Arsenal to take vital transfer step under Mikel Arteta

Arsenal have defied the words of Robert Tepper and his 80’s one-hit-wonder ‘No Easy Way Out’ for an excruciating amount of time. Almost as painful as the Tommy Wiseau lookalike’s music video itself.

As far as the recruitment team in north London are concerned, there is always an easy way out. That tends to come in the form of signings that offer little imagination, highlight no vision of squad building and spare all effort needed to actually forge a competitive squad.

Edu has added to this with deals signed off to line the pockets of his best pal Kia Joorabchian. Willian is the prime example: a three-year contract worth around £200k-per-week when Reiss Nelson was waiting in the wings and the club’s record signing Nicolas Pepe had finished the previous season so strongly.

Cedric was another opportunity to kick the can down the road with his bemusing January addition despite being injured, while David Luiz, who was effective to a certain degree, added to the portfolio of effortless acquisitions.

Arsenal to take vital transfer step under Mikel Arteta as club intend to abandon failing signings like Willian and Cedric during summer window

It has to end.

Ryan Bertrand looked set to be another shortcut as an ageing stop-gap who would eat up wages while doing precious little, and fortunately Leicester seized the chance (on a silly deal) and pipped Arsenal to his signature with their allure of European football.

“Talkin’ about what might have been
“I’m thinkin’ about what it used to be.”

Is that finally all changing? Based on the targets this summer, it appears so. As reinforced by The Athletic, supporters can take solace in the end of ‘veteran bargain bucket’ signings unless the situation is especially desperate or the deals are too good to be true.

Nuno Tavares (21), Albert Sambi Lokonga (21), Ben White (23), Aaron Ramsdale (23), Martin Odegaard (22), Ruben Neves (24), Houssem Aouar (23) and Manuel Locatelli (24) have all been heavily linked this summer. The trend is clear to see.

It was noticeable earlier in the window and to now have some reliable backing that the Willian’s and Cedric’s of this world are being banished to the history books – figuratively that is since they are sadly still here – offers huge encouragement.

“Baby, baby, we can shed this skin
“We can know how we feel inside.

Effective squad building requires proactive planning and corner cutting is no longer an acceptable scheme of operating. It wasn’t before but if Arsenal are to drag themselves out of this mess then it has to be a process that requires one step at a time, not a leap from D to A with all the eggs in one proverbial basket.

Yet to play out in full, the path laid out does offer encouragement.

Pull off the signings intended, those with experience and room for development potential that can bring in a profit in the years to come and not be allowed to gorge on churrasco over their holidays, and shift in mindset will filter through into the fanbase. They may just get on board with the club.

“There’s no easy way out
“There’s no shortcut home.”