It’s been a quiet January for Arsenal so far and according to Arsene Wenger’s comments, it is likely to continue in that fashion. However there has been some news of a contract being agreed…
Firstly we look at the Dimitri Payet situation. With the influential midfielder looking for a way out of West Ham, the Gunners were one of a number of clubs to have been linked with him, and whilst Wenger has confirmed his admiration of the player, he did suggest that the club were not interested in signing him this month.
“I don’t need Payet because we have so many creative players. Wenger said.
“I rate Payet as a player, of course, but it’s not an area where we are looking for some players.”
Understandable, the Gunners do have strong depth in attacking midfield and it isn’t an area that requires immediate attention. However it goes against what Wenger has said previously. I remember in the summer he suggested that a players position did not matter, he only signed players based on their quality.
Wenger said this in the pre-Burnley press conference. The Gunners host Sean Dyche’s men at the weekend.
He also confirmed that Per Mertesacker’s contract had been extended. The Gunners had an option to extend the German’s contract for an extra year – his initial deal was due to expire at the end of this injury. Despite his injury problems in the last 12 months, Wenger said that it was an ‘easy decision’ to extend the defender’s contract.
“He is a leader of the team and he is also one of the four centre-backs who has experience and can guide the team.” Wenger added.
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Fair enough. I’m not his biggest fan but Wenger obviously feels that the likes of Chambers, Holding and Bielik are not ready for first-team action in the next couple of seasons – so it’ll be interesting to see what he does with them. With Koscielny, Per, Mustafi and Gabriel all ahead of that young trio, it’s hard to see them developing at Arsenal in the next 18 months.