The problem lies in the fact that Wenger is forever looking for bargains and that he doesn’t want to pay the market rate.
Wenger views himself as a custodian of the team’s money and the years of careful saving to help the team pay for the new stadium have left an imprint on the transfer strategy of the man.
There are few better at spotting young talent, but once spotted the process of acquiring said talent becomes slow and cumbersome, because Wenger always starts with a low bid, hoping to get the player on the cheap.
Often the first bid is insultingly low for the potential seller, who becomes angry and are not disposed to completing the deal with Arsenal.
Just look at this summer. Swansea revealed that Arsenal had offered 6 million pounds for Ashley Williams, but they want 12. We need Williams, but the team are taking their time about offering at least another 4 million which might seal the deal.
Wenger made a low bid for Grenier of Lyons this summer (said to be around 6 million pounds) which annoyed their club and they quickly signed a new contract with the player.
Bernard from Brazil was also a subject of interest, but we never came close to meeting his valuation and he moved to Russia instead.
Potential deals with Jovetic and Fellaini have been scuttled because of the high asking price or the high wage demands. Yet we could probably have had the two of them for a little more than we are offering right now for Luis Suarez.
Other than Suarez, the only significant bid we have made this summer has been for Lars Bender. Two large bids were made and were rejected. There is talk of another bid, but Leverkusen don’t want to sell.
The negotiations with Gonzalo Higuain were tortuously slow, taking about three weeks before we thought a deal was imminent. Then, as we now know, Real upped the price as Napoli had extra money, and the deal fell apart. This was pretty much a repeat of the Juan Mata situation a couple of seasons ago.
If we need someone quickly, we can make a deal happen overnight (witness the Nacho Monreal purchase in January), but when we have time available we dither and negotiate every contract clause.
Wenger’s real sin this summer was letting Djourou, Coquelin, and Miquel go out on loan without buying new players to provide cover. We understand that not all the big deals would have been done, but to leave the squad vulnerable and “thin” was reckless.
Now we are going to have to pay a premium for his recklessness. All sellers will add an extra ten or twenty percent to every purchase, because they know we are desperate. For a penny pincher like Wenger, this will be painful.
Wenger’s ability to spot talent means that if he doesn’t conclude deals quickly, others will step in and take his place. Witness last summer when the team “discovered” M’Baye Niang from the French league, offered him a trial, made a low bid, and ended up losing him to Milan.
What Arsenal need is someone to handle the negotiations other than Arsene Wenger. The team is on sound financial footing and we no longer need Arsene’s vigilance around the cash register. All we need is Arsene Wenger to tell the negotiator who he wants and that individual can make the deal. Someone like David Dein … perhaps David Dein.
Either that or give Ivan Gazidis more power and take the process out of Arsene’s hands. A move like that would have to be sanctioned by the owner, but Stan Kroenke isn’t involved enough to become interested. Only if the team bounce out of the Champion’s League will he pay any attention … and we don’t want that to happen, although there are enough grumpy fans out there who might want this to happen, if it leads to change.
There are three weeks left in the transfer window, but the next two are key. We need to avoid the panic buying that happens in the last week, which means we need to buy now. Our squad needs players NOW.