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The transfer window is shut and now we can all focus on the football. But how do Arsenal get around their clearly shambolic final few days of the window.
Depsite Wenger’s public stance, the club clearly were open to selling Alexis Sanchez on deadline day, but despite having a £92million bid accepted for Thomas Lemar, the player opted to stay at Monaco, meaning the Gunners now have an Alexis Sanchez that everyone knows wanted to be at Manchester City.
It is a similar scenario for Mesut Ozil, with the German having less than a year remaining on his current contract. Arguably Arsenal’s two best players will be allowed to sign a pre-contract with a foreign club in just a few months – how will this impact on the Gunners season?
In my opinion, if we knew neither player were going to extend, we should’ve sold them earlier and sorted replacements earlier in the window. Thomas Lemar may have turned the club down on deadline day, but he wanted the move to Arsenal in June. Arsenal must have known Alexis would not be extending for some time, and Lemar could’ve been secured (for less money) at the start of the window. At worst Arsenal would’ve had Lemar and Alexis for a season.
It’s possible that Alexis could leave in January for a reduced fee, with Man City 7/2 favourites with PaddyPower to be his next club.
Do Arsenal really have a realistic chance of doing anything special this season? The title is surely beyond them with the squad harmony now probably at an all time low. Claim the best free bets at Freebets.co.uk and put your money where your mouth is.
There is a spin to it though, it’s possible that Alexis and Ozil put in top quality performances in order to secure moves to top clubs at the end of the season. If this happens then it’s true that Arsenal perhaps are a better side than last season, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain the only significant departure and Kolasinac and Lacazette arriving.
Lacazette has started the season well and is an outside shot as the Premier League’s top scorer at 12/1. But even if this is the case, the long term impact on Arsenal’s squad will not be good when Ozil and Alexis leave for nothing. The cost of replacing those two players, in this market, will be significant.
As an Arsenal fan I’m trying to think positively from this situation, but I cannot. There is incompetence at every single level of this football club and I don’t see our situation improving any time soon. This could be a big problem considering clubs like Liverpool, Tottenham and both Manchester sides are continuing to show improvements. When will Arsenal be back at the top again? After Arsenal’s poor start, SkyBet have the Gunners as 28/1 outsiders for the title, which makes them 6thfavourites. This window has only pushed us back, we need something fresh, but sadly it is not coming any time soon.
