From Alex Barker:
Hey Myles,
Hope all is well.
So many questions from the transfer window:
– why do all this now instead of back in the summer when City offered £60m for Sánchez? What changed? Is it the new management structure?
– why were they in for Lemar in the summer but now it’s Aubameyang (who was also available in the summer apparently and no one bid)?
– why did no one else bid for Aubameyang? Presumably because of his age? This was his only route out of Dortmund to a premier lge paycheck?
– the club has still made a net profit of c. £20m over the last two windows from transfers. Are they saving money for a new manager or are Ozil and Aubameyang’s wages eating everything?
– has any other major club ever done such a wholesale turnover of its forward line in a mid- season transfer window before?
Having previously been so predictable as a club in what they did and didn’t do, I find recent events pretty baffling. What do you make of it?
Myles says:
I’m delighted Walcott and Oxlade have gone. And I knew Giroud wouldn’t want to leave London, a lovely place for multi-millionaire footballers and their wives.
It’s not baffling at all.
NEW STAFF = GREAT WINDOW.
It’s Ivan Gazidis fulfilling his promise to be a catalyst for change.
Arsenal is no longer a one-man club.
King Wenger used to dither and keep dithering, then make up his mind. Then he’d change it. Without David Dein there to hold his hand during a big transfer, he’d often lose his bottle.
Regardless of whether they finish in the Top Four, I don’t think he’ll be manager next season. If he moves upstairs, a Max Allegri-level coach would never join Arsenal. No way.