Arsenal on the back of ending their cup drought with winning the F.A. Cup, the Gunners went into the break with fans expecting that their si...
Arsenal on the back of ending their cup drought with winning the F.A. Cup, the Gunners went into the break with fans expecting that their side could be reinforced and challenge seriously for the Premier League title.
Winning the F.A Cup could not keep French star Bacary Sagna at the club who left the London city to Manchester joining EPL champions Man City. Wenger was once the king of the transfer market and could come out with the best deals, did he again?
EXITS:
Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona £15.5m, Johan Djourou to Hamburg £2.5m, Thomas Eisfeld- Fulham.
Ignasi Miquel- Norwich City, Zak Ansah- Charlton Athletic, Lukasz Fabianski- Swansea City, Zachari Fagan- Welling United, Bacary Sagna to Man City, Chuks Aneke- Zulte Waregem.
Nicklas Bendtner- Wolfsburg, Leander Siemann- Porto B, Jon Toral- Brentford and loaned out were Wellington Silva- Almeria, Carl Jenkinson- West Ham, Benik Afobe- MK Dons, Ryo Miyaichi- FC Twente. With Daniel Boateng and Park Chu Young being released
IN:
Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona £35m, Calum Chambers from Southampton £16m.
Danny Welbeck- Man Utd £16m, Mathieu Debuchy- Newcastle United £10m.
David Ospina- Nice £3.5m, Elias Chatzitheodoris- Mas Kallitheakos, Hugo Keto- HJK Helsinki, and Ben Sheaf- West Ham.
Highlights:
In goal, Arsenal lost long time bench rotating player Lukasz Fabianski to Swansea City but brought in David Ospina in goal to replace him; the shot stopper was Colombia's first choice throughout their World Cup campaign.
Arsene Wenger took a dig at Bacary Sagna for leaving Emirates to team up with ex-Arsenal players Nasri, Clichy at Man City following up with Adebayor and Kolo Toure people who have left the club to Etihad.
But the professor did not relax there, he ended up signing Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle for £8m; it is worthy to note that Debuchy is an established premier league player and sat out Sagna at the World Cup.
Also reinforcing with young defender Calum Chambers is not one for now but could be thrown in should it be required.
Danny Welbeck, a deadline day signing for the Gunners at 16m from Man Utd seems to be a fair deal, the English player is quick, has a high work rate and while he might be accused of not scoring goals he was not played as a central striker which he might get opportunities now with Giroud out injured.
KEY SIGNING:
The call for a striker is long overdue at Arsenal, and Arsenal splashed the cash signing Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona. The squirrel as called by the media and teammates,not only brings incisiveness, pace, technique which Arsenal have in their midfield ranks but goals with him.
According to Ted Knutson of the Mirror, "Sanchez was fourth in La Liga in goalscoring rate at .72 per 90 and fourth in scoring contribution (combined non-penalty goals and assists per 90 minutes) at 1.09, behind Ronaldo, Messi, and Gareth Bale. That last number would also have put him fourth in the Premier League last season, behind Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez, and Daniel Sturridge."
Can Alexis Sanchez spur Arsenal to the title this season? |
And with the creative freedom that escaped him at Barcelona due to Messi's presence now certain to be given to him at Arsenal, one can already see the benefits of such with him repaying in goals already.
WORRIES:
Arsenal needed a centre back having lost Djourou and Vermaelen through fantastic businesses, but leaving Calum Chambers at 19, to be the next in line as a third central defender could prove costly.
While the idea of not getting one was to not hinder the growth of Chambers, they needed to add to their ranks with perhaps a veteran or commanding center back.
Koscielny with suspensions and a long season would require someone ready to come in and do the job from the bench if Chambers is to be next pairing with whoever is available.
Danny Welbeck just does not cut it for me, Arsenal need a goal-scoring striker, proven not probable.
The likes of Cavani, Falcao, and Balotelli who was sold to Liverpool from AC Milan for the same £16m would have been fantastic business and squirrels hardly bite well in this tough league, Suarez being the notable exemption, Sanchez is more of a winger in a 4-3-3 formation or dynamic 4-5-1 formation and is not the target, commanding forward Arsenal needed, great to have in the striking arsenal but not the exact one needed.
VERDICT:
Arsenal had one of the best transfers this season, getting £15m for Vermaelen was incredible given his fitness issues of late, Debuchy a good steal as well and Chambers for the future. Sanchez is the pick of the crop undoubtedly.
Also on the loan front, sending out Carl Jenkinson and Benik Afobe was necessary, the former likely to get less game time at Emirates and the latter first team football, as rewarded, by him knocking out Man Utd in the League Cup.
Afobe scored a brace in the league cup as MK Dons demolished Man United 4-0 |
Still the need for a tough, proven goal scorer was left unattended to with experienced reinforcements at the back missing.
GRADE: B+
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