AND WENGER? ..BROKE IT!
Arsenal’s transfer dealings have yet again been a shambles as ailing boss spectacularly fails to rebuild and loses his top talent
THE empire is crumbling.
How Arsenal got themselves into such a mess on transfer deadline day is anyone’s guess.
Scrambling around trying to find a last-minute replacement for Alexis Sanchez when they have known he wants to leave all summer is ridiculous.
They have been forced to sell Alex OxladeChamberlain to Liverpool because the player would not sign a new deal and believes he will be better off at Anfield.
Young players used to want to work with Arsene Wenger. Now they see the Gunners as a sinking ship and want to go elsewhere.
Arsenal are upset with Oxlade-Chamberlain for the way it has all been handled, but there have been times when he has been equally upset with them. Not picked, not given any reason, constantly subbed and his career stalling. It is a two-way street.
Sanchez wants to leave, he will not ask for a transfer but wants out. You could see it in his performance at Liverpool, the way he has trained and his attitude at the training ground.
Without Sanchez, Arsenal look bang average. When Kieran Gibbs’ transfer to West Brom was announced, several wags on Twitter joked the Gunners should not be selling to a direct rival.
In typical Arsenal fashion, they are now facing a bitter fan backlash as the supporters fear they are hurtling towards mid-table mediocrity.
It really is that bad. The players fear it, board members fear it and the decision to give Wenger a new two-year contract now looks a terrible and costly mistake.
They were not good enough last season, they are weaker now. It is a mess.
The players are looking on in horror with the club in serious danger of seeing the foundations collapse. Losing their star player in Sanchez on deadline day is the sign of a selling club, not one challenging for major trophies. It is also the sign of a club which is badly organised, who cannot get transfers and contracts done. Transfer deadline days have always been chaotic in the Wenger era. He is, after all, a manager renowned for his indecision and leaving everything until the last minute. But the decline in recent seasons is now in danger of falling off the graph because while their rivals have all spent big, Arsenal are on course to be in profit.
They have spent much of the summer putting all their energies into offloading players to balance the books, then bring better players in.
Now they cannot even give them away. Mathieu Debuchy (left, top) looks marooned despite being made available on a free. Shkodran Mustafi (left, middle) is set to stay, they are struggling to offload Lucas Perez (left, bottom) and Joel Campbell.
Arsenal had a chance to sign Monaco’s Thomas Lemar, but dithered and now it’s too late. Their only signings have been Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac when last season showed the squad needed a major overhaul, not sticking plasters.
When he signed his new deal the idea was of change and Wenger reinventing himself. It looks a broken promise. It is a mess. But not unexpected.