Arsenal: Is any Ousmane Dembele “blow” really a “blow?”

Arsenal are supposedly flirting with Ousmane Dembele, but a “blow” has been reported, which begs the question, is there any such thing?

Arsenal need wingers more than anything else. Mainly because they currently have none, yet they are proving through use of their wingbacks that most of their attacking consistency can be found out wide. Plus it provides the perfect compliment to a stacked central midfield.

But again, they have none. Alex Iwobi is masquerading as a winger, but we all know he really wants to play in the No. 10 role. Plus he cuts inside too much and doesn’t cross well enough to be a true winger.

Reiss Nelson counts. That’ll come next season, but in the meantime, we are linked to the likes of Nicolas Pepe and Ousmane Dembele for a reason.

The latter, a long-time friend of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and thus also boasting a connection to Mkhitaryan and Sokratis (and Mislintat), always seemed like a likely candidate to be linked to the Emirates, but his price tag, which would tickle £100m, was nothing short of impossible.

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Literally impossible. There is no way around an exorbitant price tag. You can’t just negotiate that he be sold for half the price just to make him happy. Barcelona would never go for that.

Now, there has been another “blow” to the rumor, as Dembele is being reported as “completely committed to the team.”

Which makes me ask the question – is there any such thing as a “blow” to the Dembele transfer rumors?

Even the most optimistic of Gooners (me) will tell you that deep down, we know we aren’t going to get Dembele. Not with Kroenke in charge of the wallet. And frankly, while we need a winger, we don’t need one so much that £100m would be justified. Not when you think how much Mislintat can do with that amount of money, and what kind of talent he could uncover.

Nicolas Pepe is available for less than half that amount, and that man can’t stop scoring. He’s on top of his game.

The point is, you can’t suffer a blow to a rumor that was never going to happen. Dembele costs too much money, that’s all that needs to be said. End of story.

But of course, it won’t be. Plenty of “breakthroughs” and “blows” will still be reported as long as Dembele is underperforming at Barcelona, and even long after that.