For some of our Arsenal fans here in the Football Transfer Tavern, the euphoria of signing Petr Cech from Chelsea has now died down with Gunners fans starting to worry themselves as they always seem to do by the bar.
Their fears stem from the fact that Mikel Arteta has just penned a new one-year extension at Emirates Stadium, plunging hopes signing a new top quality defensive midfielder into doubt.
With Francis Coquelin the undoubted first choice in the role at present and Mathieu Flamini still a reserve option, it looks as if Arsene Wenger is yet again looking to get away with what he already has at his disposal instead of taking a jump to the next level in the eyes of Gooners.
These kind of decisions have previously led many Arsenal fans to question their faith in the manager with many now incredibly sceptical that the signing of Cech may yet prove the only addition in North London this summer.
With the start of the Premier League now a month away and Arsenal set to embark on their pre-season tour in a couple of days, we are right in the crux of the transfer window at present and Gunners fans want to see their club conclude the right business in plenty of time to give them the best chance next season.
That said, many top targets the Gunners were reportedly trailing have already been snapped up and that’s why today in the tavern, we’re concentrating on five players who Arsenal and Wenger may regret not signing this summer.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 players Arsenal will regret not signing this summer.
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Geoffrey Kondogbia
Rather surprisingly snapped up by Inter Milan who have also managed to lure the likes of Miranda and Jeison Murillo to the San Siro this summer despite their lowly eighth-placed finish last term, Geoffrey Kondogbia looked perfectly suited to an Arsenal switch.
Tall, athletic and full of energy, Arsenal even got a close up look at Kondogbia in last season’s knock-out phase of the Champions League in which Kondogbia scored a first half goal at Emirates Stadium on a horrible night for the Gunners.
Eventually signing for Inter for a huge fee of €35 million, it seems the large fee ultimately put Wenger off regarding a player who is still not the finished article.
Nevertheless, Kondogbia is improving all of the time and Arsenal fans would have loved to see some more physicality in their midfield to emulate the days of Patrick Vieira.
After all, if the impressive Francis Coquelin is injured and Arsenal have to call upon the likes of Mikel Arteta or Mathieu Flamini in a crunch top four battle or Champions League decider, there would then be cause for concern.
Jackson Martinez
Opting to prolong his career with Atletico Madrid and following a similar developmental path to international team-mate Radamel Falcao, Jackson Martinez will undoubtedly bag goals most weekends under Diego Simeone in La Liga.
In the early weeks of this summer transfer window, you couldn’t escape the rumours linking Arsenal with a switch for the Colombian but ultimately, it seems as if his age of 28 (29 in October) put Arsene Wenger off.
In the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, Arsenal have recently signed players not only for the here and now but also for the next five or so years and in Martinez, they would have no re-sell value in a Roberto Soldado-type situation if he flopped in North London.
You can understand Arsenal’s reasoning for not firming up their interest in Martinez but at the same time, wouldn’t it be refreshing to see the Gunners not scrutinising every deal down to the finest details and simply going out there to bag a prolific striker who is at present, at the peak of his powers.
Morgan Schneiderlin
Prior to the summer transfer window opening, it looked somewhat a formality that Arsenal would be making a play for Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin.
Out of all the players available this summer, Schneiderlin truly looks ready-made for the Gunners being that he is a defensive midfielder who can also play, is 25-years-old, not to mention the fact that Arsenal have always liked a Frenchie haven’t they?
However, all of the evidence points towards the French international completing a switch to Manchester United with the Red Devils having already seen an opening bid turned down by the Saints recently.
While United toil to get a deal concluded, there hasn’t been a peep from Arsenal who have instead opted to hand a new one-year deal to Arteta despite reports that Schneiderlin prefers moving to London.
With it looking increasingly unlikely that Arsenal will sign a new defensive midfielder, this looks like a mistake on the part of the Gunners whose fans will be praying Coquelin stays fir for the entire duration of 2015/16.
Alexandre Lacazette
Yes, the transfer window and still open and yes there is still time for Arsenal to make a bid but with each passing week, news of Alexandre Lacazette’s future gets quieter and quieter.
Add into the equation that Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas is as tough to negotiate with as Tottenham’s Daniel Levy is and it is looking increasingly likely that Les Gones may end up keeping their star striker against the odds this summer.
Lacazette won the Golden Boot in Ligue 1 last season striking an incredible 27 goals and perhaps staying at Lyon is no bad thing for the player himself who’ll want to bag a similar goal haul in order to get into Didier Deschamps’ Les Bleus squad for Euro 2016 that’ll be happening in France next summer.
While Lyon continue to play hardball, reports from Yahoo do claim that the player himself is stalling on a new deal at Stade Gerland, handing some hope to not only Arsenal but Liverpool too.
With other reports claiming £21 million may be enough to secure Lacazette’s signature, Arsenal will live to regret not shelling out what seems a fair fee for one of the most exciting up-and-coming talents in the game.
Sami Khedira
He completed his summer switch to Juventus some time ago now but during the last few transfer windows before this one, it was simply impossible to avoid the rumours linking Sami Khedira with a switch to Arsenal.
Arriving in Turin to ultimately prove Andrea Pirlo’s successor (no easy task!), Khedira is still yet to taste life in English football and on the face of it, despite not playing much football at Real Madrid last term, he looked to be exactly what Arsenal needed.
Given he figured so little through injury and being out of favour last term, the footballing fraternity has somewhat forgot the skills Khedira can bring to table in respect of his breaking up of the play and graceful runs out of midfield.
You really feel as if Arsenal needed to land another top quality defensive midfielder whom Francis Coquelin can continue to learn and develop under much like Wojciech Szczesny will under the guidance of new arrival Petr Cech.
