It’s been said over and over again but Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal side had their best opportunity to win the Premier League last season and ultimately failed, allowing Leicester City to have an unprecedented fairytale season.
With Chelsea having their worst season ever in the last decade, United still transitioning ever since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester City’s inconsistencies, Arsenal were earmarked to win the title especially after the first few months of the season, but in the end, just achieved a 2nd place finish, on the last day of the season at that.
With fans frustrated more than ever as well as a couple of players (Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud) who were disappointed with how the season went, Wenger’s transfer pursuits in the offseason so far seem like an acknowledgement that he knows he made a blunder.
The Gunners signed highly pursued Granit Xhaka from Borussia Mönchengladbach no later than 10 days after the season ended for a massive fee in the region of £30m. It was a great start to the transfer window and a huge lift to the club for fans and the players alike but more arrivals were required.
Arsenal were soon linked with another Bundesliga player in Borussia Dortmund’s Armin Mkhitaryan with Armenia sources claiming that the Gunners were the frontrunners for the Armenian, having to just negotiate a fee with Dortmund. Unfortunately it appears the Armenian is now off to Manchester United. To think I had a bet on him via this casino guides site to move to Arsenal.
The biggest news of all was when it broke that Arsenal had activated the £20m release clause of Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, with the Englishman reportedly ready to accept the offer. While Vardy was expected to make a decision before the Euros, it seems like he’s waiting until after the tournament to finalize his future.
If Arsenal capture last season’s Premier League revelation, it would be a huge signal of intent not only to the rest of the Premier League but the whole of Europe if Arsenal were to sign Vardy, a striker who brings different qualities to Olivier Giroud for the Gunners’ strike force. It would also be a change in transfer policy as paying a rather steep fee for a 29 year old is something Wenger would have never done in the past. The pursuit is reasonable though as there is a shortage of clinical strikers available in world football who could be bought for an affordable price.
Regardless of Vardy’s decision or whether Arsenal do secure the services of Mkhitaryan (especially with Manchester United also linked for the Armenian recently), Wenger’s summer pursuits have been positive and most importantly, swift, considering most of his signings in recent years are acquired later on in the summer.
Don’t be surprised to see the Gunners more active in the market, as it seems like Wenger really wants to make things right in what could potentially be his last season at the helm.
