Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal remain ‘active’ and ‘alert’ in the transfer market knowing from experience that some players become unexpectedly available closer to the window closing.
The Gunners did early business signing Sead Kolasinac on a free and Alexandre Lacazette for a club record deal but have found further deals harder to complete. So far offers for Monaco duo Thomas Lemar and Kylian Mbappe have both been lodged and rejected while Jean-Michael Seri of Nice is another purported target.
Speaking ahead of the Emirates Cup, the boss touched on how he plans to strengthen the squad in the next four weeks.
“What’s next is to remain active,” he told Arsenal Player. “Not a lot [has] happened.
“I believe there are actually two ways to improve the team. First of all to improve the quality of what we do in training to improve the squad and improve the players we have, and secondly to bring more top-level players in.
“The difficulty is to bring top-level players in because you pay a huge amount of money for very normal players at the moment. As well, all the big clubs are chasing the same players and that provokes huge inflation. Maybe this will be the first time we [football clubs] pay over £200m, maybe over £300m with Neymar and around £200m with Mbappe.
“So there is a huge inflation. But we are active, we are working hard and I think we have done well with Kolasinac, we have done well with Lacazette and we are continuing to work.
“There’s the usual acceleration in the final part of August,” added Wenger, “But I think you have always to be on alert every day, because a good opportunity might turn up.
“Sometimes people you are after for a long time are not available and suddenly they become available. So you have always to be on alert. That’s what we do.”
Get as many as possible done early so they can integrate and then wait to see what happens to the others. It’s a complex thing the transfer market, given it depends on both clubs, player and agent. Plus the ramifications on other transfers to replace the player leaving.
So we are eyeing some Barca Madrid PSG cast-off.
Rakitic will be nice, please do it Arsene.
I don’t watch a lot of Madrid, but it makes me wonder if Kovacic would be the kind of player to go for. He’s likely to be a surplus after Real procured a couple other CMs this summer. I have no doubt that he would be a good addition to Arsenal; what I question is whether he’s an EPL top club level starter, and where he could fit in our scheme.
Rakitic is a good shout, could be incredible alongside Xhaka.
Ramifications won’t leave Barca. He’s one of their best players. They have bought badly the last few years and their squad is becoming way behind Madrid, they couldn’t afford to sell Rakitic. They are struggling to get more quality in that area of the pitch
Ramifications reminds me a lot of Cohesion, and look how THAT turned out for us three seasons ago! No thanks.
You could have copied and pasted this from recent transfer windows. Basically if something drops on our laps and we don’t have to compete with anyone else then we may do it? But we may also not do it? Because we already have super duper quality, and even though the super duper quality hasn’t put up a decent league challenge since 2007/08, I love my super duper underachieving quality and like to give them big fat pay rises and contract renewals. Apart from the best ones, the best ones I like to let their contracts run right down, they also… Read more »
I find the Sanchez instagram post “sick” to be very worrying. I think it will get ugly and naive Wenger should have paid what was needed to replace him with Lemar and Seri, or equivalent players before we are forced to sell
If equivalent players grew on tree’s then Man City and PSG would already have found alternative clubs to pester.
We’d also have a stronger hand in negotiating his new contrac.
But unfortunately replace 30 goals and 14 assists isn’t that easy.
Under no circumstances whatsoever should we sell Alexis inside the PL
Or he could just be sick
missingthepupsitus
I understand you, but you got to agree that the market is over inflated at the moment.
Maybe it’s because a lot of clubs with money are desperate like PSG, Man city, Man United.
Being super duper Mr. Know it all, is kind of easy – Rich is way better choice than Wenger. #Wenger out – Rich in
It’s a job I’d quite like providing I get the same perks as the current manager.
Amazing Wages ✅
Rewarded for mediocrity ✅
No pressure ✅
Job security ✅
Outranking the board+CEO ✅
No KPI’s ✅
You don’t need to be captain hindsight to come to the conclusion that unless we add a minimum of two players who’ll go straight into our first 11 then we won’t compete for the title.
We’ve seen this script before, excuse after excuse after excuse.
No KPIs. Don’t throw acronyms you know nothing about around. No company will share their KPIs publicly. KPI are internal metrics. It’s certain that the manager met his KPIs for 20 straight years. Nobody in their right mind will make winning the league a KPI. That’s more of an annual objective
“by setting KPIs the company enables the team to make smart business decisions about the direction of all current projects.
