Arsenal’s Transfer Policy Raising Some Sticky Questions

Arsenal has one of the best manager’s in the world in Arsene Wenger, but the Frenchman’s transfer policy has shackled the club for too long.

I try not to find myself sequestered deeply into one camp or the other. I don’t let the rantings and ravings of the #Wengerout club steer my thinking. Likewise I don’t believe allow myself to be as naive as some gooners who draw attention to successes enjoyed when I was in middle school either.

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At the end of the day the truth lies some where in the middle. Not too far left or too far right, but somewhere in between those extremes exists the true state of Arsenal Football Club.

Arsene Wenger has proven to be a superb judge of talent. The case can be made that Wenger has made the best signings of the season two years in a row now. Alexis was undoubtedly the best signing last season, and Petr Cech may very well be the best signing of this season. Although it took him some time, Mesut Ozil has proven to be worth every penny of his transfer fee, and the Gunners are seeing those dividends now.

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Gabriel Paulista was a great signing as well. The Brazilian has been a very important acquisition. Although too much credit can not be given to Wenger for signing a center half, when in fact the team needed a center half.

Calum Chambers is a talented youngster and Danny Welbeck will play a big role in the coming months. The latter’s value will truly be revealed soon. Although players like Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin and Joel Campbell are not necessarily new signings, their forays into the first team have been welcome sights. Wenger should get credit for identifying them as talented players and keeping them around in the first place.

All that being said. Arsenal’s transfer policy must be revamped as soon as possible. Wenger seems to live in a world of romanticism. A world where players stay healthy, promising youngsters pan out and free flowing football always reigns supreme. That is a beautiful world. A world that does not revolve around money or cheap tactics. However that is not the world that we live in.

We live in a world of man marking. We live in a world of extraordinary transfer fees. We live in a world of modern football. Our reality is not always what we want. The manager needs to realize this.

Two more signings in the summer, bringing Arsenal’s total to a modest three, would have been enough to equip the Gunners for a run away season. One forward, a player who could play wide and perhaps even play up front, to go along with a strong midfielder and Arsenal would be in a much different position.

I’m not even talking about world class players like everyone else seems to be clamoring for. Arsenal don’t need world class players at the moment, just footballers who can come in and maintain the level of excellence the team already sets forth.

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Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta are not good enough. Mohammed Elnenny, bless his heart, is not a holding midfielder.  He seems like an honest player who will run himself into the ground for Arsenal, but if he is not good enough to unseat Flamini what exactly was the point of signing him?

I love Francis Coquelin and what he has done for Arsenal. However the feisty Frenchman is not exactly Sergio Busquets. How could the manager simply hand the keys to a player who was on loan at Charlton a year ago?

Even if, by some miracle of science, Coquelin was able to play every single game for the Gunners this season, would he not need a rest at some point? Would he not need competition more qualified than Mathieu Flamini? The questions continue to mount, and the answers are becoming hard to ignore.

With the new TV deal that is set to take over in England next season, there will be more clubs like Leicester City looking to use those huge funds to make big moves towards the top of the table. The competition in the Premier League will only thicken, and Arsenal’s outdated policy of hoarding money will only be less effective.

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If the manger refuses to buy the players needed to strengthen the squad, with the vast amounts of wealth available to the club, I will have to believe that there is simply something more sinister going on behind the scenes at the club I love.