Absolutely gobsmacked at Arsene Wenger’s comments today about possible incoming transfers.
The Arsenal boss was asked about whether the Luis Suarez transfer is dead, and according to The Guardian this was his response:
“Yes. There is absolutely no chance of that.”
Wenger continued that he remained in the market for a midfielder.
“Quality-wise we don’t need anybody but number-wise we are short,” he said. “We lost [Alex Oxlade-] Chamberlain, [Mikel] Arteta to injuries and [Abou] Diaby is also out – three international midfielders. We tried to bring one in but we are working on that.
“You have to understand that there is still a long way to go. The transfer market starts for me now and a lot of activity will happen between now and 2 September. It starts now. It is like a poker game. People hold their cards as long as possible and see what is happening out there. In the end, they go for decisions.
“First everybody goes on holiday and nobody wants to do anything. Then, in many clubs, there are manager changes. They need to know the squad before they make a decision. There are many, many things but it is always like that.”
What? “Quality-wise we don’t need anybody?” Really, did you watch how poor Arsenal were against Villa the weekend? This is the same squad that finished 16 points behind champions Manchester United last season. Did his squad get that better over the summer?
Is he suggesting that if AOC, Arteta and Diaby were all healthy that he would not be signing any midfielders despite the team having a big need for a defensive midfielder?
And what is with the statement “The transfer market starts for me now?” The transfer market starts now? What have you being doing for the last two months?
I am totally confused about what Arsene Wenger is seeing and thinking these days. Can someone explain it to me?