Arsenal: Forget the big transfer names; make them big

Arsenal fans are expecting big things this summer transfer window but that doesn’t mean they have to be big names. We can make them big names.

Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I find much more satisfaction when Arsenal finds a relative unknown player and he turns out to be special, then when they fork out big money for a well-known player and he keeps on being remarkable.

For instance, Matteo Guendouzi gets me far more excited than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Maybe it’s my mind conditioning itself to the ongoing transfer policy of the club, maybe it’s my love of what sets the Gunners apart from the Manchester clubs. I love the thrill of building big names rather than buying them.

Going into this summer, we may be in store for a hurricane of changes, and in the gaps left behind, there are names being linked – names like Samuel Umtiti, Matthijs De Ligt, David Alaba, Ousmane Dembele. Guys that are going to cost a small fortune and fill in one slot on the team.

I would love to have any one of those players. Who wouldn’t? But with the objective of realism in mind, it’s best that we just put aside these big name guys, maybe expect one at most, and focus instead on the ability of this team to turn up small names and make them big.

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Think about last summer. Arsenal had a big job to do with their summer signings, yet they didn’t spend more than £25m on any one signing. They trusted in the history of Bernd Leno and Sokratis and in the future of Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira, and they ignored that none of these four guys was going to be a groundbreaking from the off. No one was going to drive our imaginations wild with delusions of grandeur.

Torreira was the most high-profile, and that was mostly caused by the World Cup. All in all, these were small name signings that, in turn, have made the transition to being big names.

Sokratis has been a miracle on the defense, Leno has found his younger form, and both Guendouzi and Torreira are now two of the most exciting young midfielders in the league. All uncovered by superior scouting while rival clubs were forking out £50m for established names. Sure, there is more risk in the Arsenal way, but the reward is bigger. You’re building players that have a loyalty to the club that will always outweigh a loyalty to wages.

So when names like Joan Jordan or Franck Kessie get linked to the club, don’t get disappointed, get excited for another Guendouzi.