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| Taken from Arsenal.com |
Evening Gooners,
Is it just me or can the Swansea game not come quick enough. There is a feeling of excitement and anticipation around the Ashburton Grove at the moment following the most active transfer window I can remember for an age.
The late flurry of window activity has lifted the spirits of everyone involved with the club. Now, I'm not going to pretend that the window had no issues, and I'm not talking about the departires of Cesc and Nasri, I'm talking about the sambles behind the scenes that allowed both the mentioned sagas drag on for so long but also left the majority of our business to the last few days. We virtually sacrificed our opening three games of the season, we knew we would not be ready yet those people responsible, whoever they may be, allowed our players to leave our already thin squad before replacements were sorted whilst at the same time allowing targets such as Mata slip through our fingers. I know the argument with Mata is that when Chelsea came in for him they were the more attractive option but my counter argument is that we should have wrapped up the deal before Chelsea even made their interest known. We even nearly cocked up the Arteta deal when it came to the contract, in the end the player took a pay cut in order to secure a 4 year deal but those negotiations could very well have took too long and cost us the deal.
Sorry, this wasn't supposed to be a moan, I just diverted my train of thought, at the end of the day, the players we have brought in have made our squad stronger and that has to have been the ultimate goal.
As it turns out, the window could have been even nicer. It has been confirmed that we had large offers in for 3 more players. Eden Hazard could well have been on his way to London after reports suggest and an 'unnamed source told the Daily Mirror (yes, I know!! Just remember a certain member of our board has some good friends with that particular paper) that Lille had accepted an offer and personal terms were agreed however it happened so late in the day that Lille didn't have time to replace him so the deal fell through.
Officials in france have also confirmed that Rennes turned down a substantial offer for M'Vila believed to be in the region of €25m. It's also been reported that we had a deal worth around €35m turned down for Goetze. Although these reports show Wenger and Arsenal are willing to spend large amounts of money on a single player, it also confirms my above argument that we are still lacking the cutting edge in the market.
I hope lessons have been learnt by the club for future transfer windows but for now we need to get behind the players we have, both new and old, and push forward to find the success we deserve.
One of those however will not be Jack Wilshere the Arsenal wonderkid has confirmed via twitter that he will be out for 2-3 months. This is a bitter blow but it is a fantastic oppurtunity for the likes of Arteta, Benayoun, Ramsey or Frimpong t take a leading role and become the new sparkle in fans eyes. Get well soon Jack, we need you.
I the more ridiculous side of the news, Arsenal.com have confirmed that UEFA have been trueto their responsibilities of putting a stop to the true crimes in football and withheld Arsene Wenger's two match ban so will miss the Champions League games against Dortmund and Olympiacos. It's a good thing there's nothing like racism in the game otherwise an offence as serious as Wenger talking to a bloke in the seat next to him in the stand might have gone unnoticed and unpunished and that would surely start the inevitable downfall of football as we know it.
On a happier note, I noticed tonight that Arsenal.com have finally put some photos of Arteta in red and white on the website (you'll find them here), it made me smile, especially the shots of his happy little face in training, but miss proper football even more. I really can't wait until Swansea travel to London to be issued a spanking by the new Arsenal.
I know it's a bit of a short one today but that's international week for ya.
Till next time,
Goonerfish
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