Arsenal: Do you need any more proof?

This week, Bournemouth agreed to sell Tyrone Mings to Aston Villa for £26.5 million. If you needed any more proof that Arsenal should sell better, this is it.

I have written extensively this summer — and throughout the last couple of years — about just how poor Arsenal’s sales have been, and the substantial negative impact that is having on the progress the club can make.

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Most people, I think, are quite aware of the ineptitude of the club’s transfer business regarding its own playing assets, and not just the big ones like Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey. However, if there are any out there who weren’t quite yet convinced that Arsenal should be doing better in this department, there was clear proof this weekend.

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Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings is in the process of a permanent transfer to newly promoted Aston Villa. Mings spent last season on loan at Villa and was instrumental in their successful promotion campaign. The fee, though, is quite astronomical. So, wait for this, Mings will move from Bournemouth to Villa for a minimum of £20 million, potentially reaching £26.5 million. Wow!

This is someone who has made 10 league starts for Bournemouth since being signed for £8 million four years prior. He started 15 Championship games last year and has played in only 17 Premier League games in his career. He is 26 years of age, has struggled with injuries throughout his career, and is apparently worth the same as a Lucas Torreira. What in the world.

This all serves to show one thing: with smart contract management, hard negotiating, and a willingness to frequently buy and sell players, huge profits can be made; similarly, unintelligent decision making can lead to vast amounts of money being shoved down the drain.

For the most part, Arsenal have conducted themselves in the latter manner. Through a whole variety of mistakes, from poor negotiating with the sales made to infamous mismanagement of contracts, from overpaying on underperforming players to failing to sell players early and ruthlessly, they have continually cost themselves money — this, not coincidentally, is why they have only £40-45 million to spend this summer.

If Unai Emery wants to conduct a successful rebuild at the Emirates, it must all start with smart decisions in the transfer market, from the players that are sold to the reinvestment of those funds in younger, higher ceiling replacements. The likes of Mohamed Elneny, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac and others can all be used to counter the investments made in new players.

Successful teams are built in the transfer window. And that has not been a healthy hunting ground for the Gunners in the past. Let’s hope, then, that in the future, it changes.