Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac Shows Rarely Seen Ruthless Arsene Wenger

Arsenal scuppered in and filched Sead Kolasinac from under the noses of Everton and AC Milan. Has Wenger always been this ruthless?

Arsenal has had their fair collection of world class superstars, but they have had even more high-profile “just misses.” From Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the list goes on and on. So many of the best in the world could have been Gunner greats if Arsene Wenger would have just gone for it.

The Ronaldo story is the most telling. Right when it seemed like Wenger was on cruise control to land him, Sir Alex Ferguson plucked him out from under our nose and just like that, the opportunity was missed.

Wenger has never been consistently ruthless. Very rarely does he go gung-ho into a transfer, fight off everyone and refuse to be put down. In recent history, the only transfers that stand out as ‘ruthless’ on Wenger’s part are Krystian Bielik and Granit Xhaka.

With Bielik, he was denied twice before finally agreeing to a deal. With Xhaka, he monitored him for a year, whispered sweet somethings in his ear, promised him paradise and signed him up.

That Arsene Wenger is capable of anything. He can win over anyone because he knows the game and he knows what people want. And because people know him and his dedication to the player.

But then you get the Wenger that dallies on Ronaldo, doesn’t show enough interest in N’Golo Kante and can’t provide enough accommodations for Lionel Messi.

Sead Kolasinac, if the deal gets confirmed, is a return to form for ruthless Wenger. The Bosnian left back hadn’t even had a peep in the Arsenal transfer corner. Everton and AC Milan were both closing in on his signature when Wenger, from literally nowhere, swooped in and snatched him up.

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Again, pending the deal being officially announced.

That is the Arsene Wenger that can make a difference this summer and prove that he can change, and that he can learn and that he can adjust to the modern game. You can’t wait for someone to come to you.

There are going to be plenty of other options for Wenger to show how ruthless he can be. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may cost £100m or more. Wenger would never want to pay that. Ever. But ruthless Wenger should already be in conversation.

Alexandre Lacazette‘s price tag is all over the place because Lyon are tricky buggers. Ruthless Wenger can’t be deterred by that.

Petr Cech and David Ospina have both been skeptical this year. Time to put the pressure on them with a young stud like Alban LaFont. Ruthless Wenger put the pressure (and arguably dropped the ax) on Nacho Monreal and/or Kieran Gibbs.

Next: Arsenal's Potential Starting XI Under Leonardo Jardim

You can’t spare anyone’s feelings if you want real change. And Kolasinac is an excellent example of that.

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