Arsenal: The caution required with Yacine Brahimi chase

Arsenal are reportedly attempting to sign Yacine Brahimi to a contract after his deal with Porto expired. There is reason to be cautious, though: his wages.

When Arsenal signed Sead Kolasinac two years ago on a free transfer from Schalke, there was a ripple of positivity and praise through the media. Seen as a major improvement at a problem position while paying nothing to sign him seemed like the ideal signing.

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Two years later, you could make an argument either way whether the transfer was a successful one. His performances have been decent, especially in an attacking sense, but there have also been some problematic moments and the Gunners now want another left-back, which was not the initial plan when he first arrived.

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The major problem with Kolasinac, however, is his wage. The defender earns £100,000 per week, which is the kind of wage that a crucial first-team player would usually be paid. But Kolasinac is a decent rotational option at best. He should be paid half of that.

The very fact that he was free is now coming back to bite. That is the reason why his wages are inflated. Because Arsenal did not pay to Schalke to secure him, Kolasinac’s agent slapped a rather handsome signing-on fee into the deal and bumped up his wage demands, knowing that the club had extra funds to spare.

That is standard practice in the football world. His wages were rightly on the high side. It should not and was not a surprise. But it now leaves the club in a difficult position as they look to shave pounds off the wage bill amid the commercial finances falling.

The Kolasinac tale should prove as a cautionary one for future free transfers that Arsenal may look to make. And that is precisely what they are considering with soon-to-be-former Porto winger Yacine Brahimi.

Brahimi’s contract will expire this summer and the Gunners have, per reports in Algeria, entered the race to secure his service on a free agent transfer. It seems like a sensible move. He is a pacy, direct, goal-getting winger who has European experience. And all for nothing. Given the financial restrictions of this summer’s business, that is the type of player that should be signed, right?

In theory, all that is accurate, but as we now see with Kolasinac, two years later, the benefit could turn into a bane. Brahimi will command a higher wage because he is on a free transfer. Arsenal may have to pay over the odds. Initially, that may look like a sensible thing to do as they are saving £30 million by not having to buy him, but in the long run, it could backfire, a £100,000-a-week player sitting on the bench, not contributing much, and sapping up precious resources.

That may not be the case with Brahimi. He may turn out to be an excellent player, well worth of the overpaying of his wages. But there is a degree of caution that should be admitted here. Just because he is free does not necessarily mean he is financially sensible.