I wonder if Arsene Wenger and co. envisioned Carlos Vela doing quite so well when they placed a £3.5m buy-out clause into his Real Sociedad contract.
After all, the young Mexican never looked particularly impressive during his time with The Gunners. He ended up making 62 appearances under Arsene Wenger, scoring 11 goals and making 6 assists.
Since leaving The Emirates, Carlos Vela has gone from strength-to-strength. He’s now made a top of 124 appearances for Real Sociedad, scoring 48 goals and making 29 assists.
Better still, he seems to be improving on a season-by-season basis. During his first season in Spain, he scored 12 goals. In his second, he scored 14. Last year, he found the back of the net 21 times.
That’s an impressive return for a young winger, especially when you consider that Arsenal’s lone striker, Olivier Giroud, only scored 22 goals last year.
That buy-out clause certainly looks like an astute piece of business doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, now that Vela’s come good, The Gunners don’t really know what to do with him. According to The Mirror, Vela is unlikely to return back to the Emirates. Instead, the Arsenal top brass is looking to let Real Sociedad buy the buy-out clause out of Vela’s contract. Mind melting stuff, isn’t it?
Failing this, The Gunners will buy Vela back, only to sell him at the nearest possible opportunity. In other words, Arsenal seem to view Carlos Vela as a money-making device, rather than a viable footballer.
This strikes me as a bit of a shame. It’s not like Arsenal are all that strong down the flanks. With Theo Walcott injured for large swathes of the last year, The Gunners lacked pace and threat in this position. A player like Carlos Vela, who now has a proven track record, could prove to be the perfect solution.
With a £3.5m price-tag, it’s not like he’d represent a massive (or costly bargain). He’d leave plenty of change left over for Arsene Wenger to pursue a world class striker.
So why are The Gunners looking this particular gift-horse in this mouth?
What’s your take? What should Arsenal do with Carlos Vela?
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