Arsene Wenger has denied that the signings of Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi are panic buys.
Despite coming quite late in the window, and with 5 points already dropped this season, there have been suggestions Arsenal were spending money because there was little choice. The Arsenal manager was having none of it though.
“Look at my face. Is this the face of someone who tends to panic buy?”, he said, reportedly with a big cheesy grin on his face.
And he insisted the club were working off plans, and that they were fully cognisant of what needed to be done.
“This season I thought we would have the easiest transfer market ever,” he said. “We knew what we wanted to do, we knew who we wanted to get but it didn’t come off.
“So you have to restart and, when you restart, some leagues are on holiday and then we had the European Championship.
“Nothing happened during the entire Euros. We couldn’t find anybody. That’s why it was very late.”
Of course it does raise questions about why we couldn’t do what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it. Is there some room for an internal enquiry, or a look at some of our processes?
And it’s not as if we haven’t done a bit of panic buying before, think back to that August of 2011 when we brought in Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Park Chu-young, and Yossi Benayoun on loan.
If nothing else though, we can always be grateful to the Park signing for giving us this:
It doesn’t seem like Perez was Wenger’s first choice, and it did seem like a relatively easy transfer so im guessing he did have some reservations about him. Nonetheless, from what I’ve read and bits I’ve seen of him, he does look like a good capture. Mustafi is a brilliant signing too, he’s got his best years ahead of him and was captain of Valencia last season.
What’s with people and the ‘first choice’rethoric? People forget that even Suarez wasn’t Barcelona’s first choice when they signed him.
So who was Barca’s first choice? Pretty sure when they signed him that there was no one available who was better than him in that position. Anyway, not saying it was a bad thing so no need for the negativity, I’m quite looking forward to see Perez play.
He wasn’t a choice, he was an opportunity that’s all.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3403627/Luis-Suarez-wasn-t-choice-target-Sergio-Aguero-claims-Barcelona-s-former-sporting-director.html
I agree, I think he was holding out for a different striker, but I’m sure Perez was on the list, maybe a few names down. Clearly not a panic buy. Decent signing in my opinion.
Agree sir. It seems the only two teams who got their business done early paid an absolute fortune to do it. Pogba, stones etc. Chelsea have struggled according to their manager, scum have bought two above average footballers that I’m glad we didn’t buy but an dam sure we could have if we wanted. Remember when folk were screaming we should have bought holtby and how Wenger was a joke not doing so ?. Anyway thankfully we Arsenal fans don’t buy into the shit the media and a lot of Internet warriors throw up ?
What’s a holtby? ?
What’s a ‘Benteke’?
its a kind of car tire sir….. :\
Don’t forget the cries for Ballotelli
Or Falcao 😉
Where’s Francis Jeffers when you need him?
My buttocks have been clenched for two days now, please let them be announced soon!
The players I mean, not my buttocks…:-)
I will give you £1.01p for your buttocks, not going a penny over though. I will pay in 20p instalments over the next 5 years.
Sorry my buttocks have signed a life long contract.
Apparently (according to some children) everything is for sale, you just have to offer much more money than it’s worth!
I know I started this but my buttocks are not for sale (or even on a loan deal) so pack it in!
🙂
Xakha then and now Mustafa…we tipped off two captains this summer!
Was going for a third one too (iCardi) but his agent sucks and he just useD us to get a better deal at inter
James is getting sold this summer apparently! Maybe we could shoo off Walcott and get him in! That would also make sense for loaning out Campbell.
But you know, I am not going to ask for much.
For James to come in, probably both Giroud and Walcott will go. I’d love for Giroud to stay and retire an Arsenal legend. Walcott is already a (contracts) legend.
I would love to have James in our team. RW or in midfield, this guy has it.
Why would Giroud go? He’s our main striker. We’d definitely play James on the right.
It’s official: football fans are never happy!
Tossers in the media spreading this. Some of the articles in the papers by John Cross and others are rediculously biased.
