Let’s face it Arsenal fans, we have had to endure some tough transfer windows over the last decade or so. Whether it was because we lost one of the best players in the side to a Premier League or European rival or because we failed with a transfer bid or perhaps ended up signing an over the hill Swedish midfielder with a bad back when we badly needed a striker, there have been some stinkers.
Sometimes, however, it turns out that missing a transfer target would have been better than completing the signing (I am thinking of Kim Kallstrom again although there have been a fair few). So I do not think there will be too many Arsenal fans crying into their beer over two of the latest bits of Arsenal transfer news in the football press this week.
You can see both on the Arsenal page of The Mirror‘s football website and while we have all heard and regretted the stories of Arsene Wenger missing out on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, these two titbits reveal how we also missed out on the considerable talents of Joey Barton and Sergi Samper.
According to Barton he was on Wenger’s transfer radar while playing for Newcastle but the interest was terminated after Barton got Gervinho sent off on his Arsenal debut. He might not have made us a better side but there would certainly have been more aggression and fight in the squad, although perhaps too much fighting among ourselves to be honest.
The we have the Spanish midfielder Samper revealing that when he was made aware of interest from Arsenal he did not even deign to listen to Wenger because he was determined to make it big with Barcelona. That player is now struggling to get much game time with relegation bound La Liga minnows Granada, so who lost out on that one?
If Arsenal do not make any signing this month it may be frustrating, but maybe it is better to sign nobody eh Gooners?
Bob.
Every transfer is a risk, even with top-class players – look what happened to Torres when he moved from Liverpool. Another problem problem lies in the fact that we lose out stupidly by low-balling for players – we could have gotten Hazard, Mata etc if we had not been for our stinginess. I would have excused the multitude of bad signings that Arsenal made in what I like to call our ‘banter era’ (Gervinho, Kallstrom, Squillaci, Chamakh, Bendtner, Benayoun to name a few) if we had secured some of the top class players that we have so often been ‘linked’ with (if the rumours can be trusted).
Almost every transfer window is disappointing for us Arsenal fans. Not because we’re not getting enough WC players in, it’s more to do with the balance of the team. The Ozil signing was great for the reputation of the club, but didn’t help us on the pitch in terms of balance as we didn’t need another playmaker because of Santi. If Wenger had got a quality CF and DM, we would of won the league in 2014.
Every single season, including this one, we start the campaign with so many holes in our team. We HAD to sign either a WC striker or a WC winger this summer (ideally both), and Wenger decided not too. For a manager with an attacking philosophy, it’s truly baffling that Wenger doesn’t want a really strong front line.
In terms of bad windows, it’ll be tough for any Arsenal manager in the future to top the Kim Kallstrom signing, or only signing a 33yo keeper in the main summer window.
So a couple of things.
First, Wenger didn’t just sign a 33 year old keeper. He signed Peter Cech, one of the best in the modern era. Why you are comparing this to the Kim Kallstrom signing is a mystery to my simple mind.
Second, I think most of us would consider a Carloza-Ozil tandem pretty balanced. Your narrative that we didn’t need Ozil because we had Carloza at CAM is about as reliable as mine that Wenger signed Ozil because he always intended to move Santi back. Fact is we have no idea.
Last point. A CF would have been nice but most fans as I recall were crying out for a CB partner for Koscielny and a DM first. Mustafi ticks the first box. Verdict still out on Xhaka. And last I looked, Sanchez is looking pretty world class at CF.
To end on a positive, yes I agree with you, Kallstrom wasn’t much of a signing. Good point, well made.
Cech was a brilliant keeper, but my point is, a new keeper should have been low down on the list of priorities, similar with the Ozil signing. We already had Ospina, and before another keeper was needed, we had to sign: CB, RW, CF (at the very least), and ideally a more physically imposing central midfielder. When we signed Ozil, there were way more positions that needed strengthening first: GK, CB, DM, RW, LW, CF. I’m also talking about the balance of the whole team, not between Santi and Ozil.
The Cech, and Kallstrom signings are comparable because of how bad those windows were, in relation to what the team actually needed. Do you not remember how shocked, and angry, almost all Arsenal fans were? Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing, but Cech hasn’t even been that great, certainly not to such an extent to bench Ospina for so long, and with him probably leaving us in the summer as well due to a lack of playing time (unless Cech goes).
I disagree with what you think the fans wanted that season. A new striker was definitely top of the list. I’ve never spoken to an Arsenal fan that didn’t want someone better than Giroud that season, as the number one priority.
This window I was happy with the signings, but we should have got another top class forward. Sanchez isn’t an out-an-out striker, and wasn’t even intended to play there because Wenger did try and sign a striker. When he failed, he decided to give Sanchez a go, and luckily it’s worked. Mustafi I was very pleased with, and Xhaka, although he hasn’t been great so far.
It’s also players going out as well. Why does Wenger hang on to deadwood for so long, when we could cash in, and try other players?
Wenger did try to sign Surarez that season, in hindsight Wenger should have given 60~70M or whatever to sign Surarez but at the time that would have being way way overpriced for a trouble maker like him.
You have to understand that if a top player becomes available you buy them simple as that. It’s not that he prioritised getting a keeper or ozil bit they became available and we moved in to secure them.
Forget about players that never played for Arsenal and never will.
Anyone seen highlights of new boy Nwakalli? I think the lad will be ready for first team action in 2 years time. Great buy.