Arsenal and Alexis Claude-Maurice: This is how to ‘outsmart the market’

Alexis Claude-Maurice is being heavily linked with an £18 million to Arsenal. If there is a way to ‘outsmart the market’, as Raul Sanllehi put it, this is it.

The modern transfer market is crazy. The fees that clubs can now afford — and thereby demand when selling — are astronomical. Teams have never been more eager to search out young talent and profit from it, either financially or from a footballing perspective. There is a greater obsession with transfers than there has ever been.

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Mastery of the transfer market is how teams like Liverpool and Spurs have risen to the top. Selling high, scouting expertly, and developing untouched talent. It is something that Arsenal are yet to learn.

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However, the first step to solving a problem is admitting that there is one. And in a recent, wide-ranging interview in which almost every aspect of the club was discussed, although in a very kind and comfortable context, Arsenal’s head of football Raul Sanllehi admitted as much, stating what could well be an ominous line: ‘outsmart the market’.

He is right in his assessment. That is what Arsenal must do to make up their lost ground in the Premier League. But saying what you must do and then achieving it are two very different things, and Sanllehi has yet to prove that he has the nous and skill to actually ‘outsmart the market’.

That said, one reported target of their summer spending does show at least some recognition of the need to zig when everyone else is zagging. The Gunners are rumoured to be closing in on an £18 million move for 18-year-old winger Alexis Claude-Maurice.

Of the young Frenchman, speaking with Football.London, Jeremie Alliadiere had this to say regarding his qualities and the potential wisdom of the transfer:

"“For the money that we talk about I think he’ll make it. It’s about taking a gamble now when other teams aren’t prepared to. The market has gone so crazy in the last few years. If you want a top level international it’s nothing cheaper than £40m. If they’ve only got £45m to spend you’ve got to shop differently, go a bit younger and sign players from second divisions. He’s a good player and has really good qualities.”"

Alliadiere hits on what Sanllehi is referring to when he talks about beating the transfer market in ways that are different to simply ploughing insane amounts of cash into it, something that Arsenal could never do.

The logic is simple, and smart: rather than pay the big bucks for the already established stars, dig a little deeper and scout the lesser known places, like Lorient of Ligue 2, where an 18-year-old winger scored 14 goals and provided four assists in 35 league matches. And then pursue that winger with the hope that he can turn into those established stars that are now out of a realistic price range.

Will it come off? No one really knows. Developing young players is extremely difficult. But if there is a way to outsmart the egregious modern market, this it.