Moaning about transfers achieves nothing beyond getting your own frustrations off your chest.

Whilst we may all be disappointed when we miss out on a supposed main target, we always have to remember that the club are the only ones who see the full picture. They know what business they want to do, both incoming and outgoing. And all of that business impacts on each other.

Based on what is out there right now, it is clear we are looking at a left winger, a central midfielder, and a right back come centre back to come in alongside Illan Meslier and Christos Tzolis.

After establishing the type of player they want, the club then assigns the sort of budget they are looking to invest in each position – including all transfer fees, wages, agent fees, etc. Whilst fans cry “pay the asking price”, overpaying for one player may mean you miss out on another, or have to go for a cheaper option elsewhere.

Illan Meslier on a free, for example, led to the club getting some criticism. But by recruiting him – as either the 2nd or 3rd choice keeper remember – we ensure that we have more funds left for other positions. Likewise, Tzolis for around £30m will ensure that our trio of main targets is not affected.

I truly believe the club are targetting:

• A left winger in the region of £80-£100m
• A central midfielder in the region of £60-80m
• A rigth back come centre back in the region of £40-60m.

If we recruit those at the bottom end of our prices, we spend £180m. At the top end of the prices, it is £240m. Alongside Tzolis and Hincapie that will be around £300m spent this summer. Add in the wages, agent fees, etc and that is likely our budget. The club will know exactly what this figure is.

But now we get the selling clubs asking price.

Morgan Rogers has seemingly gone to Chelsea for £117m. Newcastle initially demanded £100m for Bruno. Were we to just pay the asking price, that would be £217m, leaving just £23m in the pot for a new right back/centre back. Overpaying leads you having to make sacrifices elsewhere, and Chelsea have shown this.

Under BlueCo, Chelsea have built a reputation for coming in late and moving quick for major signings, usually paying the asking price. It is how they signed Rogers from under Arsenal’s nose. And how they recruited Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo who were both seemingly Liverpool bound. But this sort of behaviour by Chelsea creates financial risk.

Chelsea continually to overpay in the transfer market. And whilst they might give their fans that endorphin of beating a rival to a player, it is ultimately at the detriment of the club.

Paying the asking price and spending big on long term contracts has basically ruined Chelsea. Whilst Liverpool and Arsenal’s more “sensible” approach has seen them win the last two league titles, Chelsea have finished 4th and 10th.

Chelsea have huge financial problems. And what that means is they are constantly having to sell players to buy. And that creates a problem when it is selling your better players.

Marc Cucerella has already departed this summer to Real Madrid. And who will now depart to finance Rogers. It will likely be either Enzo Fernandez or Cole Palmer. That will be two of their 3 best players gone to finance their chatoic transfer policy.

And this is another part of the transfer picture. You never know what the plans are for someone who has just beaten you to a player.

Imagine now that either Fernandez (to Madrid) or Palmer (back to Man City) are sold this summer. Or maybe even both. Then someone of Rogers profile becomes such an important target that they will just pay what is needed to get it done. For Arsenal, with 2 left wingers and 10 attackers already at the club, Rogers was not the biggest priority.

Losing Fernandez or Palmer and gaining Rogers is a step backwards. We will only really know why Chelsea went so big once the window plays out.

We are seeing similar at Tottenham. Already spent well over £200m. But we all know the outgoings will happen soon.

Their fans have got that endorphin hit of signing Tonali, Fernandes, van Hecke, Robertson and Sensei. But it is likely they had to go big on these with the likes of van der Ven and Romero set to depart, alongside Djed Spence and Vicario, as well as young talents such as Lucas Bergvall joining Luka Vuskovic out of the club.

To spend big, both Chelsea and Tottenham are having to sell to balance those books. And those coming in are not as good as those departing.

So back to Arsenal. Could we have signed Rogers for £117m? Of course we could. But the club were unwilling to go that high due to how it would impact other signings. Or it could have resulted in us needing to sell someone we did not want to.

The final factor in this is clubs will have their valuations and what they beleive they think a deal could get done at.

Say Arsenal valued Rogers at £80-£100m. Then they looked at someone like Vinicius Jr or Yan Diomande who they valued at £120-£150m. Once Rogers gets to £117m, do you keep up your pursuit of him, or do you think “there is someone better out there who does not cost much more than that” ands you then switch to the superior target.

There is so much to factor in when building your transfer window. The cost of those that come in impact what you cans pend on others, and may result in you having to sell more. and as costs rise, other players might become better options.

And that is why I will never moan about transfers. Once the window shuts, we can then have the full picture and can evaluate.

And my final point is “winning the transfer window” does not mean you will win on the pitch. Tottenham have shown us this countless times over the years. Liverpool showed us this last year.

Have a good week!

Keenos

I think we all have a right to be a little bit disappointed that we did not get Morgan Rogers over the line.

Ultimately, Chelsea have come in and committed over £200m to the transfer – £117m, £10m in agent fees an a 7-year £250k a week deal. Arsenal were just not willing to match that offer.