Then i read Piers Morgan saying that none of our signings are world class. The guy has such a massive ego, he thinks he knows how to run a football club better than arsene wenger …
I would advise against reading against Piers Morgan says….
I would advise against Piers Morgan in general
This
And whoever gave the thumbs down should be flogged!!!
Bringbackthearses Q: Why does your name turn red like arseblog’s does when I hover over it with my mouse??
Paul. Because I filled in the ojimeflip I think
Is that you under an assumed name Bloggs???
Tell the truth God is watching you…;-)
I don’t know i find it quite amusing … such a tool …
It’s just a torrent of bile
https://mobile.twitter.com/piersmorgan?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
I am unable to see his tweets after he blocked me for calling him “Penis Morgan”
Hehehe…:-)
Odd, I always thought his name was spelt ‘Piers Moron’ !
Penis Moron could work …
I did consider that at the time but I wanted to keep his surname in it to make it more personal.
It certainly did the trick!
🙂
I miss Benayoun 🙁 that guy had some quality
Good loan signing. Somehow managed to get him from Chelsea. Loved his goal against Olypiacos I think and that quality goal against Norwich.
Arsenal have been after Mustafi all summer long. They final land him and now the gutter press and idiots like you call it panic buying. Unbelieveable!!!!
Panic buying is when you sell your main striker for £50 million to your opposition then blow £35 million of that on Andy Carroll!!! Didn’t see the press having a go at their beloved Liverpool then!!!
Don’t even bother reading the crap the gutter press put out there, and will no long bother ready the crap you put out there as well.
Cant have a go at Liverpool. It’s illegal, a government enquiry would be initiated. Then theyd roll out Jim Royle (not sure what his real name is) to sat how poor scouters are downtrodden and it’s Thatcher’s fault that Gerrard fell over.
Good signings. Not the biggest names and certainly not arsene’s priority targets, but they will improve the team, that I have no doubt. The one thing I wanted was a striker who could take the heat off Giroud and we got one. If he can score 15-20 goals in all competitions while Giroud hits 20-25 goals in all competitions We will have a good season.
Whatever the case may be, the fact is we’re about to get 2 good signings in. Wenger talked about how the club was going to look at unearthing gems from places Ligue 2- hungry talent who don’t take their sporting chances for granted (plus, cheaper)…. Lucas looks like that kind of signing, from a once mighty team like Deportivo, and someone who has fought to get where he is. Anyone who plays for a relegation-battling club with no outstanding playmaker, and still manages the kind of assists/goals that he did seems like a very astute buy indeed. I’d love to… Read more »
ole!
Uhm! So that video? Moving right along.
Missing out on Mhykatarian is the most annoying for me. Always fucking Maureen since 04/05. Like Essien all over again. Still, let’s get behind whoever we do (eventually) bring in.
The issue we have with high-profile signings is that our rivals can always outbid us if they like or need the player too, and I get the feeling that other clubs/managers trust Wenger’s judgement. This probably makes it very hard for us to buy players without doing things very secretly, or waiting for deadline day which gives us two advantages; others have likely bought already, and things happen quickly so it is more difficult to hijack a deal. I’m pretty sure that this is why we go through basically the same motions each transfer window.
I don’t think we missed out on Mkhitaryan; he’s a great footballer, but football did not seem to be his highest priority in choosing to go to United, and that tells you something. He left a dynamic force in Dortmund, playing the best football of his life with Reus and Aubameyang, to play non-CL football with a club (with that absurdly ugly Chevy logo front and centre) that has lost all of its identity and under the most poisonous manager in the game. He wanted his payday, and he got it. We don’t want players like that.
I think pretty much all modern day players are like that, but point taken!
