Truthfully, the only way we can compete now is to bring up our own (ramsey, sneezy, wilshere, frimpong and hopefully aneke, ryo and AOC) and hope to buy some cast-offs as soon as the transfer market opens from big clubs or towards the very end. We cannot realistically compete for top players, even top prospects. I was really mad with Wenger/Arsenal. Now I just feel sorry for him and our lot. I wish we'd stop being so delusional and chase the likes of Mata, Lukaku and Hazard. Instead we should try to get reserve players from the likes of Barca, Real Madrid and such. We can win trophies with that if we win most of the small fixtures and then win 30-40% of our bigger ones. In his mind, Arsene still thinks Arsenal are a big club. We are not. Life goes on. I still love the club and always will. Reality bites.
I agree with this account of how we got here and I've been pointing out for years how amazing it is that Wenger has kept the team competitive given how low the club's net transfer spending. However I think the years of being outspent and a change in how other club's look at young players will inevitably catch up with Arsenal at some point...perhaps this season. Wenger's ability to find young players with great potential and then get them to perform well against top teams is amazing. Other clubs have seen how well this worked (in terms of both on field displays and value when the player is sold) and are following his lead by searching the globe like never before and bidding earlier for young players that would normally have learned their trade for a few years before moving to top clubs. This change is seen even when they have the cash to buy top mature talent. This fact combined with the homegrown rules has made the market for young talent much more difficult than it was a decade ago. Prices are up as the selling clubs want more of a return after feeling that they were shortchanged in the past when clubs like Arsenal made huge profits on players bought on the cheap and the number of clubs bidding for top youngsters has risen. Then you have the salary issue where Arsenal can simply not capture these youngsters with out offering them relatively high wages which explains the flat wage structure. The plan of spending little on transfers while paying top wages and offering first team time to young talent has taken the club about as far as it can go. If Arsenal ends up falling a bit in the Prem table this season, I'd see it as a reversion to the mean that one would expect from a club with our level of net transfer spending.
I'll disagree. No well respecting club vying for trophies, especially one that prides itself on a system requiring chemistry and most especially one with so many critical games at the front of the season, should ever allow itself to be negotiating major deals and/or so many deals at the 11th hour. Yes, every negotiation relies on cooperation with the other party, but Arsenal would've been more than fair and correct to say "If you're interested the deadline is August 1. After that we have a season to prep for." Conversely, the team should've been preparing with the same mindset, knowing that the waiting game may sometimes yield great bargains but may also inhibit your options. Since Arsenal came into this silly season with a publicly affirmed list of needs and $ to spend, the clock was ticking on them, as well. To date they've failed to accomplish what they said they wanted, which is not the sign of a truly great club or solid business mind. There's still time and I'm still a believer in Arsene overall, but the club have been bullied this off-season (by players and clubs alike) through both what they've done and what they've failed to do. Simple as.
It's the same old BS. Most of what the article says is true. Most people already know that..however, Arsenal isn't trying to buy players that are not on the billionaire clubs' radars. There are millions of players out there, and there are plenty of players who can improve our team. This summer we'll likely lose five first team players (and that excludes players we have sent on loan like Denilson). So far, we have bought one player old enough to drink in the US and a couple of teenagers. One can't blame that on the billionaires.
Arsenal still are a big club, and arguably among the 10-20 biggest in the game. The problem is there are several clubs that are much wealthier or have wealthier owners, including 3-4 within the Premiership.
Why not move for a 15 mill Kaka?......if theres any late 20's player worth that amount it is a former world player of the year. Plus we have the manager who can help him rediscover his form with alot of gametime & if you looked at his ethic & workrate you know Kaka is always committed to the game.
Agreed. The problem is that for the first time in a while Wenger and company must buy based on real and urgent needs as opposed to desire. I don't think anyone would fault him for breaking form this time so as to preserve the clubs value and status, buying time for his precious youth to evolve, but if he fails to show an ability to react when needs arise then the luster of the club and the manager will fade and the future becomes that much harder.
doesn't kaka costs £40m+? if there is one player to satiate fans, it'd be kaka; he'd be like bergkamp verison 2.
It takes a while to come back from a serious knee injury and he seemed to play well in the pre-season. A guy who doesn't even make the bench has to be cheap. With his work ethic he could well be worth the gamble.
I feel bad for Everton. I have always respected them as a club and admired guys like Cahill and Arteta.
15 million transfer fee he would want 10 million a year+ in wages I think Kaka is going back to AC Milan anyway He is done, that speed he used to have is gone.
The rumor is Kaka would take a wage cut to play for AC Milan oh yeah, Traore has been loaned to QPR. Genuine LOLz now that we have no healthy left back.
Huh? Traore has been loaned out? Thats actually good then. That means that Wenger s definitely buying a left back.
On one hand I don't care as Traore is our worst player and would be more at his level at QPR, but now we need two defensive signings...
well it has to happen within 18 hours as we need to register said player in time to play Saturday. Honestly, I doubt we are signing anyone to start.