Arsenal: Arsene Wenger finally broke out the rain for Aubameyang parade

Arsenal have been inspiring remarkable confidence in the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang theater, but it was only a matter of time before Arsene Wenger brought the rain.

Arsenal are not known for their crispness and clearness when it comes to the transfer window. When they are linked with players, everyone casts a skeptical eye until he’s holding the shirt on the team site. Or, as my dad likes to say, until Wenger is having a glass of wine with the guy in question, it isn’t happening.

As such, it’s been oddly smooth this January, as Henrikh Mkhitaryan was brought in fairly painlessly and the links to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have been nothing but encouraging. Even from Arsene Wenger, who acknowledged that talks were being held.

Granted, the typical Arsenal under-bidding was still being reported, but if that is the only thing going wrong, then it’s going great.

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It was only a matter of time before Arsene Wenger brought the rain to the parade. The piss-filled balloons to the water balloon fight. In typical “I don’t want them to get their hopes up” fashion, Wenger took the win against Chelsea and the corresponding advancement to the Carabao Cup final as the perfect time to remind fans that we don’t actually need Aubameyang.

"“I think if something happens it happens, if it doesn’t happen then we are strong enough to focus on the players we have and focus on the job with the players we have. I am perfectly happy with the players I have. We got Mkhitaryan in and I have a strong squad.”More from Pain in the Arsenal3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victoryArsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison ParkMikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win"

That is what he had to say in the post-match press conference (as quoted by Goal.com).

But there is one big problem that he is forgetting, and that he always seems to forget. Yes, he brought in Mkhitaryan, but he lost Alexis. That puts the club right back on level footing with where they were as they floundered at the beginning of the year.

Sure, it’s a perfectly strong squad on paper. The same kind of strong that it’s been the past few years. But if you really, really want to push the club over the top and inject them with more strength then they’ve had in a damn decade, you need Aubameyang.

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Wenger is a trickster, so there’s always a distinct possibility that he was just throwing us off the scent. He loves to do that (“I don’t know who Santi Cazorla is”). But can’t we just have one transfer window where there is nothing but positive excitement or is that too much to ask?