Which smart decisions are we making?
Either we’re hitting our targets which is a worry.
Or even worse we’re not? and we’re rewarding the manager anyway.
Who wouldn’t want to be paid £9mill a yr for a job like that.
Abuse me all you want, I know the vast majority of you on here don’t like truth.
But going for the player instead of the ball is a tactic used when you’ve got no argument left.
But he just completely dismantled the point about KPIs. How is that “going for the player instead of the ball”? The only thing he said that could possibly be interpreted as a personal attack is saying you “know nothing about” it, which he sort of demonstrated.
That’s : Make KPI Fuzzy Again.
Oooh…Oooh…Can I be “Captain Hindsight”? Please.
I find it so worriying that none of the top players want to come to arsenal anymore. For every ozil and Sanchez we have a hundred missed ones. mbappe and all just consider arsenal as a stepping zone. Whats even more worrying is that our top three players of last season is yet to even sign the contract. The situation is a far cry to a decade ago when we were one of the most attarctive destination for players. It doesnt take a genius to figure out we are going nowhere at the moment. If anything we are only gping… Read more »
When have Arsenal ever signed top players?
Barring the underwhelming Arshavin, Arsenal have never signed a player in vogue.
Alert? We’re the only so called top 4 which has not strengthen the team enough to really have a chance to challenge for epl apart from Spuds. The worse scouting team, worse transfer handling team, worse board and summing up the penny pinching coach who cannot even sell the deadwood, let top players contract run to its last year but let go the best players for free. Even Everton has made 7 decent signing to have go to top 6th which is where I can see ourselves if at least 2 top players are brought in before season starts. It’s… Read more »
As it stands I think a top4 challenge is the best we can do in the league and i can see us missing out again.
Hopefully we’ll take the Europa league and domestic cups seriously and others don’t, be nice to get some silverware.
I have no faith in the manager, the owner, the board or the majority of our players.
I can’t actually see what’s changed?
Unless the Ex Sky Contract negotiator is some type of Messi/Ronaldo hybrid?
It’s amazing how an FA Cup win can distract so many from the massive failures in the league under his last contract. No rational supporter country be confident this side could properly compete for the league, let alone win it.
*could
How has the FA Cup “distracted” anyone? If there’s two things everyone will agree on I s that while we did have a good finish, the season as a whole was a massive disappointment.
Sadly, I sort of agree with what you’re saying.
I see the negativity window has opened then. 🙁
Or realism is kicking in again as it does for most fans but some just wait a little longer.
The harsh reality window never closes.
Negativity is starting very early this year. Already in mid-session form
A sense of proportion, please. We added a good striker who will effectively replace Lucas Perez in our squad. Have Chelsea improved from last season, by replacing Costa with Morata? Is Man United stronger with Lukaku instead of Ibrahimovic? At last count, I think Man City have added thirty-seven fullbacks, some of them good (and lost four! four!)–we added only one, but he was judged the best left back in the Bundesliga last year, despite not playing for Bayern or Dortmund. We can expect more deals from the top clubs, and more from us. If we keep Alexis and add… Read more »
The usual talk…get a winger, CM and CB or we’ll not make the top 4. I can’t believe we’ve let this Lemar deal drag on. City, Chelsea have gotten their targets while we dither.
not sure I see the need for a center back… we’re well stocked with decent options in that position
Do you really think $iteh and Chavski have got all their targets?
If they haventand thiers more to come then we are really in trouble if our business is done .
It’s not like supermarket sweep you know.
Next up: Guardiola: We’re buying every day of the transfer window.
Manchester city(Silva £45 _ Walker £50 _ Mendy £52 ….)
Chelsea(….)
Manchester united(….)
To compete we need to Seri _ Lemar and….
Would settle for somebody like Seri
There’s a room of thought that this transfer window has actually been one of the most chaotic and potentially disastrous windows in recent memory. 3 top players (and Wilshere) with a year left have not signed new deals. Only two signings in. Barely sold any players and are resorting to forcing them to train alone to try hasten exits. If Giroud hadn’t signed a new deal, he’d be off too. Lacazette is a good signing but our problem has been the mental collapses during games and Jens Lehmann is not going to fix that. Starting to worry, especially when Wenger… Read more »
“We’re alert every day of the transfer window”.. I wonder where I’ve heard that before ?
