With the news of Petr Cech’s North London move all but confirmed by Arsenal, Arsène Wenger has crafted a squad that rivals his best in nearly a decade. With the transfer window yet to open, Wenger has both the time and money available to him to make the perfect signings.
Links to midfield enforcers Morgan Schneiderlin and Arturo Vidal have been abundant, but less than concrete. With two strongly linked players in Jackson Martinez and Geoffrey Kondogbia already having signed for Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan respectively, transfer news is thin along the ground for the time being.
And you know what? That’s OK. That’s actually more than OK, that’s perfect. Whoever Wenger has in mind to shore up our midfield and potentially augment the front three either has a price tag that will drop as the summer drags on, or hasn’t been made available yet due to circumstance.
The signing of Mesut Özil in 2013 is a prime example of Wenger biding his time, waiting for the right developments to unfold before he clinches a deal. While initial contact with Real Madrid was made much prior to his deadline day move, Wenger – and surprisingly Florentino Perez – waited until the completion of Gareth Bale’s deal before anything was finalized.
In the end, Madrid spent twice as much on Bale than what they recouped from selling Ozil. Sure, they acquired a sensational talent who could spend the next eight or more years at the club, but in doing so rid their team of a player whom Cristiano Ronaldo labeled “unique” and expressed anger at his sale.
And what did they gain? A very expensive Welsh scapegoat who, despite his good numbers, has yet to win over the Madrid faithful. A whole summer of hype, desperation and eye-watering money throwing amounted to a deal which arguably did very little to improve the team.
Arsène Wenger, on the other hand, made out like a bandit. He spent a very reasonable £40m on the world’s best playmaker, practically breaking even in net spend that summer, such is his frugality. Since Özil joined the club, he’s helped end Arsenal’s near decade-long trophy drought and attract other high-calibre players to the club, namely Alexis Sanchez.
All in all, it’s the patient, prepared negotiator who wins. Almost every deal in recent windows show as proof. Calum Chambers, Alexis, Santi Cazorla, and the list goes on. So don’t fret when the next want-away player linked to Arsenal doesn’t end up in North London. Just know that an even better player will probably be available soon, and for less. Arsène Wenger has nothing but time.
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