Arsenal: Kieran Tierney another moment of magic for this regime

Arsenal have pulled off another improbable, landing Kieran Tierney at last. This has proven to be a summer of defying expectations in the best way possible.

This summer has been a summer of complete unpredictability for Arsenal, as they have now landed Kieran Tierney, despite having issues all summer with securing his services. It is yet another bit of proof that this club is evolving, developing and improving.

Arsenal became such a predictable team in Arsene Wenger’s later years. I always liked to believe that there were still some surprises in there, and at the very end, there was. Swapping Alexis for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, whatever the result, was a surprise. Signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was a surprise. Switching to a back three was a surprise.

But Wenger generally played with the same deck of cards. The kinds of players he pursued, the amount of money he would spend, the types of formations he would use. It was all very cookie-cutter. He stopped innovating.

Unai Emery’s chore was keeping the values, but bringing the innovation, and this summer has proven to me that he can do that.

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For starters, he didn’t have to go balls to the wall in spending. Yes, he broke the club record, but he’s paying it in installments and after sales, this is not going to end up being a very expensive transfer window, yet it may go down as one of the very best.

And Kieran Tierney is just another example of keeping the values of the club, but innovating some of the shortcomings.

Wenger generally did not like going after players for more than he perceived they were worth. He would make a bid and, if it was accepted, great. If it wasn’t, he would move on to the next guy. Think about Alexandre Lacazette. He bid on the French striker for three straight summers. The previous two, his bids were not enough. He clung to his values until the world met him.

Kieran Tierney had a price set and the Gunners tried to lowball for the better part of two months. Meanwhile, other signings were being made and some ruled the deal off. In the past, it would have made sense that the deal would be off, but in this new regime, they didn’t give up, and here we are on deadline day and Tierney is here with us, a deal finally being agreed upon.

That is the kind of transfer magic that we need. Wenger had his own version of magic, but this is a different brand. And I love it.