Arsenal: The one sensible reason for transfer inactivity

The summer transfer window has been open for a month and Arsenal are yet to officially make a signing or sale. Here is one sensible reason for the transfer inactivity.

One of the main positives about Arsenal’s transfer business last summer was their efficiency. By the first week in July, they had signed five players, all of the incoming recruits that they would make that summer, and left them with the freedom to make decisions regarding potential sales as Unai Emery settled into his new role.

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The patience in selling stemmed from Emery’s desire to want to work with the players before he made decisions on which to keep and which to sell. Players like Reiss Nelson and Calum Chambers were only loaned out late in the window. There was not a sale made until mid-July, which came after Emery brought all the players to north London for preseason.

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The thinking was clear: Emery wanted to see many of the players that he was inheriting so that he could make an informed decision on what to do with them.

This summer, Arsenal have experienced far more infuriating delays. It is now June 21st and they still have not confirmed an official sale or signing. The transfer window has been open for a month and five days. Whatever way you cut it, this is not very efficient work, in regards to either sales or recruitment.

But in trying to come up with a sensible reason as to why Arsenal are seemingly dallying over their business, I kept reflecting on Emery’s decision-making process last summer. He wanted all of the information before he made any actual decisions.

In terms of recruitment, Emery was not as heavily involved, meaning that the club could make moves before his arrival — I am sure they partook his advice, but the signings that were made were very much the work of Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi, not Emery. But for sales, that is very much a manager’s job, and Emery waited til the latter part of the summer to make any meaningful moves.

This summer, Emery is taking a far greater role in recruitment. With Mislintat and Ivan Gazidis now gone and a technical director yet to arrive, Emery had to be more included in the transfer decisions. Perhaps, then, he is waiting until he has all of his players back for preseason training before he makes his decisions.

Given the pending role that the young talent will take on next season, this patience is even more pertinent. Emery may want to see the readiness of players like Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson before committing to external solutions that could steal away game time.

This is just me speculating. And really, even if this was the case, it is not a good enough reason for the delay in the transfer business. But it is something worth considering. Emery may want to know what he has before he adds to or takes away from it.