto our big players after this season. It’s this second bit I want to focus on because we haven’t had to deal with this problem for a while. While recognizing Ozil’s wonderful talent I have been skeptical of his ability to dominate the big games and have had question marks about his character. It is reasonable to suggest that those doubts have largely been answered. Who in world football is playing better in his position at the present moment; Iniesta, Modric, Coutinho? It would be an interesting debate. He is at the top of his game, of that there is no doubt and what a delight it is to see. Sanchez was deemed surplus to requirements at Barca principally because he couldn’t or wouldn’t stick to the script which is get the ball to Messi and wait for him to give it back (my brother in law is from Barcelona and tells me that is the requirement of anyone joining Barca, you ignore it at your peril). His performances for us have at times been breathtaking. He is a world class forward. We also have another future star in our midst, Bellerin, still raw but with tremendous pace and potential.
The line from the club is that we are no longer a selling club but the devil is in the detail. The truth is a little more complicated or at least it has been since the summer transfer window. It is true we don’t need to sell to balance the books but we also haven’t had anyone good enough to be worth selling since RVP, so to date this theory hasn’t been tested. Ozil and to a lesser extent Sanchez must be on the radar of other big clubs. In this age of 24/7 coverage it is stupid to imagine that their performances haven’t been tracked with interest. I can easily imagine Ozil at Barca or even back at Madrid or Bayern. Can you imagine him behind Neymar, Messi and Suarez or behind Muller and Lewandowski ? He looks a much more authoritative and complete player than in his days for Real Madrid. The Chilean is nailed on for 10-20 goals a season, he has a fantastic work ethic and is practically indestructible unless of course you overplay him. Once dear old Hector gets a call up to the Spanish squad I can see him being tempted. What’s not to like about playing abroad? The competition is easier and less intense, they have a winter break and you have less chance of your career being ended by some psychopathic thug from middle earth. It’s a no brainer.
The last summer transfer window was another watershed with the transfer fees going up another £20m or so. Sterling and De Bruyne were sold for around £50m+, neither world class. This hike effectively puts Arsenal out of the game of buying top players, or even players of the class of De Bruyne and Sterling and it automatically makes us potentially a selling club again. If some consider this anti-Arsenal then consider Spurs. Doing well but Harry Kane is on no more than £30,000 a week. How much are strikers who score 20+ goals a season worth? Does anyone seriously think that he will be at the Spuds in the next year or two? No chance. Because of that transfer hike the chances of another Sanchez or Ozil coming to Arsenal are very slim indeed. Think back to the summer, Everton turned down a £40m bid from Chelsea for John Stones. Arsenal have neither the resources nor the will to compete but the high stakes game will not deter the big hitters from paying these inflated prices. If De Bruyne is worth £50m+, what does that make Ozil or Sanchez worth?
Arsenal want to nail Ozil down to a long- term deal but the reality is if Barca or Bayern come calling with their sack loads of money the chances are he will be sorely tempted at the very least; who wouldn’t be? Or does he want to stay at a club that doesn’t have the will or resources to challenge for the major honours?
This is why we need to buy, we may not have better chance of winning the league and if the club keep to their current financial philosophy we are unlikely to be in the mix for the foreseeable future.
