Arsenal: When does deliberation become dallying?

Arsenal are clearly taking their business slowly and deliberately this summer. But when does that become dallying, lacking direction and purpose, as has riddled the club before?

Arsenal are not known for their proficiency in the transfer market. They are poor sellers, with a number of factors contributing to great talent leaving the club for less than their value, they have wasted money on misguided signings, and a tendency to delay and dally often means they miss out on desired targets.

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While their shortcomings in buying and selling proficiently still persist, the concerns over the club’s tendency to hesitate in completing signings subsided a little last summer, the first without the notoriously cautious Arsene Wenger at the helm.

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Last summer, Arsenal signed five players: Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. Lichtsteiner was the first to arrive, on June 5th. Leno then arrived on June 19th. Sokratis came on July 2nd but a deal was essentially wrapped up in May but could not officially be announced until the start of the new season in July due to financial reasons. Eight days later, deals for Torreira and Guendouzi were completed. By July 10th, their summer business complete.

Contrast that to this summer. It is now June 10th. No player has been bought or sold. Petr Cech and Danny Welbeck were released with the expiration of their contracts, although that was confirmed months prior, and Aaron Ramsey will leave in July when his deal runs out. But other than that, no real business has been done. Nor does it look close.

Now, at this stage, there is no massive reason for concern. Even with the early closure of the transfer window before the start of the season, there is still plenty of time for the club to get business done. The window will be open for two months yet. But that does not mean that questions cannot be asked of the proficiency and efficiency of the processes at London Colney.

And this is an especially pertinent concern given the absence of a head of recruitment. If you could create a scenario in which a professional club was inefficient in the transfer market, it would be the one currently at Arsenal: a small budget, a number of holes to fill, a cobbled together team that have not worked together for long, and all without a leading individual.

As this report by James Benge of Football.London outlines, there are some questions surrounding the management structure at the club without a head of recruitment in place — it is thought that Edu will take over the role after the Copa America in July. And that is unquestionably concerning. I understand that Arsenal want to be deliberate, considered and sure, but at some point, this will lead to delay and dallying.

The club has not yet reached that point. As mentioned, there is still plenty of time and patience, in the murky transfer waters, is always essential. But given the history of the club, you must forgive me for getting a little worried about the lack of activity. When does deliberation become dallying? Not just yet, but it’s not that far off.