Pain in the Arsenal
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English Premier League failings cause for Arsenal’s silent transfer window?

By Josh Sippie

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The English Premier League used to be the most revered league in the world. It still has the most competition from top to bottom, but the allure of the Premier League for world class players pales when compared to the glories of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus or Bayern Munich.

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After all, it takes a special kind of player to go a league just to face stiffer competition. Why not just go a club that is established as one of the best in the world, has a 50% chance of winning titles and has a cake walk into the UEFA Champion’s League? And besides, nothing is more of a testament to a player’s worth than being offered a role on Real Madrid. Not only are you suiting up with some of the best athletes in the world, which will in turn make you look better, but there is essentially no higher you can climb.

Not only that, but with Major League Soccer growing in the United States, players are seeing America as a new frontier to conquer.

Last year no English team made it out of the Round of 16 in either the Champion’s League or the Europa League. The year before, it was an all-Spanish final in the Champion’s League. Since the year 2000, only three English teams have won the Champion’s League.

When it comes to luring foreign players to England, it is all about European presence. That is, unless you find that special kind of player, or if the player is a Premier League guy already. Look at most of the major signings thus far in the Premier League. Manchester City got Raheem Sterling. Manchester United got Morgan Schneiderlin. Christian Benteke went to Liverpool. Petr Cech came to Arsenal. What do all of these moves have in common? All inter-league moves.

Luring players from other counties is hard to do because the Premier League is not as prestigious as it once was. The league does not have the same draw as it used to. They have been falling so much that before too much longer, the EPL may lose out on its fourth Champion’s League spot to Serie A (insert clever joke about Arsenal always finishing fourth).

Arsenal may be feeling the strain of the countries steady decline, as finding the right signing has been near impossible. A large portion of that has to come down to not being able to lure players in. Geoffrey Kondogbia had a choice but he chose Inter over Arsenal, saying “I could not say no to a team like Inter.”

You might say that it is Arsenal’s ‘failings’ that are keeping the signings away, but it is a common trend around the Premier League these last couple years, not just in North London. Big name guys do not see England as the top of the food chain. They prefer Italy, Germany or Spain.

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Luckily for Arsenal, we have Arsene Wenger. Alexis and Mesut Ozil are major exceptions to these rules. While the Premier League was in the midst of its decline, they chose Arsenal solely to learn and play under Arsene Wenger. That is a big deal. Without Wenger, those deals do not get made. Plus, Alexis is one of those rare cases of human being that will go to where the competition is the stiffest. Ozil too, sought that.

But this transfer window has again shown us that without the perfect individual, like Alexis or Ozil that seeks the highest all-around competition, transfers cannot be made as easily anymore. You can see the same at Manchester United. If there was a world class striker that was remotely available, they would have signed him by now. But they have not. Not because they are not trying but because it just is not an easy task.

Arsene Wenger is a major allure, however, and one of the few things Arsenal has going for it these days. So lets hope he can work some magic.

Next: Why no DM is in sight

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