You’ve probably heard it every year from most managers and most clubs…
Ever heard of sarcasm?
As things stand, we’ve had a very good window. We’ve strengthened our attack, found upgrades in defense, retained important squad members, integrated everyone in a formation that seemingly brings out the best in us.
Other than the contract issues our only concern is whether Ramsey can stay fit for an entire season.
Hmm wondering who this year’s panic buy will be??
What’s yossi benayoun up to these days?
He nearly scored another hattrick recently.
It’s a good question?
Depends on the Charity Shield result against Chelsea and the PL results against Leicester, Stoke and Liverpool.
If we have a decent start? Then expect Arsene to stick with his lot.
If we have a bad start and the mood takes a turn for the worst? then expect a reactionary signing that’s not very well thought out.
I’ve never been this downbeat about our chances, up until 2013/14 I was accepting that we didn’t have the recourses to compete.
Now I’ve come to the conclusion under this regime we have no intentions of ever competing.
Exactly, when he got the new contract the club hierarchy essentially wrote off our chances of winning the league for another two years at least.
I think our problems are bigger than just AW. We have an owner who’s definition of Arsenal being successful is whether or not we’re profitable? Personally I’d advocate us paying the £180mill for Mbappe. We could possibly get £70mill for Perez, Walcott and Giroud. £15mill for Wilshere £12mill for Gibbs £10mill for Szczesny £20mill for Chambers £3mill for Jenks £5mill for Akpom That’s £135 mill worth of talent that’s either been replaced already, or had to be loaned out last season due to an already overstretched squad. To make that step up, we have to get hold of such a… Read more »
And what if Mbappe doesn’t want to come? And what if no one wants to pay £20m for Chambers? And what if you let reality enter your head? By the way, there are no goal posts to move in what, on these websites, is referred to as football.
Give it up for fuck sake your bringing me down man.
Ok how about I give you some false truths to make My little princess feel better? Lacazette will no doubt outscore Not only Lukaku+Morata+Aguero this season he’ll also out score Ronaldo+Messi+Neymar+Suarez. We’ll have the PL title wrapped up by February. We’ll win both domestic cups beating Spurs 10-0 in both finals. We’ll lift the Europa league beating United 12-0 in a game that’ll get Mourinho sacked. Walcott’s Mrs has promised him a new toaster if he bags 100+100 assist this season, its the reason we have the title wrapped up in February. Unfortunately after he gets his new toaster he… Read more »
That’s more like it! I am looking forward to beating the Spuds 10 nil twice COYG!!
Are you calling for a regime change? Someone get CNN and the CIA in here 😛
If we get Lemar and Seri, then it will be really good transfer window.
And with those additions at least by looking at the squad we can win the title.
Absolutely agree. But it’s a big if. Doesn’t even sounds like we’ve bid for Seri yet and the lemar chase is turning into a farce. This whole interview has been said at the end of July early august every year for the last 5 years or more. Almost word for word. If we’re waiting for out goings before our next move we’re going to get shafted because it’s very likely teams are waiting for last minute bargains on our outcasts and we’re chasing guys whose teams don’t want to lose them so need time to replace them. Again a perfect… Read more »
Regarding seri, can’t we get somebody bigger? I’ll feel better with a CM who’s at least 5’10
It’s scary to think how many points we finished behind league winners, can we close that gap and win the league this season? My heart says yes but my head says no chance! Seems like our squad needs to much work both selling and buying and the clocks ticking.
Sounds like more excuses from a manager who hasn’t had a settled and well prepared squad at the start of the season for a number of years now.
This shit again. Familiar sound bites when nothing is happening before mad end rush. Call me a cynic.
And yes I know there have been 2 early signings.
“Sometimes people you are after for a long time are not available and suddenly they become available.”
Like Benzema. Would’ve happily taken him any time in the last five years, but now not so sure.
Crumbs I wish the window closed at the start of the season not four games into it!!! Ridiculous carry on that drags out this bull for longer!!! YAWN
So basically we’re not trying to sign anybody right now. Presumably we don’t think we really need anybody. Either that or we don’t have the money.
When we have a pressing need we don’t seem to mess about.
Hard to agree with this although happy with what we’ve done so far.
