Arsenal Wont Spend Big This Summer….The Writing Is On The Wall Already

With Arsenal fans still waiting for those big-money signings they’ve been promised this summer, blogger Gooner Daily tells us why he thinks it’s going to be a case of deja vu for Gooners.

Just a few weeks ago, there was a Q and A session that was held with Arsenal’s Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis, and if my memory serves me right, the orator blew his trumpet about how the club was beginning to reach the upper echelons in flexing its financial muscles, as the club has always been in spotlight for its thrifty nature in the transfer market.

He boldly spoke about the club’s transfers, competing with the juggernauts of European football, winning trophies, changing the wage structure, Arsene Wenger’s future and the whole nine yards.

A faction of the Arsenal faithful were elated and had a renewed sense of optimism while another section took it with a pinch of salt, believing that Arsenal were never going to change. If I tell that I was part of the latter lot, I’m one hell of a liar.

The media Vultures delved into this and published a million and one articles linking Arsenal with some top quality players, which made the fans drool at the thought of some world class talent coming to the Emirates. The days of waiting turned into weeks and the Asian Tour became a welcome distraction as waiting for a transfer to happen at Arsenal was no different from waiting for Marouane Chamakh to score a goal.

Speaking of goals, Arsenal’s forwards have definitely found their scoring boots in the Asia Tour with Olivier Giroud leading the pack with an impressive five goals in two games, albeit against weaker opposition, as all his haters have been quick to point out. The youngster, Chuba Akpom, has been in fine form as well, with Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski and the Ox all getting in on the goalscoring acts.

With this probably in mind, Arsene Wenger may have changed his thoughts and is now ready to stick with his current crop of forwards. According to Goal, Arsene Wenger has hinted the expectant Arsenal fans that no new signing will be coming anytime soon,

“The competition in Europe is very hard at the moment, there’s a lot of money and not many players. We work hard but we are not close to signing anybody.”

Well, as gutted as these quotes from the boss makes me feel, it’s not as if he and the Arsenal hierarchy didn’t try to delve into the transfer market this summer. It’s not as if the transfer market is some kind of grocery store at the end of a street where you can go and pick what you want.

There was a period when the buzz around Gonzalo Higuain was so much that Arsenal fans already thought he was an Arsenal player. The striker wanted out, it was believed that Arsenal made a bid, but Real Madrid got greedy.

Higuain checked all the boxes for the kind of striker Arsenal fans craved;

• Technically proficient
• Would blend into the team
• Proven goalscorer
• Scores goals for fun
• Scores more goals for fun

With Arsenal not coming close to Real Madrid’s evaluation for the player, the Higuain flames started dousing till there was nothing left to even start a new fire. Out of the blue, the player reveals that Chelsea wants him, while Napoli intends to use him as a replacement for the departed Edinson Cavani, and like Arsenal, they also have loads of money in the bank.

Then of course, there was the story about an audacious £30 million bid for Luis Suarez that was rejected by Liverpool. The thoughts of a player like Suarez joining Arsenal has come with mixed opinions but from my research I’ve found out that a considerable chunk of Arsenal fans don’t want to see the Uruguayan wear the sacred Red and White because of the excess baggage he carries.

Suarez’s talent is undoubted in the world of football but his diving theatrics, row with the English Press, racism incident with Patrice Evra and of course, the world-famous biting chronicles makes him one hell of an enigma. I’ve done my bit on him and this interesting piece by @Omomo14 on Arsenal Vision (a pro-Suarez Gooner) cited more reasons than one why Suarez would be a perfect fit for Arsenal. However, Liverpool’s gaffer, Brendan Rodgers, has told Arsenal to @#&$ off, putting it mildly.

So much focus has gone into looking for a striker for Arsenal and everyone has neglected the fact that there are still some key strategic positions that are in dire need of reinforcements. Arsenal’s skipper, Thomas Vermaelen, will be out for three months with a stress fracture in his back, but there has been no talk of a new defender coming in.

Instead, the boss has been busy trying Bacary Sagna and Chuks Aneke in center back positions during the Tour. With age and fatigue slowly creeping in on Mikel Arteta, the Gunners folded their arms as Asier Illarramendi joined Real Madrid. The Guardian reported that the Gunners also had an £18.5 million bid for Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender rejected.

To mitigate any potential loss for Mikel Arteta, the boss continues to try out Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the middle. Optimization at its best.

Arsenal’s first Premier League match against Aston Villa is just a month away but there has been no real transfer activity into the team with the exception of a young injury-prone forward that joined as a free agent. Meanwhile, the Arsenal hierarchy is very busy clearing out its deadwood.

Arsenal fans, even if we continue to hope (in futility), I hate to break it to you but Arsenal don’t look like they will be spending anytime soon, as the manager had clearly stated, and while there is still time left in the window, those big-name signings we’ve been promised look further away than ever. The writing is on the effin’ wall.

This post was originally published on Gooner Daily – you can check out their Facebook page here.