Arsenal and Angel di Maria: It’s just getting silly now

With Alexis Sanchez likely to leave, names of a possible replacement for Arsenal are beginning to spring up out of anywhere and everywhere. The latest is Angel di Maria. It’s all getting a little silly now.

To say that the transfer rumour mill is a considered, careful and reserved entity would be to belie the truth. It is not. It is a wild and unruly process; it conjures up uncertainty and mistruths. It provides hope to the hopeless, praying on their desperation for the necessity of racking up the page views.

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And, I, as a member of the footballing media and blogosphere, am as guilty as any for partaking in it. I, like all else, get excited for little reason, pour fuel on the fire, look with rose-tinted, misguided optimism, only feeding the monster that it is. But it may have shifted gear a little on Saturday.

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Arsenal, in being a club that is criminally hesitant in the window, only driving the yearning of the fans for significant and refreshing investment, is often a key topic of conversation for the tabloids. They are an easy club to pick on; their fans, including me, are easy to exploit. And so comes the latest fiction: Paris Saint-Germain’s underused, understated, unwanted Angel di Maria.

The tale, to an extent, makes sense. Alexis Sanchez is seemingly nearing an exit, with the trajectory of the narrative steaming towards a Manchester-shaped destination in the coming days and weeks, and Arsene Wenger, having promised to find ‘top quality’ players to fill the void, will need to find a replacement. Few come more experienced, established, and talented than di Maria.

But that does not mean that it is a likely, probable event. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Consider, firstly, the type of player that Wenger, and Arsenal, subsequently, tend to target and acquire.

Most importantly, they are young. Even Sanchez and Mesut Ozil were yet to reach their peak before they were signed. Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Alexandre Lacazette, the only other players who have all been signed for more than £20 million in the club’s history, were all 26 or younger when they were brought to the club. Di Maria, in contrast, is 29. By the end of the season, he will be 30.

More than that, though, Wenger prioritises character, the harmony of the dressing room, the motivations of the player, the attitude that the individual has and the influence that will be exerted on those already at the club. These are all problems that have been levelled at di Maria, rightly or wrongly, throughout his career. He is high profile; he brings an entourage of drama. He does not fit the personality of a Wenger signing.

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For those reasons, I struggle greatly to see how accurate these reports are. Ultimately, only time will tell. But, for now, I can only deem them as silly.