Buying Dennis Bergkamp in 1995 was a statement by Arsenal Football Club . It meant The Gunners are going for the best in the market, and began a golden age in the club’s history.
Since then, Arsenal let the team do the talking on the pitch, as its manager refused to sign any big-name players. Instead, Arsene Wenger has preferred buying good players that he would be able to turn into stars. It worked, but only before the oligarchs/sheikhs/American entrepreneurs era.
His “youth against financial doping project†failed and now Arsenal need to start acting like a team with ambitions to win things. It can start by making a statement in the transfer market this summer.
Samuel Eto’o, for example, is seeking a move to England. He already pleased Arsenal fans three years ago with a memorable quote (“Tottenham, and I hope the English fans will forgive me, are a club in mid-table, and I need more”), and he is a player that Wenger’s team can really use – a natural predator and winner. He has won the Champions League three times with two different teams.
What do Arsenal fans get instead? First, a story about their team making a “last-minute attempt†to sign teenager Raphael Varane (who decided to join Real Madrid instead). Then, they wake up to the story that Peter Odemwingie, West Brom’s striker, has complained that The Gunners offered him “peanuts”. Embarrassing, really.
Arsenal shouldn’t offer “peanuts” to a West Brom player. The club should be looking to pay big bucks for huge players. Not bargain for players with “huge potential”.
Arsenal is one of the richest teams in Europe and the 3rd most valuable club in the world. It is a club that built itself through “moneyball†tactics and smart financing. However, the club needs to change now. It needs to make a statement about its desires – to kick-start a new golden age.
WHAT TO DO NOW?