A Transfer Policy Related Rant

We simply cannot afford a repeat of previous transfer windows, and yet there is very little reason (so far) to be confident this one is going to be that far detached. I do think there will be some movement before too long and of course I am hugely hopeful of some. However, as long as our rivals continue to be active whilst we bide our time, apparently waiting to see how everything unfolds, we are missing out on key potential signings. Matthias Ginter is exactly the sort of young centre back we could’ve done with who would come in as a fourth choice, and would within two or three seasons time have worked his way into the team. But it seems he is a Dortmund player in all but name now. Similarly, Josip Drmic would’ve made a fantastic addition to the squad - replacing the outgoing Nicklas Bendtner as the squad-striker who could’ve (like Ginter) climbed up through the pecking order over time. But Leverkusen sealed that one before the World Cup. Now obviously, Wenger and his scouting team have better judgement on signings than me. So I really wouldn’t care less about Ginter and Drmic, if it wasn’t for the fact that I don’t see who else we’re going to get - if anyone. And as long as we continue to be inactive, the pool of potential singings shrinks further and further whilst the price tags on players continue to inflate.

Realistically, to have a competitive and extensive squad, we need to sign; 

• A world class striker and another striker for back up (all the other top teams have four quality strikers, so signing one + Giroud + Podolski + signing two). 
• A right back to replace Sagna and a fourth centre back, having three is simply not enough. Especially with Sagna gone, what on earth would we do with a couple of injuries? Flamini? And that’s assuming Vermealen stays
• A holding midfielder. Arteta has been a fantastic servant to the club for these last three years and it was £8m well spent bringing him in, but age, pace and the fact that he has and will never be capable of playing the anchor means we absolutely need a proven, world class DM. God help us at Stamford Bridge next season if we don’t get one.
• A goalkeeper. With Damian Martinez (I assume) coming back from a relatively unsuccessful loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday and Fabianski and Viviano departing, we are in need of a second choice goalkeeper and ideally a third. Realistically though, we’ll probably just get the one.
• That is already six, maybe seven signings. Ask for anymore and I risk sounding like an eleven year old doing a FIFA career mode, but if a luxury signing did come up (left wing seems to be a bit of a weak point) such as Sanchez or Draxler, Wenger would be fool to turn it down - considering all our closest rivals would invariably take up the opportunity.

I know it is still early. But it’s not so early that United were unable to seal two transfers in the space of a day, or Chelsea were unable to add two world class players to their squad for a net cost of less than £20m given the ludicrous £50m fee collected for David Luiz. Whilst those act around us we risk once again being uncompetitive and effectively useless in an increasingly brutal market just because we were too slow. Why are we like this? God knows. It seems to be a recent development as before Arshavin I don’t personally remember too many late scrambles for signings, in fact it used to be quite the opposite. 

Sure, the Özil deal was great and exciting and new, but it also undoubtedly papered over many of the cracks of what was a monumental cock up of a window this time last year. This time round, we might not be so lucky if we have a similarly poor showing. I certainly don’t feel comfortable relying on another season of hilarious failure at Tottenham and United to keep us in the top four, as wonderful as that would be. We need to match and ideally better our rivals in the transfer window, something we have failed to do for as long as I can remember and something that certainly won’t  be possible if left to the final two weeks.

@natshaughnessy8Tell us what you think! If you agree, or have a different view, please leave a comment in the comments section or why not write a response or your own article on YouWrite?

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