Well, yesterday turned out to be a busy day. A strange day at times, but there was certainly plenty going on. I guess the best way to look at it all is break down into arrivals and departures and look at each one. We confirmed two new players, but one has gone, one is on the brink of going, and we’ll try and make some sense of the Serge Gnabry situation. So, let’s begin.
Arrivals
Lucas Perez
The 27 year old striker arrives from Deportivo la Coruña for £17m. To some an underwhelming addition up front, and in some respects I get that. This was supposedly the summer when we were going to get ‘the’ striker, but the manager has done one of his favourite things and taken a player nobody had expected us to be interested in.
He arrives on the back of a 19 goal, 10 assist season for Deportivo and is something of a late developer. I suspect that might have played a part in his signing. Earlier in the summer Arsene Wenger spoke about Leicester’s players last season and how their unconventional development played a part in their title win. He said:
There is a theory that says to go to the absolute utmost of your talent you need to suffer in life. When you look at the Leicester team, not one career of all these players was obvious, like starting on the red carpet at 18 years of age in the Champions League. These players had a dream that was not easy to obtain, but when they are in a position to reach it, they are ready for the fight.
Not only is that a shot across the bows of some of the Arsenal squad, but it certainly seems to fit with Perez who has had to fight very hard to make it, and at almost 28 will be determined to take his chance at a big club. The player himself seems ready to give it a real go in England, saying:
I want to show what I’m about, get stuck into playing and perform well. I’m delighted. It’s a massive step in my career to come to a club with the history and quality that Arsenal have and be able to play in competitions like the Premier League and the Champions League.
I’m very proud and happy to be here.
The manager has admitted it’s a bit of a gamble, but he’s definitely an interesting one. He adds a bit of bite and leadership too, and if he can settle in quickly – with help from his Dad’s octopus stand in Camden Market, of course – he could well prove a canny addition.
Shkodran Mustafi
The 24 year old becomes the most expensive defender in Arsenal’s history in a deal worth well over £30m. The negotiations with Valencia were quite protracted but in the end we got our man. He’ll join up after the international break and shouldn’t really have any issues with adaptation. He’s already lived in England and speaks perfect English, and he’s got Mesut Ozil and dancing partner Per Mertesacker to help him settle.
I think it is a step forward to have joined this club. Arsenal is a big club with big players and a great manager. For me I think the most important thing was if I made a change, could I learn something? Was it going to be good for my development? I think that being here now is going to help me grow as a player.
Arsene Wenger said:
He is at the right age. He has good experience. He is a very focused player who can play with the ball as well. We have taken a great player but have prepared well for the future.
All in all a very solid signing, on paper at least, in a market that is not exactly awash with quality central-defenders. At 24 he’s the perfect age to develop into a player who can become a mainstay of the Arsenal defence for seasons to come, so fingers crossed that’s exactly what he does.
Departures
Jack Wilshere
It’s fairly clear now that it’s Wilshere who is pushing for this move. Perhaps hurt by the fact he’s lost his place in the England squad he’s actively seeking to leave and the club look to have acquiesced to his desires. As I said yesterday, from his point of view it makes a lot of sense to go somewhere and play regularly. I’m just not sure it’s in Arsenal’s best interests to let him him go. We have a lot of midfield depth, but we know how quickly that can change.
I have to admit I’m a little surprised at Wilshere’s willingness to leave rather than stay and fight, but maybe he knows something more about the situation than we do. Apparently there were 22 offers for him yesterday when it became known he could leave, and rather disappointingly the one he looks likely to choose is Crystal Palace.
Sure, it lets him stay in London where his family is and where his crew of mates are, but with interest from Roma and Valencia and all the personal and professional benefits there’d be to go abroad, to choose to go work with Alan Pardew is more than a bit underwhelming. Anyway, it looks 99% certain he’s off on a season long loan with no recall clause, and maybe he can prove to Arsene Wenger that he can marry his talent with sustained fitness.
Also, with just two years left on his current deal, don’t be surprised if there’s talk of him signing an Arsenal extension before he goes. Joel Campbell went to Villarreal on loan in 2015 but put pen to paper on a new deal beforehand, so it’s not without precedent.
Calum Chambers
The 21 year old has gone to Boro on loan, and this makes a lot of sense for him and for Arsenal. It’s obvious Arsene Wenger harbours doubts about him, but can still see the potential that saw him become the club’s most expensive teenager two summers ago when he signed from Southampton for £16m.
At this point in his career he needs regular football, and in the Arsenal pecking order he’s currently behind Laurent Koscielny, Gabriel, new signing Rob Holding and now Mustafi. Boro boss Aitor Karanka was a central defender of some distinction himself, so there’s a good chance to play and learn up there from him.
If he does well, he gives Wenger something to think about. If not then it makes it easier to pull the trigger, so to speak. I like him, I think there’s a good player in there somewhere, so fingers crossed he does well.
Serge Gnabry
Now, this was a strange one. Yesterday reports came through that he was on the verge of signing for Bayern Munich, who were then going to loan him straight away to Werder Bremen. Then it emerged it was a straight deal with Bremen, who said Bayern had nothing to do with it, but we’re still waiting for that to be officially confirmed.
He is a player that Arsene Wenger likes, and I had thought that part of the thinking in letting Joel Campbell go was to create room for Gnabry in the squad. The only reason I can think of that we’re selling him now is because he’s made his mind up to leave. His father spoke to the media yesterday and said he felt he should have stayed at Arsenal, but that Gnabry was only thinking about leaving on the advice of his agents.
Has his head been turned? Does he see no future at Arsenal? Maybe that’s it. I suspect Arsenal are in a position where they have little choice but to cash in, and if that is the case, so be it.
I liked Gnabry when he first burst onto the scene, he looked exciting, but look at the reality of his football career: he hasn’t started a league game since January 2014. He hasn’t played 90 minutes of club football since then either. He has had precisely no impact on the Arsenal first team (or any other) in over two seasons, so it’s not as if we’re letting a key player go here.
It’s a shame that after his good performances at the Olympics against the likes of Fiji that he hasn’t been willing to stay, but I don’t really understand all the angst about him going. And if he’s flat-out refused to sign a new deal, then there’s little else we can do except get the best fee we can for him.
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So, there you go. Still a few things to sort out today, and I wonder if we might see some other departures before the deadline. It might be busier than usual because lower league clubs no longer have that extra period of time to do loan deals etc, so some youth departures could be on the cards.
We’ll have our transfer deadline day live blog running right up until 11pm tonight, so join us there for all the action. It could be a relatively busy day, although any further arrivals would be a big surprise.
Let’s see what happens. Time to load up on coffee and amphetamines.
