Sanchez Part Of Arsenal Triple Swoop? Schneiderlin A Bad Deal?

The transfer window has been ‘officially’ open for just under a week now and despite being regularly linked with a host of players Arsenal are yet to sign anyone. Heinous excuses for journalists leapt headfirst onto the bastard train leaving from platform clownshoes heading non-stop to Click Seeking Town by writing pernicious articles about Wenger’s “antics” in Brazil whilst his rivals supposedly clean up in the transfer supermarket.

Most of our league rivals have done business but aside from the fact they have done business is anyone actually jealous of the players they have signed? Shaw and Herrera for United are excellent prospects but as we have found at Arsenal, prospects can only get you so far and arguably United’s mountain to climb back to the upper echelons of English football from 7th with no Champions League football is steeper than Arsenal’s steady 4th to trophy winners was.

The sums paid for those two players suggests a hint of desperation at United. I have many United supporting friends, thankfully of the humble and intelligent variety, and they agree that spending almost £60m on two largely unproven players (over a course of 2-3 seasons at the top) is a little desperate but United are in a desperate situation – as would we be if our next manager slides us into 7th. Neither of those positions is a priority for Arsenal so any jealousy stems from the announcement of signings rather than the quality of player.

Chelsea have signed Fabregas and Costa and arguably have made the signings some Arsenal supporters will be jealous of but it is worth noting that Fabregas is only at Chelsea because we turned him down and Costa is largely unproven. I can hear the scream of “36 goals for Atletico isn’t unproven” but my Spanish based friends whom watch La Liga a lot more closely than I do, have told me they believe otherwise. One good season does not make a world-class player and Costa will need to perform consistently in the Premier League to prove he is worth £32.5m.

Many of my friends in Spain tell me they don’t think he will suit a Mourinho team but I will let time be the judge of that. He certainly didn’t look so great in the World Cup but I won’t judge him on that. I judge him on what I have seen first hand and what I am told by people whose opinions I value and I’m not overly impressed with him. I could be wrong and he could be amazing for Chelsea with Fabregas setting him up but there are plenty of other players in the Premier League that flattered to deceive as top class goalscorers and if the majority of Arsenal supporters had their way they’d all be playing for us.

Liverpool are the interesting ones because they seem to have done a Spurs and spent the money from a big sale yet to happen. Again, time will tell if they are truly doing a Spurs and if those signings are going to propel them forward or if they’ll revert to the Liverpool of recent years.

They haven’t made any signings that would make it into the Arsenal first XI and I’ve not seen one person complain about us being beaten to signing those players – just complaints that they have done business in general.

Liverpool are supposedly our main rivals for Alexis Sanchez and are trying to get him included in the Suarez deal.

It seems as though Arsenal are leading that particular chase but it’s safe to say if he did end up at Liverpool that would be a deal we would all be jealous of. Liverpool’s coveting of Southampton players, with them rumoured to be after a third in Dejan Lovren, highlights a particular trend in the league that I think is pretty weak and Arsenal should avoid.

The elite clubs in the Premier League have all sniffed around Southampton this summer, and for good reason – they have some excellent players, but I think it is folly to believe that tearing a good top half club apart is going to turn your teams into title winners.

Shaw isn’t going to get United back into top four because they have problems all over the pitch and Lallana and Lambert aren’t going to effectively fill the gap of Suarez as they will need to do what we did when we sold RvP and change the dynamic of the team to suit the incoming players.

A few years back many Arsenal supporters thought the way to make Arsenal champions was with a triple swoop on Everton for Fellaini, Baines and Jagielka. Sadly, it doesn’t work like that.

Southampton have already lost 3 first teamers and could potentially lose 2 more in Lovren and Schneiderlin and here is where I struggle to see Schneiderlin as the man for us.

Firstly, Southampton know they have some excellent assets and with the money they’ve already received they don’t need to sell to strengthen so they will want top dollar for Schneiderlin – especially if you take the mooted demand of £25m for Lovren as evidence. With a few years left on his contract he isn’t going to be cheap and the sort of money he would cost should really be enough to tempt away Lars Bender who I would much prefer.

Morgan Schneiderlin signed for Southampton 6 years ago on what some believe to be Wenger’s recommendation. Why has he not been back in for him in those 6 years? He recommended Palacios and didn’t go in for him once he had proven himself. Of course they are totally different players but the concept is similar.

I like Schneiderlin and would not be opposed to him at Arsenal in the slightest but I just think the links to him are just a little too easy and convenient. He’s French, he is a defensive midfielder, he was recommended by Wenger, he has Premier League experience. It all just seems to fit far too well and if we know anything about Arsenal and Arsène Wenger it is that fitting far too well is usually a sign it isn’t going to happen.

However, it is clear that we are after a defensive midfielder and it has been reported that we are back in for Lars Bender as part of a triple signing that includes Mathieu Debuchy and Alexis Sanchez.

Sanchez is a dream signing and doesn’t need me to wax lyrical to give it any more sheen or sparkle than the meer thought of it already has. Debuchy is an ideal signing because he is experienced, fairly priced and knows the league. Bender is still my ideal midfield signing, unless we can get Pogba or Vidal, and whilst I usually promote signing Premier League players over fresh imports where there is little difference I am breaking the mould and stating I would prefer Bender over Schneiderlin as I can’t see there being much difference in price and Bender has much more top level experience.

Sanchez, Debuchy and Bender would be one hell of a summer and the cherry on the top would be another centre-back and a new backup ‘keeper. Who said I was greedy?

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