Arsenal's organised transfer strategy looks better and better by the day, especially when compared with Manchester United's scattergun approach.
The Gunners had the bulk of their main incomings completed during pre-season, allowing Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to effectively gel before the league season started, and it paid off. The Gunners' 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace couldn't have been further away from Erik ten Hag's horror start to life in England as he watched his side splutter to a 2-1 defeat to Brighton.
Although Arsenal will have set their attentions on much bigger tasks than finishing above the Red Devils this season, they were 11 points ahead last term and have only increased the quality gap heading into this campaign, fans would be forgiven a brief look over their shoulder and a little laugh at the state of the Manchester club.
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As both clubs set about a rebuild in the mid-2010s, Arsenal slowly backed a longer-term approach, choosing to promote talented young players into their set-up and falling strongly behind a young coach in Mikel Arteta, meanwhile United held no vision, jumping from manager to manager without stability.
Just two seasons on from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finishing second in the league in 2020/21, the chasm between Arsenal and their old rivals is huge, and the transfer woes of United only continue to indicate that.
With Frenkie de Jong preferring a move to London and Chelsea, if he is to move at all, despite ten Hag having an agreed deal for him over 90 days ago, the ensuing chase for an extra midfielder has been startling. Losing Paul Pogba on a free transfer was embarrassing enough, though necessary, but there will have been scoffs from Arsenal fans as they see United bid for Adrien Rabiot out of desperation, and now the Red Devils are after a former Gunner.
The Mirror are reporting that Matteo Guendouzi is a target for United and could be near the top of the current list. The talented French midfielder was sold this summer after spending one season on loan in Germany, and the brutal nature of Arteta is juxtaposed by the willing nature of United to bring on-board a player that consistently causes trouble.
Despite a brilliant breakthrough season at the Emirates in 2018/19, Arteta and the now 23-year-old had a serious personality clash with the six-time France international not adhering to his manager's disciplinary code. Now, just months after leaving the Emirates, Man United want to bring him back to England.
The talent is clearly there, he ranks as one of the best ball progressors in the game from midfield and at 23 there is still plenty to be worked on, but given one young manager made the decision to cut him from a squad that needed stability and everyone on board and one other young manager is being pushed towards said player, it expresses the distance that has come between Arsenal and Manchester United, whether a move is possible or could work out is irrelevant, the principles still remain.
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