Arsenal did not “lose the race” to sign Buendia

Here we go again.

  1. Media link Arsenal to player
  2. Fans either get over excited or slam club for “targeting” player
  3. Player signs for another club
  4. Fans criticise club for “losing the race” to sign said player

If Arsenal wanted to sign Emi Buendia from Norwich City. We would have done.

We have not “lost out to Aston Villa”. We made the decision not to sign him.

Reports of a “bid” in the media last week were well off the mark. This is just speculation made up by the media, or by those on Twitter that crave the attention.

The fact is, no one actually knows who Arsenal have or have not bid for. Transfer business is a closely guarded secret by clubs.

The majority of speculation usually comes from agents. And they basically lie about bids or interest in their client in the hope bids elsewhere materialise.

And this is probably what happened with Buendia.

His people used the name of Arsenal to generate the interest, and by the end of the week a deal had been struck for him to join Aston Villa for a £35million deal.

Now we can debate whether Arsenal should have been in for Buendia.

He is a fantastic talent. A really nice technical player. The sort of player that we need.

But there is also something to say that he has ended up at Aston Villa and not one of the 10 clubs who finished above them.

There is a huge step up from Championship to Premier League. Buendia’s stats from last year in comparison to the season before show that. So you can kind of see why clubs were perhaps sceptical about spending big on him.

Ultimately, we will only really know if Arsenal were right not signing him when we see who we actually sign – and how they perform in comparison.

Say we go and sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa, or add Houssem Aouar. Both similar players to Buendia but better.

You also have Martin Odergaard who spent the 2nd half of last season on loan

There are reports that Edu and Arteta prefer Odergaard.

“We have a very clear and strong opinion on what we would like to do,” said Arteta when asked about keeping Odegaard.

“He’s not our player. We will have discussions in the next few weeks. And respect first of all because he’s a Real Madrid player, and we will have those communications.

I always advise during the off-season that you are best off ignoring the attention seekers.

The media use transfer speculation to drive traffic to their sites. The same as those blogs who constantly write about transfers (obscuring the players name from the title). It is click bait.

And then following it up with an article that “Arsenal lose race to sign” a player gets them even more hits.

Those saying “Arsenal are a dead a club. Can’t even beat Aston Villa to the signing of a player” really need to take a look at themselves.

Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Leicester City, Tottenham, West Ham, Everton and Leeds also have not signed Buendia. Were they all beaten to his signing? Or do they all have targets elsewhere?

Arsenal were not beaten to the signing of Buendia. Arsenal decided not to sign Buendia.

Keenos

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35 thoughts on “Arsenal did not “lose the race” to sign Buendia

  1. NB

    Buendia was third choice at best (Odegaard 1st, Neves/whoever we sign probably 2nd)

    Why would you go all out to sign your third choice when you are confident of landing one of your top 2?

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  2. Peter Jacobs

    The reality is that Arsenal do not have the spending power of most of the clubs above them.
    This has been the case ever since Ashely Cole went to Chelsea. You have American owners in it for a profit. Note that the Premier league table broadly reflects the money invested.

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    1. Hawkeyego

      I struggle to get your point. If Buendia was that hot then those clubs with more money would have snapped him up at any price, even higher than 40M.

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  3. Hash

    I think this article is quite inaccurate. If Buendia is not a top transfer target, why does Arsenal submitted a bid for him? It was 30mil and was an official bid. Arsenal upped the bid and matched what AV bid but Buendia was convinced with the Villa project. This is a bad direction of our transfer conduct and a signal that Arsenal was again not in a strong transfer budget to buy a player.

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    1. Didrik Plehn

      It’s only media speculations, do you have a reliable source for your information? What I have been told is that we never made an offer, we are looking elsewhere, which I believe is correct information.

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      1. Hash

        Quoted from Fabrizio Romano official page: Aston Villa are confident to complete Emi Buendia signing in the next hours, as @charles_watts reported today. Arsenal opening bid was turned down days ago – #AVFC now in advanced talks with Norwich, last details to complete the agreement around €35m.

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      2. Didrik Plehn

        Nothing but speculations, if Arsenal offered £30 million they ment he wasn’t worth more, which I agree. So fare Buendia hasn’t delivered anything worth mentioning in PL, last time Norwich played in PL I didn’t see anything from him. He’s a good player, but we don’t know if he will be a PL success or not.

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    2. Ab

      You read it in the paper…so it must be true then. Aston villa is a decent club but clearly if Arsenal really wanted him they would have bought him – or any of the other bigger club. Its obvious they have other targets.

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    3. Hawkeyego

      You are not convinced that
      “The majority of speculation usually comes from agents. And they basically lie about bids or interest in their client in the hope bids elsewhere materialise.” …
      “And this is probably what happened with Buendia.
      The media use transfer speculation to drive traffic to their sites. The same as those blogs who constantly write about transfers (obscuring the players name from the title). It is click bait”
      It does make sense to me.

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    4. Brianj

      Well said mate and l said the same thing to my son…u can’t lose a race if you ain’t in it!!
      just a shame so many believe every word they read online nowadays.
      I find it odd that my generation brought up with just the newspapers treated most stories about players transfers with a pinch of salt.
      Yet nowadays every story published online is taken as fact.

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    5. Brianj

      Well said mate and l said the same thing to my son…u can’t lose a race if you ain’t in it!!
      just a shame so many believe every word they read online nowadays.
      I find it odd that my generation brought up with just the newspapers treated most stories about players transfers with a pinch of salt.
      Yet nowadays every story published online is taken as fact.

