Wenger denies panic buying
ARSENE Wenger has spent years railing against big spending in football but yesterday morning he found himself in an unusual position, having to defend himself against accusations of panic buying.
Arsenal will spend £52million this weekend on Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez, desperately trying to plug holes in the team that have seen them take just one point from their first two Premier League games. Mustafi is a long-standing target but Perez is not.
Just two weeks ago Wenger was bemoaning those who saw every problem as solvable with money, saying that “football has to be bigger than that”. Yesterday morning, sat in the same chair, Wenger insisted that he had not caved to the pressure by spending so much on the last weekend of the window. “Look at my face, is it the face of somebody who does a panic buy,” Wenger asked, not entirely convincingly. “No. I try to make the decision.”
Arsenal fans have been begging Wenger to spend more money for years, not just over this summer.
Wenger has finally bought some pegs for his team’s holes, and should not be condemned for that. But it prompts the question whether he has bent his own rules, and whether he has done because of the weight of public outcry.
“My job is to resist stress and pressure,”re,” Wenger said, “while keeping g my ‘blue head’“, a phrase borrowed wed from the All Blacks, meaning ng clearly focusing on objectives ives despite external noise. “If you want to go from A to B, howw far can you maintainaintain that focus, ocus, and make the right decisions? Unfortunately we all make mistakes.”
Wenger warned, as he does most weeks, that modern life has bred an obsession with novelty, which is manifested in football by a desperation for transfers.
“People have been addicted to news,” Wenger explained. “We live in a society where we need always new faces, hope for the future. You want to dream. There is fear of being behind the others. If you look at the last season for example, it is not necessarily the club who bought the most that is in front.”
All summer Wenger has taken heart from the example of Leicester, and the suggestion that big spending on players might not help to make the best teams. Yet this weekend Wenger appears to have decided that he is better off back in the big-spending mainstream of the English game.
The decision to sign Mustafi is not controversial. The Germany international has been a solid performer at Valencia for two years and will bring an experience and presence at centre-back that Arsenal desperately need. The way that Liverpool shredded Calum Chambers and Rob Holding two weeks ago will stay long in the memory. With Per Mertesacker and Gabriel injured, Arsenal certainlyy certainly needed another grown-up defender in that role.
Arsenal agreed a £35million deal with Valencia on Thursday for Mustafi, who flew to London for his medical on Friday. While that is more than the £21m they could have signed him for earlier this summer, they did not know then that centre-back would become as much of a priority as it has.
Mustafi had a spell at Everton as a youngster before learning the game first at Sampdoria then at Valencia.
Wenger spoke optimistically about his career so far. “I think he has a good pedigree, but time will tell,” Wenger said. “He was an important player at Valencia, he was their captain.”
Wenger insisted that the timing of the transfer, on the weekend of Arsenal’s third league game of the season, was not his choice. “You are not the only one who decides that,” he said. “Especially when you deal with leagues that start late.”
On the question of Perez, though, Wenger’s insistence that he has not panic-bought sounded weaker.
Arsenal watched Perez extensively last season and did not think he was good enough for them. But last week, with Everton about to sign him, they jumped in and agreed to pay Deportivo’s £17m release clause. Perez is expected in London this weekend. “He is a late developer,p , he p played in a different position before,” said Wenger, explaining why Perez has only once scored 10 league goals in a season. “He moved centrally in a successful way. I think he has good link up qualities, good quality of receptions,re good finishing qualities.” Perez has been compared to Jamie Vardy, a comparisonco Wenger embraced, pointing to Per Perez’s speed and versatility. Arsenal tried to sign Vardy in early June, only for him to t turn them down. Almost three month months on they have an alternative. “If we get it done,” Wenger said, “we get what we wanted.” There is fear of being behind the othe others. If you look at the lastla season for example, it is not necessarily the club who bought the most that is in front. — The IndependentIndep