The summers aren’t getting any easier for Arsenal fans as Arsene Wenger continues to frustrate and worry with a lack of incoming transfer activity.
Every player pursuit so far—be it Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain or Liverpool’s Luis Suarez—has been messy, incoherent and riddled with mixed messages.
One day the Gunners are preparing for a Higuain medical, the next he’s flying to Naples to sign for the Partenopei.
Arsenal are drip-feeding feel-good messages to the fans to keep them at bay, with Olivier Giroud the latest to suggest the team will be stronger next season regardless of summer signings.
But taking into account the fact that the new season is just three weeks away and the preseason tour of Asia—where the squad would be expected to bond and welcome new faces—is over, the utter lack of movement is astonishingly poor.
Progress?
The best that can be said is that it’s no worse than last year, and at least the club are attempting to haul in big-name targets: Higuain was supposedly set for a move worth £25 million, while the latest bid of £40,000,001 for Suarez has been rejected by the Anfield club.
The Higuain deal was particularly painful for the fans, as for long periods it seemed an inevitability that he would hold the Arsenal shirt aloft with a beaming smile on his face.
But Real Madrid are one of the toughest negotiators in world football, and upon hearing that Edinson Cavani had left Napoli for €63 million, bumped the price up and offered their man to the Italian club for £35 million.
Rafa Benitez bit the bullet and signed him, leaving Wenger’s pursuit fruitless after weeks and weeks of work.
Undeterred from a challenge, the Gunners have now launched an astronomical bid to lure Uruguayan striker Suarez to the Emirates despite Liverpool’s insistence that he will not leave.
Again, it’s another deal which will require hard work, patience and an enormous amount of understanding from the fans.
Bullish comments were made by the club’s hierarchy at the start of the season regarding transfers, with both Ivan Gazidis and Wenger suggesting the club can afford Wayne Rooney if they so choose to buy him.
Perhaps those comments have worked against them in negotiations, with clubs aware of their financial clout and demanding more for their players.
A third high-profile chase, this time for Atletico Mineiro midfielder Bernard, has also seemingly ended in failure, with ESPN confirming then Brazilian trickster will join either Shakhtar Donetsk or FC Porto.
Silver Linings?
The only confirmed signing so far is striking starlet Yaya Sanogo, who stands an excellent prospect but nothing more.
Avoid injuries and he becomes a star, with his size, skill and mental capacity well beyond many at his age. His history has been plagued with ailments—so much so he considered quitting to work in his mother’s post office—and that’s a storyline uncomfortably familiar with the Arsenal faithful.
On the other side of the coin, none of the Gunners’ current stars are under the microscope. Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie have been big departures over the past two seasons, but there’s been nothing to suggest star players Laurent Koscielny, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla are going anywhere soon.
The Gunners finished the 2012-13 season in elite form, winning eight and drawing two of their final 10 games to pip Tottenham Hotspur to fourth place in the Premier League table.
It’s arguable the squad gelled, found a rhythm and will continue where they left off last season come opening day against Aston Villa.
The Bottom Line
Whether this squad, as it stands, could hit the ground running and replicate last season’s form is unimportant.
As far as the fans are concerned, they were primed for a massive summer and they’ve been let down; In the time Manchester City have spent close to €100 million, the Gunners have parted with absolutely nothing.
Wenger has admitted he’d prefer to avoid situations like the 2011 deadline day splurge (where the club captured the legendary Andre Santos), but is fast-headed for a similar situation at this rate.
