Arsenal: Dennis Praet, Joachim Andersen now becoming a statement

Arsenal have had another bid rejected for Sampdoria duo Joachim Andersen and Dennis Praet, which graduates them into a statement that needs to be made.

As soon as the transfer window opened, Unai Emery and the Arsenal transfer folks sprinted for Sampdoria. They did not pass go, they did not collect $200 (though that might have helped), they just went straight there and set up shop outside of the Joachim Andersen and Dennis Praet rumor wagon.

As Arsenal fans, we aren’t accustomed to rumors of “improved bids,” as that was something Arsene Wenger didn’t do. Arsene Wenger paid Arsene Wenger’s price and if the other side of the deal didn’t like that, then Arsene Wenger would rather have nothing.

But with the new transfer brain at the club, they clearly have no qualms getting into a bit of a bidding war, and, as mentioned, the gusto that they went after Andersen and Praet made it seem like they were dead set on these two becoming a solution.

I already talked a bit about how, at this point, £6m can’t be the difference maker. If these guys are solutions, then we should get them. It’s not like they’re asking for another £25m.

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It goes beyond that though. I don’t really count last summer as Unai Emery’s first in charge, because he hadn’t the chance to get a feel for the team yet. This is something that every manager needs. They have to understand their team before they set about fixing it.

This summer, though, is that summer, and Emery has to be able to enact the fixes that he sees as necessary.

The way that we went after this Sampdoria duo leads me to believe that Unai Emery had them on the top of his priority list. It’s easy to see why. Andersen alone is a tremendous asset, but factor in Praet as well and we’ve got a double deal that double-teams some issues here at our own club.

The people in charge of transfers here at the club have to stand by the wishes of Unai Emery. They have to land these two, and if it’s Emery that’s in charge, then he has to stand by it too.

Wenger used to do this, he’d go after a player and then back off. Emery is not backing off. But they’re so deep on these two players that now they kind of have to get them or we’ll all be left knowing that we didn’t get our top priority.