I think it’s fair to say that Arsenal had an interesting summer. The Gunners were linked to all and sundry, but for the longest time Arsene Wenger refused to pull the trigger on any meaningful deals.
Things reached fever point when Arsenal lost to Aston Villa during the first day of the season. At this stage, Wenger had spent nothing on improving his squad. As you can imagine, the fans were furious.
Still, credit where it’s due: the man sure did manage to turn things around. Arsene Wenger surprised just about everybody by managing to secure the £42.4m transfer of Real Madrid star and German International, Mesut Ozil.
It was a signing that almost tripled Arsenal’s existing transfer record. It also happens to be the deal that has turned the Gunners into a force once more.
Ozil has pumped belief back into the squad. He’s helped players like Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud to up their games. Arsenal’s midfield is suddenly ticking over very nicely indeed. All of a sudden, the Gunners are genuine title contenders.
That’s a position that this side haven’t really been in since before Eduardo da Silva broke his leg (or should I say, had his leg broken).
But things could have been different. Things could have been very different indeed.
New Manchester United signing Marouane Fellaini has claimed that Arsenal were chasing him during the summer. Just check out these quotes:
“I don’t want to tell you everything what happened during the transfer… In a transfer window, there is always a list of players, you never know if it’s true or not. But for me, I knew [Moyes] was interested in me. Chelsea? No comment. Arsenal? It’s true, they were interested, but Manchester United convinced me to sign for them.” (Source: The Star)
He may not have told us ‘everything’, but I’d say that he’s told us more than enough.
Signing Marouane Fellaini would have likely meant an inability to compete financially for Mesut Ozil. Arsenal’s progress this season could all have been derailed by one bad decision.
Instead, the Gunners ended up with Mesut Ozil and signed Mathieu Flamini on a free. Since his arrival Flamini has done a fantastic job. I think it’s fair to say that he’s been more influential for Arsenal than Fellaini has been for United, despite their contrary price-tags.
This all goes to show, Wenger is yet to lose his smarts. Arsenal would be a completely different club without him.
What’s your take? Would Arsenal signing Fellaini have been a big mistake?
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