Arsenal: Henrikh Mkhitaryan was meant to be the beginning, not the end

Arsenal have solved a massive stress factor by swapping Alexis Sanchez for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but that was supposed to be the start, not the end.

There has not been a time in the past decade where Arsenal had any less than two glaring problems. Finances, attack, defense, midfield, depth, youth, the list goes on. There has always been something wrong. Even in moments of hitting the reset, where the club essentially starts anew with some new signings, it’s always just short of what’s actually needed.

This January, it looked like everything was going to fall into place. There were three main objectives that needed to happen. First of all, Alexis Sanchez had to go, and in return, there needed to be someone capable of filling that hole.

Then, Jack Wilshere had to get a new contract, as did Mesut Ozil. These are guys you can build a team around, and penny-pinching on their deals doesn’t make any sense.

That was what needed to happen. If you want to dig deeper, you can absolutely say that the Gunners still needed one more thing. A big signing to sort of energize the club after a lackluster season.

Up came Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Energy incarnate, he would have been that all important final step that Arsene Wenger always seems so opposed to taking.

Step one was completed. And we should all be thrilled with the outcome. I am absolutely giddy to see Henrikh Mkhitaryan in action. I imagine we will beat Swansea 7-1 with Mkhitaryan notching three assists. It’s going to be huge.

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But Mkhitaryan was supposed to be the beginning. Since that beginning, everything else has gone sour. Aubameyang’s negotiations are taking forever. While we don’t know what is actually happening behind the scenes, it wouldn’t be the first time that the Gunners try to lower the asking price. Just ask Lyon.

Then, Wenger spoke out about not overpaying wages. This was, supposedly, directed at Ozil, who wants and deserves a big pay raise if he is willing to stick with the club in their time of trouble. He has found solid footing here and both can benefit from the other, but that doesn’t mean that he should be forced to stay on goodwill alone.

And the most inexplicable of all is Jack Wilshere. The born-Arsenal lad still doesn’t have a new deal despite gushing over how his life dream was to captain this side to glory.

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There are five days left in January. The contracts don’t have to be done by then, but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be. Aubameyang does have to be done, though. I would hate to see such a promising January turn into a bitpart transfer window. It started so promising and while it still is exciting, the start should not double as the finish.

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