Perez looks really tidy, not a world class centre forward but the more I see and read I really hope it could be a quality addition and a different option for when we’re struggling to break through defences. Quite a few of Wenger’s signings were a little underwhelming or not reknowned world beaters at first – Kos, Cazorla etc – but often they turn out to be quality. Mustafi looks like the real deal and represents a significant outlay for a CB. We will have spent nearly 100m including a whole new spine of the team, time to get behind… Read more »
Anyone suggesting that Mustafi is a panic buy is being too imaginative. Consider all those jibes and snide remarks we’ve had to endure from opponents (and ourselves) over the weeks in his pursuit. But seems like a case of damned if we do damned if we don’t.
Mustafi deal has been in the news for close to a month now, hardly a panic buy.
That video is amazing. i need to see more
I almost pissed myself at the trouble in your mouth video. Gunnerblog got flamed.
if there is one manager out there that does not do panic signings its Wenger, he will not bend to fan or media pressure. He does the deals he can when he can, and no amount of articles or whinging will make him sign players. But of course he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t, as clearly shown by the reaction to his latest foray into the transfer market. Media, bloggers and certain fans have shown us that it don’t matter what he does, they will find fault. So is every player bought by any club… Read more »
Wenger knows…damned if you do or dont.
What I want to know is, is Perez brought in to replace Giroud as main striker or to be his backup. We all know that Giroud isn’t up to it, if we’re to seriously challenge. If he’s not better than Giroud, it seems like a pointless signing to me.
I’m hoping that we’re returning to some form of 4-4-2 formation like France used at the Euros. Giroud and Perezman upfront ^^
Perez is being brought in to complement and improve our attack. Giroud is a excellent striker – he has a limited skill set because of his lack of pace, but he is potent when his game is switch on and Arsenal are able to play to his strengths. Perez brings in more options, which has been Wenger’s key game plan since that horrible spell when we couldn’t score at the beginning of this calendar year. Competition will keep players sharper and more focused, and options in formation (4-1-4-1, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 4-4-2 will likely all be rolled out at some point… Read more »
^^^^^^^^I’ll have a pint of what he’s drinking! COYG!
Ugh
*hasn’t signed players*
“WHY AREN’T YOU SIGNING PLAYERS?!?!?!?!?!!?”
*proceeds to sign players*
“YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE SIGNED THOSE PLAYERS!!!! THEY’RE PANIC BUYS!!!”
I’m far from being a Wenger apologist but sometimes you have to admit what he has to deal with would surely send most people to an asylum.
I’d deal with it for 8 million no problem.
No, you’d take the money and then wander around without a clue how to do the job, which is a lot different.
“We knew what we wanted to do, we knew who we wanted to get but it didn’t come off.”
Any credible rumours on who these might be? Obviously Vardy is one.
I never found the Griezmann links particularly plausible: Chelsea get Lukaku, Athletico take Costa, then Griezmann to Arsenal. Surely the more likely outcome would have been Chelsea swapping Costa for Griezmann (and throwing in a lot of cash)?
I don’t think Griezmann wants to move at the moment and although many don’t understand it, money doesn’t always change stuff like that.
Lucas Perez sounds like phonetic bastard child of podolski and Bobby P. He’s left footed too. Maybe he has a hammer of a shot and an ability to glide past players and be all sexy.
Not like his brother Ribert Pidolski .. He has no right foot, inappropriately hashtags on Twitter and dives around smoking and messing up penalties
How could he forget the supermarket dash of 2011? Arsene does “panic buying” as well as anyone. At least these two look like being done with a few days to spare.
all the late signings in 2011, bar the loan for benny, were in known about for days and weeks before they got done, Moyes had admitted Arsenal’s interest in Arteta over a week before DD, the Santos deal was know from the Thursday, Park on the Friday evening(as the club in France, I think it was Lyon, who were about to sign him, said he had disappeared and they believed he was on way to Arsenal), Brehem had revealed earlier in the summer that Arsenal were trying to sign Per. So once again, why is only the late deals done… Read more »
The press initially say “Wenger is reluctant to spend cash”, then when we make signings they’re “panic buys”. Pathetic journalism.
