It’s all on the line for Arsene Wenger
Panic.
Sheer abject panic. That is the only way I can describe the general tenor of the social media discussions around Arsenal right now.
This summer was supposed to be different. We were flush with cash we were told. New improved commercial deals, manageable debt, and other factors led to a record war chest being made available for the club to improve it’s squad.
Well, it’s July 22nd and it won’t be long before pitch forks and bonfires appear outside the Emirates based on our activities thus far. With addition by subtraction – the removal of 20 reserve and “deadwood” players and only the signing (on a free) of promising youngster Yaya Sanogo confirmed, Arsenal supporters are wondering if it is just going to be a case of more of the same.
Arsenal sure have been linked to a lot of players. Before the summer got underway Stevan Jovetic was strongly linked and it was pending on Arsenal’s ability to secure a top 4 spot. Well, with top 4 secured it never happened with Arsenal reportedly souring on the deal that Fiorentina wanted and the fact the JoJo really wanted a move to Juventus. However, La Viola were never going to let him go to Juve and Juve in turn signed Carlos Tevez. This left JoJo still available and perplexingly a player we wanted sat and languished until last week he was signed by Manchester City.
After the links to Jovetic went cold, Arsenal were linked with Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain. Stories coming from sources in Argentina and Spain strongly hinted that Madrid and Arsenal had agreed to a fee of £23 million and the players father even went so far as to say the player and Arsenal had agreed to personal terms. So what happened? Well, not so fast. Reports are that Madrid moved the goal posts on the deal. Madrid looking to fund a move for (depending on who you believe) either Luis Suarez or Gareth Bale (my money is on Bale) and they want to get as much money from other deals to fund it. Don’t ask me why but it does look like both Spanish giants are trying to fund moves with sales these days as the Spanish financial turmoil embroils them as well.
So Higuain got off track and then back on track and then Real Madrid flirted with Napoli. It looks like Madrid and Napoli agreed to a transfer fee but Napoli and the player haven’t agreed terms. And that’s likely to be a stumbling block there. Napoli wants to own 100% of Higuain’s image rights. Madrid allows its players to own percentages of their rights to offset salaries. In this case Higuain owns 50% of his. He would stand to lose a huge chunk of revenue – especially out of his native Argentina if he did. Additionally, I personally think that Madrid are only talking with Napoli in an attempt to get Arsenal to move. Madrid know the players preference is Arsenal. Terms agreed and all that. This one is far from done.
Then there is Suarez. Ian Ayre confirmed Arsenal’s opening bid for the player. It was rejected. Rumours are that Arsenal are set to increase their bid to £40 million. Today’s Liverpool Echo Rumour Mill suggests that Liverpool could accept that.
While that seems hard to believe, consider this – Liverpool need to fund their renovations to Anfield. They’d likely have to do it with a mix of public and private funds. Additionally, they have their own transfer dealings to do and the ones they’ve done haven’t sent the Scousers proclaiming the second coming of Liverpool FC. £40 million does reportedly give Suarez the right to discuss terms with Arsenal. Doesn’t mean Liverpool have to accept it but considering he’s stated his desire to leave, he is suspended for about 6 games and the financial need of Liverpool its not hard to fathom their selling.
There are other deals lurking out there as well, Cesar, Williams and Bernard. But “lurking” is the key word in this sentence. Actually “lurking” could work for all the deals because none of them are complete.
And that’s where all the panic comes in. Now, forget for a moment that going from Arsenal’s previous thrift-store minded approach to the transfer market to shopping at Tiffanys takes a big mental jump in how you approach it – the turtlelike pace to our dealings is killing us all.
It’s make or break time. It’s nice we’re “in” for these players but a failure to bring any of them in will likely mean the frustration that grew last season will explode this season. There won’t be any wiggle room to say we tried. If signings aren’t had then all bets are off as to whether or not there will be enough good will for supporters to want Wenger to remain.
Surely, he has enough support for people to wait out until August 31 (actually Sept 2 this year) but if he doesn’t move and move substantially then it’s open season.
Why Wenger seems to hesitate is a mystery. But my whole thought is that when you spend £6-£15 million on a player and they wind up a wash its surely is met with some angst but if you fork out £25 million or more on a player and they wash up, it’s a more noticeable mistake. Look at City’s initial signings. Specifically look at Adebayor who was signed for £25 million and proved to NOT be worth every cent of it.
I do get that mentality. When you are in control and out there the last thing you want is to be proven wrong especially on such a big investment. But the targets we’re linked with aren’t of the Adebayor variety and in my opinion they are less risky than the ilk of our former striker.
The fact is Wenger has to weigh the fear of making a poor investment on making none at all. Do the pitfalls of one outweigh the pitfalls of the other That’s a decision the manager has to make.
Now some will be quick to point out the board’s role in all this. Regular readers of this blog will know that I am an ardent critic of the board and their policies, some of which have substantially crippled this club despite its modicum of success. However, when club CEO Ivan Gazidis informed the press, supporters and rest of the footballing world that Arsenal were prepared to spend and that they could now afford to go after some of the bigger names in the game.
While it was announced to a broad audience the message was intended for one person only – the manager himself. It seems at least to me that the board were no longer going bear the brunt of criticism around improving the squad. This message was intended to tell everyone – if we don’t spend – it’s because of one man.
Rightly or wrongly and whether you accept that analysis or not, Wenger is at a critical juncture and everyone is waiting to see what he does. With changes all around him there is a real opportunity for Arsenal to make substantial headway in being a force in English football again – if he only makes a few additions to the squad.
His core – the team that saw us through the end of the season is good. It’s solid and statements that we lack a spine are a gross misunderstanding of where the club are now. They are primed. The players are primed and ready to make a challenge. The general positivity and desire to build off of last season is an outward signal to the manager – let’s do this. Arsene has to meet their positivity with firm, positive action of his own. If he doesn’t he not only loses the fans but he runs the risk of losing his players.
It’s all on the line, he has to do something and soon.