Unfortunately Arsenal seem to be always a season behind on player valuations. Although we did seriously undervalue Szczesney. Leaving it late does give the impression that we are waiting for the crumbs from the big players table. Mentality and financial muscle needs to change.
Arsene wenger at his spinning tactics again. We are used to this talk season after season. Then at the last day he panics and buys what ever is roitering around and never plays them.
Our midfield lineup is piss poor. No chance are we going to challenge when our hopes lie with Ramsey/Xhaka/Coquelin/Elneny anchoring the midfield.
Piss poor is a bit strong but probably not good enough
True. A bit harsh. Let’s go with “average” apart from Ozil.
I doubt Wenger is ever alert
Translation…My business is done.
well, if he thinks that midfield is good and strong enough to compete,… he is wrong.
Ramsey will get injured and will miss 3-4months, Xhaka cards, midfield of Coq and Elneny we all saw it doesn’t work… Wilshere might be fit for 5 games and someone like Willock or AMN might get a chance, but we definitely need WC CM.
Sad to say you could see this coming a mile away. In all reality if we look at how things unfolded it took us three years to land Lacazette and even then it was only because Athletic Madrid had a transfer embargo slapped on them. I would be highly surprised if we sign anyone else this window. Our team is fake, an illusion and I am no longer emotionally invested in something designed and created to feed off my emotions. This is Ground Hog day for the umpteenth year in a row and I no longer give my consent to… Read more »
To be fair I think we have a very good team. Just probably not quite good enough, as usual.
Giroud hog day…?
Anyone know what channel to watch us v benfica? Thanks!
Never mind. Bless the ole intenet power. It’s on Quest if anyone is interested. Free to air.. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/07/29/arsenal-vs-benfica-emirates-cup-live-score-updates/
I Should have scrolled down a bit before replying to your first post eh?
Thanks anyway ;0)
Looks like it’s on Quest, channel 144 on $ky. Watching the Sevilla Leipzig game just now
Channel 37 on free tv.
No you’re not. Yawn.
I just realized that Koscielny will be suspended for the first 3 matches of the season (Chelsea, Leicester, Stoke). I haven’t heard anybody talk about this, will surely influence the decision about when to play Mustafi.
I thought it was 2 games due to the FA Cup final?
Honestly I’m less bothered about what we’re doing in the transfer window and more bothered by what’s happening on the training ground. Look where we lost the league last season. We don’t need Lemar to beat Everton away, we don’t need Seri to beat Watford at home and we sure as hell don’t need Mbappe to avoid a thrashing at Palace! The problems at the club run much, much deeper than a marquee signing, but no one seems to want to address that
Sadly nobody cares what is our real problem my friend
So am I
As mentioned, much of it isn’t in our control. You can’t buy Mahrez for instance unless you over pay for him. Leicester are watching the market and are praying Barca may come in if they should sell Neymar/have a hard time buying Coutinho (or want to buy both) Lemar is over priced. And there won’t be any movement until Mbappe to Madrid is resolved. On our own end, Alexis is clearly 95% out of the door with ‘sickness’. But with City currently the only destination, the club will have to wait for the other clubs on the continent to either… Read more »
See for me this is the same problem we have always had when we say alert. We are not proactive we are reactive. There is also the usual ‘two ways to improve the squad’ trying to frame inactivity as acceptable. It’s why I no longer trust him.
Plenty of fools in the media called “pundits” They will laud over expensive buys like John Stones proclaim them a show of desire and hunger, or recommend Melo or Mvilla as solutions to us. They will try to moan about us panic buying Ozil when Wenger would not pay a pound more for Higuain. UTTER Rubbish. Pathetic attempt at manufacturing discontent. None of these numpties have operated in transfer market let alone managed people in a big club. Wenger is one of the best in the market. Last season him and Dick got Holding for FREE. Little mention in the… Read more »
Also worth noting there are 6 or 7 clubs in Europe who can pay MORE than us bc they are less concern with bottomline. The top predators have to feast in the market first : Madrid, PSG, Barca, City, Chelsea, United, Bayern I think we can compete with Juve maybe but it would be foolish to go into a price war with any of the others. They are willing to spend silly money. We’ve been a model in terms of buying value which is why many clubs seek to emulate us and it is a stamp of approval for agents… Read more »
On a side note Conte is quite a likeable manager, his comments about Mourinho are very amusing
Here we go again. The song remains the same.