Arsenal: The good and the bad of William Saliba transfer

Arsenal have reportedly agreed to a £27m transfer for William Saliba that will go into effect… next summer. Here’s the good and the bad of the deal.

Arsenal‘s defense is in dire need of assistance, so it’s good to see that they are taking it seriously going after someone like William Saliba, a talented young defender who can provide a boost to an old, ailing defense.

Sure, it doesn’t go into effect until next year, but we also aren’t paying until next year, meaning that this move is essentially a non-factor in the here and now, giving us something to look forward to even if we don’t have anything palpable right now.

Still, I thought it would be useful to explore the good and the bad of the deal, since there is a fare helping of both.

We’ll start with the good.

The Good

We’re thinking long-term, and that’s always important. I love a team that doesn’t exist only in the present. That’s what a lot of the powerhouse teams do these days, buying out young talent right as they’re ready to hit the big stage but never developing themselves.

Arsenal are investing in him for the future, and that’s always a wonderful thing to see.

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Adding to the good, this gives time for the current stock to fight it out among themselves and decide who is good enough to stay around and who needs to be moved on to the next opportunity. There are so many young options in the club that need a chance and I hope this is their chance to get it.

The Bad

Saliba was the only defender linked to the club. Joachim Andersen was there for but a moment and then he was gone elsewhere. Same with Armando Izzo. These names don’t stick like the attackers are.

That means that I’m not all too confident that the Gunners are even that interested in signing a new defender, and may be content to ride it out until they have more money (and a new defender) next summer.

That doesn’t jive with me, and it shouldn’t jive with you. So much effort was put into securing his move that we’re now in a position where we seemingly haven’t been working on any other centerbacks. Which is troubling.

It’s mostly good, obviously. Nothing about the move itself is bad. Just the fact that we’re no closer to solving the present day problem.