View From The Sphere

Why Wenger should strike summer transfer dealings early

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Arsene Wenger has never been one to do all of his transfer deals as early as possible, but it is of paramount importance that he changes that attitude for this particular summer.

Since Arsenal finished fourth this season, just over the horizon lies a Champions League qualifier which, under the new UEFA rulings, shall be infinitely harder to win than some of the games the club has had in previous seasons against the likes of Sparta Prague and Dinamo Zagreb. Now, Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Fiorentina haunt the draw.

Therefore, Arsenal need to move quickly. There should be no anxious waiting up on August the 31st in eager anticipation of a deadline day bargain. Regardless of the players whom one thinks the club should be signing, the fact is that they should arrive in June, in order to give them the best possible chance of settling into the side before the early start of the season.

There is very rarely any negative attached to signing players early in the summer. For example, whenever Manchester United need to inject new life into the squad, they immediately bolster the team by announcing signings as early as June 1st. This was exemplified by when they signed Anderson, Nani and Hargreaves in quick succession in the summer of 2007. Arsenal need to take a leaf out of their book; no more deadline day deals in order to shave a couple of hundred thousand of pounds off the price, the purchases have to be made quickly and forcefully.

The added bonus of getting the transfers done as early as possible is that a feel-good factor surrounds the club in the build up to the new season. This is particularly relevant this season, given that the season ticket prices have increased, and there are real doubts about the power of the club in the transfer market, and whether the ambitions of the board mirror those of the supporters.

Should the Champions League qualifier at the Emirates arrive without any kind of marquee signing having been purchased, the atmosphere around the stadium will match that of the last few games of the season just gone; songs of ‘six percent, you’re having a laugh’ will inevitably be replaced with chants of a somewhat more positive nature.

So this summer is extremely important for a number of reasons; not only does the squad need to be strengthened considerably in various areas, but the rebuilding work needs to be done sooner rather than later, not only to increase our chances of Champions League qualification, but also to state intent for the season to come, and to put Arsenal back on the map.

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9 comments

  • karis says:

    Arsene does not believe that he needs to strengthen the Arsenal squad. I fear the board shares his view. Listen keenly when he talks about new signings, he weighs his words carefully ensuring he does not say anything.

  • Samuel says:

    So i buy a new car put in a fancy high priced CD/DVD
    player combination and go on my merry way paying ex
    orbitant insurance premiums ,strange mentailty isn,t
    it?

  • Exo says:

    Signing a few well needed big names early on in the transfer will also show our other players like Nasri and Fab that we are serious about winning trophies and that Arsenal
    Is the place to do it. But he won’t cos he’s a stubborn prick and will buy some dodgy African kid in the last hour of the window for £50

  • Viking says:

    Why not try to get Gyan? Amazing striker and would be great next to RvP…

  • kenyan gunner says:

    yeah it is tru tht wenger shuld gt hs men as aly as possible n shuld also sell as aly as possible so as to gt acclamatised to the new team n city..sayn tht wenger should try make nasri sign if nt sell hm to bayern n gt schweinstega as exchange…INS… schweinstega,falcao,chiellini/zapata/mertersaka vela….OUTS almunia
    denilson bentna clichy fabregas…n the squad is set..also cpt shuld b vermaelen regadless cesc living o nt…

  • Ad says:

    Wenger has always concern about his large squad depth. So, what he needs to do is to quickly sell the overpaid flops like Almunia, Clichy, Squillaci, Denilson, Rosicky and Bendtner. This will reduce the squad numbers, significantly reduce the wage bill and for sure, generate cash from transfers.

  • Big bag of crap says:

    Wenger needs to buy and buy straight away, he must not wait for deadline day. The fact is players need time to gel, if he gets players early, they will have a whole pre-season to do this. Mind you lets just hope he buys players and when I say this I mean experienced and talented players.

  • Aussie Jack says:

    If raising the bid for Samba from 8 million to 10 million is any indication of the way Wenger is thinking then nothing has changed. Surely we can be a little more lateral in our thinking and start at ten million with budget maximum of fifteen. We could well find what we truly need in that bracket without breaking the bank.
    Unless you are willing to throw `big bucks` around closing early deals can be difficult…money talks.

  • olajideomodudu says:

    just like exco wrote wenger is a sturborn prick he wouldnt do it early n @ d end make us loose out in d signin of quality pair of legs.

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