Arsenal's woeful transfer operations - What is the plan?

Arsenal's woeful transfer operations - What is the plan?

 

Bernardo Silva could be available for a considerable fee, will Arsenal pounce? (Photo credit: Premierleague.com)

…With due respect to Arsenal, Bernardo Silva at the moment is bigger than any club that isn’t in Europe, what pull does Arsenal have to entice him?

Manchester City will be able to let one senior player go if they land Jack Grealish, can Mikel Arteta use his relationship with Pep Guardiola to lure the Portuguese to the Emirates? And can Arsenal work out the funds to wrap things up as soon as possible?

Houssem Aouar is another player on the Gunners’ radar, they chased him till the very last day of the transfer window last season and it would have been a very horrendous one but for a last-minute success on Thomas Partey.

Arsenal need bodies in the middle, Sambi Lokonga looks like the real deal but he will take time to impose himself and to be honest, he looks like the Matteo Guendouzi situation all over again, Arsenal needs a statement signing in the middle, Lokonga is fine for the future, Arsenal needs a player for NOW!

There’s a case for a few players. Lucas Torreira is back from his title-winning loan spell at Atletico Madrid, he wants out really but can he offer Arsenal anything? 

Ainsley Maitland-Niles is also back from his ill-fated loan spell at relegated West Brom and no one is trying to sign him, what’s his fate?

If there’s any Arsenal player that went on loan and really played himself into reckoning, it was Joe Willock.

The youngster excelled at Newcastle, scoring freely and earning respect from potential suitors, but as it stands, not a single bid from anywhere, why are Arsenal players unattractive to suitors?

There’s so much potential in the Arsenal ranks, but there’s an avalanche of title winners in rivals’ set up, it’s very easy to conclude that Arsenal will not challenge even for the top four as it stands and the reasons are more obvious than not.

Upfront, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang is misfiring, the amount of sitters he has missed in pre-season games, and his body language beg for attention.

You begin to wonder if the deal handed to him at the start of last season was worth it, whatever the case is he still remains club captain anyways.

Alexander Lacazette hasn’t been handed a new deal and most likely he won’t.

Eddie Nketiah isn’t top quality, he’s banging in goals during the preseason but the question will be asked of him when real tests start, he should leave but no concrete bid, what is Edu Gasper doing?

Folarin Balogun should be getting minutes in the new season, he was convinced to stay and they must give him reasons to respect their words, he should not be fighting with Nketiah for game time, Arsenal should sell Nketiah and maybe listen to offers for Lacazette.

Now, is this to say they should get Tammy Abraham from Chelsea? No chance at all but they need a proven goal scorer especially if Aubameyang won’t find his scoring touch again, they must convert chances and put in defensive shifts.

The overhaul we expected from Arsenal isn’t happening, we’ll wait till the end of the window to know what their season will look like, but as it stands, it will be another frustrating season for their fans.