Arsene Wenger’s most bizarre signing of recent times? It wasn’t Mikael Silvestre (although, what the hell?). It wasn’t Sebastien Squillaci (indeed, given the Frenchman’s pedigree, it seemed like a good signing at the time. It was South Korean striker Park Ju-Young.
Park was a deadline day signing last summer and arrived at the Emirates with a fair amount of buzz. He had a good goal-scoring record over at Ligue 1 club Monaco and many fans had their fingers crossed that he’d end up being another Arsene Wenger bargain. Arsene Wenger has brought cheap before, only to discover he had an absolute world-beater on his hands (Viera, Van Persie, Fabregas, etc). But sadly, where Ju-Young was concerned, this wasn’t the case this time.
Indeed, Park had an outrageously poor first season with Arsenal. He struggled to make any kind of impact whatsoever, as Arsene Wenger just didn’t seem willing to grant him any game time. He made 6 appearances for the Gunners, scoring just 1 goal (a fine, curling effort against Bolton in the FA Cup).
There will be some who argue that he deserved more opportunities. The truth is, however, that Arsene Wenger is one of the best judges of young talent in world football. He’s the one that got to see Park in action during training sessions. Indeed, there are few people who know what Park is capable of better than Wenger. If he opted not to play him, it was for a reason.
It’s not like there were a mass of talented individuals ahead of him in the pecking order. Beyond Robin Van Persie, Arsenal had very few options to turn to in terms of strikers.
The suspicion remains that Park was purchased to sell shirts in the East. Well, if that was the case, it seems that the club has made an egregious error. According to the Evening Standard, Arsenal have written off £5.5m following Park’s loan move to Celta Vigo last summer. The sum represents an ‘impairment fee’ and it’s believed that Arsenal understand they won’t make any return should they sell the player.
It seems that signing Park was one big mistake. He was never going to exercise any influence at the Emirates. Now a decision has been made at some level to let him go. It’s the right decision. He deserves a club that can offer him regular game time and Arsenal deserve a better class of player.
What’s your take? Would you have Park Ju-Young back at the Emirates?
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