Arsenal: 3 positives of Emi Buendia transfer failure

Arsenal have lost the race to sign Emi Buendia. They only have themselves to blame. Aston Villa will conclude a deal for the Argentine ahead of Mikel Arteta’s side and he’ll be donning claret and blue next season, not red and white.

There is understandable rage from within the fanbase. Everyone has spent days pouring over numerous statistical charts, writing up articles on how Buendia would fit into the side and learning what his favourite breakfast snack is only for him to wind up joining a club that finished 11th in the Premier League table.

A bid had been lodged and rejected. £30m needed to find its way up to £40m in some manner. In the end Aston Villa will pay the full amount with a £33m upfront fee.

Fair play to Dean Smith’s side. They wanted their man and made the best offer to secure him, breaking their transfer record in the process and securing the services of a wonderfully talented forward. Meanwhile, Edu and co were reenacting their actions from the previous summer where they seemingly upped their Houssem Aouar bid by a penny each time until Lyon told them to do one.

Arsenal: 3 positives of Emi Buendia transfer failure as Aston Villa seal summer deal for Norwich forward

Mikel Arteta is probably a very angry man right now. He earmarked Buendia long ago, saw the potential he had within the squad and what he could do for others, only to miss out on his signature by a few million.

It’s not the best way to start the summer transfer window, and this is before it has even officially opened.

Some discussions will be held behind the scenes to determine how this one slipped their grasp, just as there will be across the fanbase with those how may have let themselves get a little too excited about the prospect of Buendia joining.

But is it all doom and gloom? Probably not. The inquest will happen but in such times there have to be positive aspects to draw from the incident.

Let’s look at three of them.

1. The Transfer Window is Still Very Much Alive for Arsenal

The transfer window is alive because it hasn’t even opened yet. Losing sleep over this transfer falling flat and throwing the toys out of the pram this early isn’t a healthy way to go about the rest of the summer.

June 9 is when the window officially starts and there are 12 weeks following that for things to change.

Historically things twist and turn drastically in all transfer windows, with deals pulled off in quick time and discussions being held under the cover of darkness to secure new targets. Arteta will likely be grinding his teeth at losing a player he wanted to secure well in advance of next season, but this is why lists are drawn up.

Anger and disappointment should be reserved for 23:00 BST on 31 August.

2. Arsenal May Have Other Transfer Targets in Mind

There are, of course, other players to aim for during this summer transfer window and the fact that Arsenal – who definitely have more pulling power than Aston Villa – didn’t raise their upfront bid by a measly £3m with the remainder in add-ons could be because they didn’t feel the price was right.

Giving the club the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they felt for this kind of money that they could bring in another option more suited to Arteta’s plans.

Chris Wheatley of football.london revealed that Arsenal ‘definately’ made a bid and ‘really wanted’ to sign him, but just how much?

Going off of history it’d be a fair assumption to make that Arsenal bottled this. They had the pass lined up, took too many touches, dallied far too long on the ball and picked a pass to a man stood offside.

But in this case there may have been other motives. The links to Buendia have been ongoing for over a year and their interest firm, but if there has been a change of heart either over the fee on the player then such reservations warrant the plug being pulled.

If they’re not absolutely certain then a £40m outlay is some risk to take. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.

1. Emi Buendia Hasn’t Joined a Direct Rival

Well…he might have done, but again we’re being optimistic about this so on the bright side it’s not like Arsenal lost out to Sp*rs or Leicester. There is still plenty of time for the latter two to follow suit, however.

Arsenal finished above Villa by only three places and six points – not any great margin and one made wider by injury absences – and while there is no factually based claim to suggest the two won’t be in and around the same places next season the hope is that Arteta’s side will be in a top four battle, one Villa aren’t likely to be part of.

The way Villa’s investment is going and the vast improvements they’ve made over 12 months does suggest they can be doing much better than their bottom half finish last season. If Arsenal have a torrid summer they may be looking at the reverse.

But, we’re being positive and if there is a silver lining then it’s that Buendia’s wonderful talent won’t be on show up the road in north London or with other Champions League competing sides. Every cloud, as they say.

It also opens to the door for Jack Grealish to leave this summer! A player desired by all the top clubs across Europe! Someone who absolutely will not be joining Arsenal and the sooner this unhealthy idea is cast away the better it is for everyone.