Its derision and always wishing that Arsene conform to the mould they have created for him. You see, its important that he be seen as one who is archaic in approach and inefficient in executing his archaic methods even. So if he spends, it must be a panic buy or a rip off. If he doesn’t, then that’s vintage Wenger for everyone. Unwilling to snap to the realities of “modern” football and unable to prove that his bygone-era methods are viable. Well they hate us ’cause they anus.
Don’t forget his training systems result in us having the most injuries.
Although surprisingly the actual numbers show we don’t have anywhere near ‘the most injuries’ and many of the injuries that most effect us are ‘impact’ injuries from opponents being allowed to kick seven shades of shit out of us by poor officials, rather than muscular injuries which could be attributed to training deficiencies.
But it’s the managers fault anyway…
Signings like Anthony Martial and Angel Di Maria are panic buys. A few lazy million on Park Ju Yong is not consequential l.
to be fair, I didn’t think there was anything especially panicky about buying Martial, and di Maria should’ve been a safe bet.
Di Maria was a safe bet. It was when LVG decided hmm let’s play one of the best wingers in the world as a defensive midfielder it went a bit tits up.
Guys like Kolo, Park, Sanogo and others are just cheap calculated gambles.
Win some, lose some.
There is a good reason why Arsenal is in the top ten most valuable football clubs in Europe. Well, I dunno whether thats all about our fabled cash reserves or its something to do with some intrinsic character of ours. There is something about Arsenal, Arsene and gooners everywhere that the world finds irresistible, whether its contempt driven by jealousy for the club’s enigmatic nature, or gooners passion and loyalty, there’s always some intangible emotion about Arsenal that keeps fans loyal and opponents contemptuous and jealous (a strange mix by the way).
now I’m tear-faced.
I told my gf I have a lover she should be jealous about.
She gives me love, hate, drama and heartache I can never get from a goirl.
I love her to bits……
Arsenal….Arsenal……YES!
‘“Look at my face. Is this the face of someone who tends to panic buy?”, he said, reportedly with a big cheesy grin on his face.’
I 100% picture this with Larry David saying and doing this instead of the boss (with two- or three-fold degree of agitation, obviously)
Fuck Larry David.
My mate made me watch that shit. It was fucking awful. No wait it gets better, so I watched 2 whole serious of that piss poor shit. Larry David I want 10hrs of my life back you unfunny cunt.
You have had all summer to fix the arses.Despite the billions at your disposal you insist on using wino Bill and his rusty screwdriver.It wasn’t like this in the eighties I tell you.Proper supporters with ZX Spectrums. Health and safety?Bollocks more like. This used to be a nice area.
You’d have more chance if you used two paper cups and a long piece of string Lazza.
Regarding the Arses still being down “due to the fact a lot of it needs to be recoded with the wotsit and the whizzbang-doohickey” the flaw to this as everyone knows that the thingymajig needs to also be aligned with the wodjamacallit and fed through the thingymebob. Tom should know this!!!
Recon Alexis just had his hand in his pants?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJlIS8SA3vH/
Are you on crotch watch?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/joachim-lows-scratch-sniff-antics-8372923
It’s interesting that two of the players we signed this summer in (not to jinx mustafi) are captains of their previous clubs…… For all the talk of collective responsability and mental strength we all know that recent Arsenal teams have lacked leadership and personality. Perhaps these additions will help address that.
Doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Also Wenger spoke about players who haven’t had everything handed to them from an early age having more hunger. Lucas seems to fit in that category.
I have always thought of Alberto Penaranda..that boy can be a great deal.
But now that we got Perez and Mustafi. Let’s get behind the boys. All is possible in this life. COYG
Half time 0-3 awesome.
Cue the inevitable ‘panic buy’ articles from the hysterical media.:D
They are soooo inventive.
The man who refuses to buy last summer and pay more than a quid over for Suarez.
😀
Oh well, some people may believe them I suppose with ‘crisis invention’, its a popular theme these days.
Just like the characterised the Ozil 42.3m + 1 quid deal as a “Panic buy”.hehehe
Press are completely cluesless how the market works.