da brdice： Arsenal’s transfer window was topped and tailed with big money moves, but everything in between was just so typically Arsenal.
da betcris： From telling the world that they have a shedload of cash, to refusing to spend over the odds on players, Arsenal’s transfer window did still manage to include three fairly expensive signings.
On the other hand, so late in the window, they smacked of panic buys.
Granit Xhaka will add much-needed steel to the Arsenal midfield, but given the tonnes of players Arsenal could have bought in this transfer window, Wenger’s arrival back home with Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez just before the deadline does look somewhat underwhelming.
Throughout the transfer window, Arsenal have known exactly what it is they needed in order to strengthen their squad – the signing of Xhaka scratched an itch that had been there for some time, but a striker and a centre back were much needed.
In the end, they strengthened in those areas, and whether or not you think they did good business, they do at least have a stronger squad now than when they ended last season.
But is it really as good as it could have been? Here’s the XI you could have had Arsenal fans….
Petr Cech
The Czech goalkeeper is still one of the best in the league, and given the reasonably erratic form that Thibaut Courtois showed at times last season, Chelsea may well be kicking themselves for letting Cech go.
Arsenal didn’t need to improve on this area, and they won’t need to for another few years.
Hector Bellerin
Is there a better young right back in the Premier League than Hector Bellerin? The young Spaniard burst onto the scene recently and kept his place in the side on merit.
Lightning quick, brilliant going forward, Bellerin is a right back for the modern game, and gives Arsenal an outlet and an option when in possession – no bad thing when they dominate games with their usual verve.
Laurent Koscielny
Laurent Koscielny has gone from strength to strength over the past few seasons. Arsenal’s main man at the back is one of the most reliable centre backs in the Premier League – but finding a partner as reliable over the long term as he is has been proving difficult.
Shkodran Mustafi
Is that man Shkodran Mustafi?
It’s hard to argue with the Mustafi signing, and any other option Arsenal could have gone for this summer would have been on the same level or lower than Mustafi. So it has to go down as a good signing. The only issue is the timing, really.
Could Wenger have made that signing a month earlier to give him the chance to bed in with his new teammates sooner? Probably.
Nacho Monreal
Arsenal’s full back positions never really needed any work this window. But if you look at both Manchester clubs, you’ll see that they’ve done the opposite.
It’s a much more pragmatic approach in modern football to cede the wings to the opposition and focus on staying strong in the middle of the park – where the goals are, after all.
The fact that Arsenal’s strongest positions are attacking midfield and full back perhaps says a lot about Wenger’s pragmatism.
Granit Xhaka
Granit Xhaka’s signing reminds me so much of the signing of Petr Cech. A deal that Arsenal got over the line very early in the window, and one that addressed a specific problem in the team. After that signing, everyone thought Arsene Wenger would go on and spend more money and address the other problems in his team.
Last summer, Cech was his only signing, and this summer it looked like Xhaka would be too. Instead, Wenger did get business done, but was his procrastination over the entirety of the summer a really bad move?
Aaron Ramsey
It’s a toss up here between Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla, both are fabulous players, but Ramsey’s Euro 2016 performances show just how important he is as a domestique working for his team mates as well as a playmaker in his own right.
If Wenger wants, he can go for the much more defensive options of Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin, and against the bigger teams, expect that to happen more often.
Arsenal are now, ironically, very strong in the centre of midfield, and the days of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva are beginning to return.
Riyad Mahrez
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has done alright so far this season, so perhaps it’s unfair to add Mahrez in this list, especially if Chamberlain can improve. He’s still very young.
But when you have the chance to sign last season’s player of the year, you should probably do it.
Wenger doesn’t like signing ready-made winners – he likes to bake them himself, but if Arsenal had the chance to line up with a three behind the striker of Mahrez, Ozil and Sanchez, why didn’t they take it?.
Mesut Ozil
What more can you say about Mesut Ozil? He’s arguably Arsenal’s best player, and one of the most gifted, most important players in the Premier League.
I say important because Ozil provides chances for his teammates – Aguero, Kane, Ibrahimovic et al might be incredibly important for putting the ball in the net, but without service from players like Ozil, there’s no chance they’ll score.
Alexis Sanchez
One of the best players in the league, Alexis Sanchez is the man Arsenal can turn to for inspiration, and a man who can play anywhere along the front line.
This season, Sanchez has played as a lone striker, and that seems to suit his game – he can press and he can run in behind, stretching the defence and midfield of the opposition, creating space for Mesut Ozil to roam in. Maybe we’ll see the sight of Ozil arriving late in the box more often this season, just like he did against Watford.
Alexandre Lacazette
Was there ever a player who seemed to suit Arsenal and Arsene Wenger as much as Alexandre Lacazette just at the moment?
He’s about the right age, he’s about the right level of maturity, and he has the pace, power and explosiveness to fit right into the Premier League.
Just why Wenger won’t spend the money is a mystery, but with Lacazette, Arsenal would have the striker their team needs, and one who would score mountains of goals with the plethora of quality midfielders the Gunners now possess.