On one hand, I get the argument of “the market has shifted and this is what players of Rodgers quality costs. We now need to shift our mindset”.

On the other, Berta, Arteta et al will know exactly what our budget is this summer on transfer fees, wages, etc. And maybe they had a limit of £80m and £200k a week for Rogers. Had we matched what Chelsea are paying, it might have impacted our other transfer targets.

And ultimately, a left winger (or forward in general) is not a priority right now.

Trossard OUT, Tzolis IN meas we still have two left wingers at the club.

And in total we have 10 attacking players for 4 positions (Gyokeres, Havertz, Merino, Tzolis, Martinelli, Saka, Madueke, Dowman, Odegaard, Eze). We are fully stocked in attack unless someone leaves.

In midfield we have just 4 players for 4 positions. And two of those are MLS, with a handful of appearance in midfield, and Norgaard. Only Rice and Zubimendi are top top quality. And Rice is potentially looking at a spell on the sidelines.

Moving into defence, we have 7 defenders for 4 positions. But two of those (Saliba and White) will not be fit for the start of the season. That leaves us with just 6 defenders – and a further two in Calafiori and Timber also have their injury problems.

So right now, going into the new season, taking into account the players who are coming out do the World Cup with injures (all named above plus Saka), we have:

9 attackers
3 central midfielders
6 defenders

And maybe this is why we are not prioritising another forward beyond Tzolis? And the focus is on the likes of Bruno and Konsa.

Morgan Rogers, a British transfer for someone who was not in his countries strongest XI, was no longer a priority for Arsenal.

Keenos

Bukayo Saka has been managing a long term achilles injury
William Saliba managing a long term back injury
Declan Rice has clearly not been 100% for some month
Jurrien Timber battled back from a groin injury only to break down again
Ben White’s body has finally given up on him after years of playing through injury

This is not the sign of weak, injury prone players. It is the sign of mentality monsters who put their bodies on the line in a quest for glory for club AND country

On one hand fans of England and France and some gutter journalists have criticised Rice, Saka and Saliba for putting club above country. They continued to play through injury rather than “do a Romero” and end their Premier League season early to enable them to go under the knife and be ready for the World Cup.

These guys wanted to win the Premier League and Champions League, and in Timber and White’s cases they ended up sacrificing their place on the plane to North America to help The Arsenal.

Then you have the other side of the coin. Arsenal fans (mainly from Nigeria) complaining that these guys should not have gone to the World Cup. That after dragging Arsenal through to the league title, they should have had their surgeries and declared themselves unfit for their country. The 3 months off would have been more than enough to get themselves fit for the new season.

But the fact that Saka, Rice and Saliba all went to the World Cup despite their injury issues, and performed for their countries, shows again how they are different mentally to some soft lads. After securing Premier League gold, they wanted to replicate their success for their country.

Take Saliba for example.

Back in January, he could have played up. Demanded surgery on the back. His 4-5 months would have meant missing out on Arsenal’s run in, but would have seen him be fully fit for the World Cup. Would Arsenal have won the league without him? Probably not. Would France have been in the World Cup final if he was fully fit? Maybe.

Likewise, come the end of the season, Saliba could have decided to get surgery. The 4-5 months out would have seen him return in around October. Just a handful of Premier League games missed. Instead, he kept playing through the pain, with injections, in an attempt to drive France to glory. And he was so close.

Saliba kept himself going for club and country. The result is he will now miss half of next season. But I do not blame him. I praise him – as I do with Saka, Rice and all the others.

They could have all sacrificed Arsenal, but instead they sit there with Premier League medals. And they could have sacrificed their country, but with World Cup’s every 4-years this would have been unreasonble.

So they all might miss the first half of next season. But they do so being Premier League champions and having given the World Cup a good, honest go. At no point have the put club above country or vice versa. They tried to do it all and ultimately it will be to the detriment of their own bodies.

What Arsenal, and England, and France and Holland now need to do is work on a way to better manage these players.

For Arsenal it is about signing the likes of John Stones or Ezri Konsa alongside Bruno Guimaraes to ensure that we do not need to rush these guys back. And to take minutes off them when they are back.

For their countries, it is important that they manage their players game time. Just because they are fit, does not mean they should be selected. Leave them out of the first couple of squads when they return to fitness. Give them the 2-weeks off to allow their weary bodies to recover. It will not affect their qualification chances for the Euro’s.

There is nothing more frustrating then a player being out for 4-6 weeks, gets himself fit and then is back playing for his country before he has even returned for his club. It is just poor management by the country. That extra 2-weeks would allow for further recovery, and reduce the risk of an injury come major tournament time.

As for the criticism of Rice, Saka, Saliba, et al, we should actually be praising them. These guys have stuck it on the line for club and country. Risked their learn term health and fitness. And due to their mentality their club won the Premier League and their countries made the World Cup semi-finals.

These are mentality monsters. And we need more of them!

Keenos