Arsenal: Demand of Steven N’Zonzi exposes transfer policy

Arsenal have been linked with Steven N’zonzi for the January transfer window, but the links with N’zonzi tell a frustrating tale about the transfer policy.

The January transfer window couldn’t come soon enough for Arsenal with new staff being introduced. Players are already being linked to the club with one of them being Steven N’zonzi, but the link exposes the linger of the transfer policy.

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In order to communicate my point with this statement, you have to rewind to the summer of 2015 transfer window for a moment. During that window Arsenal only signed Petr Cech for the first team and nobody else. They were linked with Riyad Mahrez in the final days of the window, but fans were fuming at the thought of bringing a player from Leicester City after only spending one season in the top flight.

After the 2015 window, Riyad Mahrez would contribute massively to Leicester’s incredible title win, and Arsenal fans would regret not signing the winger. If only they had got Riyad Mahrez before he scored 17 goals and assisted 11 for Leicester, whilst also racking up the PFA player of the year award.

Maybe the pressure of the fans got to Arsene Wenger when the name Mahrez was linked to the Emirates after what was a frustrating summer transfer window in 2015, ultimately opting to pass on the Algerian.

Fast forward the incredible Leicester season, everyone was calling for Mahrez to be bought for Arsenal, seeing him as the missing link to the team and a replacement for Theo Walcott. Even during the most recent transfer window, calls for a big name signing including Mahrez were evident. It may have been calls of desperation, but calls none the less.

But with the only signing being Alexandre Lacazette after a disastrous season in which the Gunners lost out on a Champions League position, the first time in 20 years, the ambition in the transfer market should have been much greater.

It begs the question of why didn’t Arsenal just go through with the signing? Was it really the pressure of the fans? Meaning the board didn’t go through with the signing to avoid an uproar from fans considering how vocal the Gunner faithful are.

Maybe Mahrez would have done wonders at the Emirates rather than the King Power Stadium, and the North London outfit could have lifted the Premier League trophy. Or who knows, maybe Mahrez could have been the player to salvage our season last year and save us the embarrassment of missing out on the Champions League.

Or was it the indecisiveness of the manager? Whilst Arsene Wenger has signed some absolute quality gems throughout his time as the North London boss, he has also let some quality slip through his fingers with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo just to name a few.

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Too often, Arsenal have been guilty of penny pinching and passing on proven, world-class talent. Many blame the manager for this but blame must also be put towards the transfer committee. Whilst there has been changes internally within the club with the likes of new scouts and football directors coming in, they’re still yet to prove themselves about making a positive change within the club. The January transfer window is a perfect place to start and already we’ve been linked with players such as Leon Goretzka and Steven N’zonzi.

But just like the Riyad Mahrez situation, we were already linked with N’zonzi whilst he was at Stoke City. Again, fans were not pleased at the caliber of the player or the club the player was playing at for that matter.

Now with N’znoni aged 29 and a few good seasons at Sevilla and helping them lift their third consecutive Europa League title, he is deemed a good signing. Again, it raises the question of why didn’t we go for him earlier? Was it the manager, was it the fans, was it the transfer committee or even the player themselves declining a move to Arsenal, that stopped the club from signing him when he was first scouted?

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It’s worth noting I haven’t even mentioned Gonzalo Higuain, Julian Draxler or Karim Benzema. The constant transfer links with these players which resulted in disappointment are more than enough to get my point across about the incompetence of the transfer policy.

I still have hope that Draxler will wear a red and white London outfit soon as he’s still quite young, but why have we been linked for three years with the talented German international without taking any action?

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With the January window weeks away, the Gunners must invest in some quality to avoid another top four miss, and with the title slipping further away after dropping 17 points already, it’s evident that fresh faces are needed to rejuvenate the season.