It is understandable that frustration would be the key emotion when following some of Arsenal’s transfer stories throughout the summer. The club have been given the tag of ‘penny pinchers’ in the past for a reason, although with the exit of Arsene Wenger it was felt the stigma might move on with it.
That said, the description that is often still levelled at Arsenal has made a return this summer in the deals for both Raphinha and Lisandro Martinez. The former has already been abandoned by the club it appears after Chelsea raised the offer to a figure the club were seemingly unwilling to match.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have had three bids submitted for Martinez and are now in direct competition with Manchester United for the Argentine’s signature. Both these two processes have led to growing frustration at Arsenal’s resistance to paying the asking price.
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In short, this is not unusual nor naïve of the club. Going into the summer there were plenty of areas needing investment. Striker, wide forward, central midfield, defensive midfield, left-back, centre-half and goalkeeper.
Much of these have been brought about by three factors. The necessity to upgrade on existing options at the club, especially in the centre-forward and central midfield roles.
Secondly is the increase in the number of competitions with a return to the Europa League plus the change to five substitutions now being available in the Premier League. Reinforcing and upgrading the squad is important for Arsenal to fight across them all successfully.
Lastly are the outgoings. Players like Nicolas Pepe, Bernd Leno, Pablo Mari, Nuno Tavares and Alexandre Lacazette, the latter of whom has already left on a free transfer, whose futures dictated a potential departure this summer would force the club into action.
There will be a budget and despite talks of transfer war chests and Mikel Arteta’s transfer kitty of £xm amount, ultimately the club keep things very well guarded regarding how much they have to spend. Why publicise it and give your negotiating opponents an edge? It would make no sense to do that.
There will be a budget and with so many areas of need, it is understandable therefore that the valuation Arsenal have for players will not be wildly flexible in negotiations. Edu will be tasked with bringing in players for the best price so as to not compromise other areas of need.
However, with all that said there are some players, such as Martinez, that will be critical to the club and it may be worth pushing our valuation above what we were originally willing to pay. Missing out on someone such as the Argentine could have a greater impact on the club’s plans with them then needing more than one player to cover multiple areas that he can do alone.
According to the latest reports Arsenal’s last bid of £34m is still being mulled over by Ajax. Although Manchester United’s potential offer is expected to be one of the reasons behind the prolonged decision process.
The deadline for the window may be at the start of September however it has been necessary for the club to bring their business forward. Ensuring the priority positions are filled before the campaign begins.
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