Unfortunately for football fans, mistakes and errors are part of the game. Any side will make transfers they never should have and for the Gooners in the bar, it’s no different with their Arsenal side.
Arsene Wenger has done a very good job in recent years of overhauling the squad and getting rid of the deadwood at the club but his job at the Emirates Stadium is not done yet- and there’s a number of his squad who should never have been brought in.
Whilst the majority of the squad Wenger has at his disposal is up to scratch, there’s question marks about a few of his acquisitions and our punters have controversially stated that they’ve identified five players who they feel Arsenal should never have brought to north London.
Our landlord agrees with the majority of these, although he does feel a case can be made for signing some of them- so we’ll let you argue that out in the comments!
Hit Wenger below to see FIVE players in the squad Arsenal should never have signed!
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Mathieu Debuchy
Mathieu Debuchy arrived in the summer of 2014 as a replacement for Manchester City bound Bacary Sagna but he’s done nothing to follow in the footsteps of his French compatriot. Following a first campaign marred by injury, Debuchy failed to get ahead of Hector Bellerin in the pecking order and left to join Bordeaux on-loan in January.
Whilst it’s clear a replacement for Sagna was necessary, many are asking why players weren’t promoted from within as Bellerin has shone in the role, Calum Chambers can also fit-in when required and Carl Jenkinson, who has spent the past two seasons on-loan at West Ham, is also capable of featuring.
Bellerin is clearly the best option at Arsenal and the Gunners could easily cope with Jenkinson and Chambers as back-up, so the need to sign Debuchy isn’t clear.
Mathieu Flamini
Back in his day, Mathieu Flamini was a capable footballer and famously played left-back in Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat in 2006. His best years came over the next two seasons, where he starred in midfield alongside Cesc Fabregas and subsequently earned a move to AC Milan.
In Italy, the French international failed to make a mark and made it pretty clear his best days were behind him. Still, Arsenal made the decision to bring him back to North London, again on a free transfer, and he’s been a questionable member of the squad ever since.
Seemingly forgetting his defensive role in the squad, and not being great in that position in any sense, the fact Flamini gets regular game time irritates numerous supporters.
Yaya Sanogo
Yaya Sanogo gets a lot of criticism, some of which is quite unwarranted, but it’s clear the striker will never be the calibre of forward that Arsenal need. That was clear from the beginning, although he has shown he can fire goals with a haul at the Emirates Cup and scoring against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Nevertheless, with Sanogo failing to impress on-loan at Ajax, questions still remain about the player’s development at Arsenal. He’s found his feet at Charlton Athletic but Arsenal boast Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, not to mention young Chuba Akpom, so there’s no place for Sanogo.
If Benik Afobe wasn’t deemed good enough to be a starter for Arsenal, then surely Yaya Sanogo is nowhere near the required level.
Wellington Silva
Anyone outside of Arsenal is probably scratching their heads right about now as to who this man is, whilst there’s also likely some Gooners who only know this player due to their FIFA career modes and adventures on Football Manager.
The 23-year-old has sensationally been at Arsenal for six years now but is yet to feature for the Gunners. He failed to earn a work permit for the first five years of his stint in north London and, having got the necessary clearance last summer, has spent this year on-loan with a struggling Bolton Wanderers.
Arsene Wenger still rates Wellington Silva very highly but Arsenal have a wealth of talent on the wings, where the likes of Walcott, Joel Campbell, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain regularly play.
With the Gunners also having young talent in the form of Serge Gnabry, Alex Iwobi and Jeff Reine-Adelaide, there simply appears to be no spot for the Brazilian.
David Ospina
This is one that’s got the fanbase in the Transfer Tavern split, as many feel he was a wasted signing whilst others judge that to be unfair. Whatever your stance, it’s becoming increasingly clear that David Ospina is like to leave this summer.
Signed after the 2014 World Cup, where he impressed with Colombia, Ospina started the season as second-choice to Wojciech Szczesny, before the Polish stopper was dropped due to a severe decline in-form. However, Ospina’s chance didn’t last long as the arrival of Petr Cech made him second-choice again.
Szczesny is still on the books, and as a young goalkeeper he’ll be more happy to sit on the bench for a few years, and the question regarding Ospina is why he was signed if he wasn’t initially deemed to be better than Szczesny?
Arsenal’s need for a quality goalkeeper was only erased in the summer with the addition of Cech, so the signing of Ospina is bizarre as Wenger opted for the goalkeeper ahead of a signing that could take his team to a higher level.
