Will Arsene Wenger need to spend big in the summer transfer window?
With it seemingly likely that Arsenal will now go six seasons without any silverware, is it time for the Arsenal manager to change his ways and dip into the summer transfer market to bolster his squad with experience and make them true contenders for silverware.
Arsenal are currently seven points behind Manchester United with a game in hand but will United looking as stern as ever, it will be surely another year without a trophy for Arsenal. It looked so great for the London based club with them in strong contention to win the treble but a shocking seven days saw them dumped out of three competitions, including their Carling Cup final loss to Birmingham City.
Wenger has consistently refused to really get involved in the transfer windows, remaining adamant that he wants to stick to his young side and shape them into a championship winning side, but six years on he has failed to win anything, Although they have got closer in recent years, and if they fail to overturn this seven point deficit in the Premier League then surely it must be time for either a change in manager or a change in policy. The fans have remained patient but now I’m sure that they would now rather win a trophy playing ugly football than play the beautiful game and come short year after year.
The Frenchman may have to start spending in transfer windows because with recent board movement, with Stan Kroenke getting closer to completing a formal total takeover (currently holding 52% of the shares) of the club it may mean that he will force Arsene to spend or he will find someone else to do it. Kroenke is known for investing heavily in his ventures and the Gunners fan can be excited about the future of Arsenal if the American does complete a takeover.
People think that Arsenal are a long way off the teams like Manchester United and Chelsea but they only really need three or four more players for them to be able to mount a serious title fight, without fading at the end. It is evident that Arsene needs to sort out his goalkeeping situation. Although Wojciech Szczesny looks to be one for the future, they need to bring someone in for the immediate future. Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Alumina are just not good enough to compete at the top level as shown in previous times when they have cost their team the games on a number of occasions, and if you’re trying to win trophies you cannot afford to drop points like that.
I believe that Arsenal would have no difficulty attracting a player like the Italian Gianlugi Buffon to the club. Although the big Italian is 33, this is actually exactly what Arsenal need, an experienced world class keeper. Buffon has been linked to plenty of clubs this summer, including Manchester United. Juventus would probably be tempted by an offer of seven-ten million. The goalkeeping area is critical for Arsenal to correct if they are to move on in the next few years.
Secondly Arsenal will need to buy another centre back; although they have bought Laurent Koscielny and Sebastian Squillaci in the last year, none are again good enough to enable Arsenal to compete on a European stage. Once fit Thomas Vermaelen will be their number one central defender, but they are in desperate need to find someone to partner him. Someone that Arsenal have been rumoured to be interested in, is the big German Per Mertesacker. He is currently playing his football at Werder Bremen, he has a lot of talent and would fit straight into the Arsenal set up, consolidating their back four and making them a difficult outfit to try and score against. Although he would cost near up to 17million it would be an investment well spent.
It seems that Arsenal just need to strengthen the spine of their starting eleven, as they will probably need to purchase a central midfielder too, with it looking likely that Cesc Fabregas will be a Barcelona player next year. I believe that instead of just going for a technical gifted player, Arsenal just need to try and get an experienced figure head in the middle of the park, which can control things in pressure situations and also has the mental strength to win titles that can rub off onto other players in the side. Although Esteban Cambiasso would cost Arsenal near £20million plus, he would be an essential buy and one that can lead Arsenal to trophies, not that he will score goals but because of the experience and mental strength that he will bring.
Finally and probably the less important position that needs to be focused on because they have plenty of resource available to play up front, but it would be a bonus if they were able to buy a striker that can help take some of the pressure and work load off Robin Van Persie. They are plenty of pundits that believe that Theo Walcott can be a very useful asset up front with his pace. They also have Marounane Chamakh who seemed to be a great player at the start of the season but fitness and the return to top form of Van Persie seemed to side line the Moroccan for the later parts of this season. Although Wenger seems to prefer to just play one front man, a team needs to be versatile and have the ability to adapt to any situation and that will mean play with two forwards. Someone that would be a fantastic purchase is Thomas Muller from Bayern Munich. The young German set the world a light in last year’s World Cup, and is isn’t just an out and out striker, he has the ability to play out wide too, which can be a very handy characteristic. The young German sensation would cost Arsenal near £20million too.
Although these players will cost a lot of money and the chances of Arsenal being able to afford and get all four of them is very small, just signing maybe one or two and then finding cheaper options that will offer the same characteristics for the rest will be brilliant for Arsenal. But the main issue that needs to be addressed is, just Arsene Wenger needs to actually spend some money!
