Arsenal fans in the Football Transfer Tavern are content after being informed by talkSPORT that they held serious talks with Saint-Etienne over the signing of Loic Perrin in January before turning their attentions elsewhere.
The Gunners enjoyed a refreshingly active transfer window where instead of signing young attacking midfielders, Arsene Wenger targeted defensive-minded reinforcements.
talkSPORT claims Wenger was on the verge of signing Les Verts defender Perrin but in the end, nothing materialised and they went on to sign Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal, not to mention Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw.
According to Perrin himself, Arsenal held encouraging talks before failing to see the deal through.
“There were serious contacts via my agent. I think I was on a shortlist but not at the very top apparently,” said Perrin.
“A transfer in this window, it is difficult. But it is difficult to refuse Arsenal. I have always said that if I have to leave St Étienne, one day, it would be for a bigger club, a club that plays Champions League.
“I don’t think many Ligue 1 players would refuse a club such as Arsenal.”
This encouraging transfer window came on the back of an inspiring performance away to Premier League champions Manchester City where they rather uncharacteristically set up in more of a compact fashion, achieving a standout 2-0 result. It’s fair to say, they haven’t looked back since!