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  4. Dorset Canary

    Feeble and arrogant comments. If Arsenal are so secretive about their transfer activities why do you know that they never made an offer for Buendia? Also you appear to say that Arsenal can sign any player that they want!!!! Get real.

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    1. Didrik Plehn

      What have Busndia showed in PL making him worth £40 million? Last time Norwich played in PL I didn’t see anything. He might be a very good PL player or he might be a flop, we we will have the answer soon.

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    2. Brian

      No what he said was theres been no proof that Arsenal ever made a bid other than hearsay online its u my friend that needs to “get real” why would any player believe that a team that finished 3 places and 6pts worse of than Arsenal are a better bet for success in the coming years

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      1. rzl

        You are so wrong if you think that Arsenal should get a player who are in demand from MANY BIG CLUBS. Do you really think Arsenal could get a player if that player is being targeted by MANY BIG CLUBS.

        Arsenal might as well close their transfer season NOW if they ONLY went for a player wanted buy the PL side who are at the top. Because we would not get ANYBODY.

        Put your foot on the ground and quit jumping around. Accept the reality. The reality is Arsenal is not a big club anymore in comparison to other BIG CLUBS.

        The only way Arsenal could get a player if they compete for a player who is not targeted by MANY BIG CLUBS.

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      2. Didrik Plehn

        rzl@ I respect your opinion, but I disagree with you. We won two titles in August last year. Yes, we have had our problems related to different kind of topics, but we will get better already next season. I have been an Arsenal fan since 1971 and I’m used to ups and downs. I don’t worry at all about our future, and find your balderdash amusing 👋👋

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  5. Broli

    Norwich gave a commentary about who bid what so Buendia was a target and his agent says Villa they offered the better project hence his move there. Is Ruben Neves really better than Xhaka ( who is likely to leave) or Buendia? We NEED a top class central midfielder who is quick, links play and breaks up attacks. Other than Kante next best is Bissouma who actually really wants to join Arsenal and would cost no more, and probably less, than Neves. We also need two fullbacks.

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  6. DaJuhi

    You really think we have any chance of signing Grealish? We are a step down for him. I bet Edu chases Ödegaard all summer long, missing out on every other target, and RM won’t budge on their demands. So we end up with a complete panic buy.

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    1. rzl

      Agree, only DELUDED Arsenal fans thinks that we could get Grealish.
      For a big mediocre club such as Arsenal we are 3 season too late to sign him.
      Now, we would be price out and even if we could put a bid, others will in it for him too and certainly he would choose for a side who played in the CL or at the very least Europa.

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  7. dharma_steve

    My team….Arsenal are now the 4th team in London, who is kidding who? No ambition, no plan, all on the fly. Villa have ambition. Their wealthy owners have a vision for their club, the Kroenke’s given the chance would make LA Arsenal’s home ground. Greedy £$£$. Buendia believed Villa’s vision and not the Rookie Arteta’s, or the confused looking Edu and the lies of Stan Kroenke.

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    1. adas

      Jack grealish is overated ,buendia is worth more than ozil in his prime? not proven in the epl, …if arsenal can sign partey from la liga champs then what is Aston villa to arsenal??? Chelsea spent on kepa the worst keeper in epl , Werner Harvetz they ddnt produce anything of value instead it was free Silva & Mount who changed they’re fortunes

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  8. Oba

    Ok we get you but hope it will not be another story we will be told that it was arsenal that wanted to sign him in the first place after the guy become a hit at Aston villa. This happened to C.Ronaldo, kante, even aguero father said we wanted to sign his son when we have plenty striker upfront. Let Arsenal and the board too including the owner to start making statements by signing or go for super quality players. By now we don’t know which way the club is moving, this is not how Man City, Chelsea conduct their businesses. We don’t want players that cannot nail down position in their club to come over like ødegaard and co, now neves story is all over the Internet, is that media traffic again?

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  9. theghostinside

    Thanks for giving me hope that not all Arsenal blogs are brainwashed by the ridiculous rumours from the media. Good to know I am not alone in fighting the negativity and fake rumours! 😊💪

    On top Buendia is a winger. We don’t need a winger.

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  10. James Simmonds

    Agreed I’m fed up of Arsenal fans always looking for faults and problems with my club. We just have to sit on the sidelines and support our club no matter who’s in charge, who plays in the first 11, whoever we sign. Rather than worrying about whoever we “miss out on” according to the tabloid media and the like.

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    1. Hawkeyego

      You can convince yourself about just anything in order to keep yourself miserable or you may be more positive for your health’s sake.
      Evidence shows Arsenal were the second best team in the second half of the season and posted the third best defence. Do keep that in mind.

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  11. Chaos23

    So many people caught up in believing the media, if what they say is true we should have signed half a dozen players already in past few weeks. Reality is Arsenal are a big club who aren’t at there best (though i could see progress last season) – having supported then since the 70’s you get to understand every team has not at there best moments. Suspect the wise amongst us accept we’ve made a signing when its announced officially – then we can debate it otherwise its a waste energy.
    So much negativity from supposed fans – likely just jumped on the ooh its a successful club band wagon.
    Personally think the money in footy is pretty immoral n feeds a growing negativity amongst fans as well as unreal expectations. Many ‘big clubs’ have only one a few cups and titles in ther 100 or so years !!
    Anyway I remain a hopeful Gooners fan, who has definitely seen it more bleak than it currently is. I would suggest you take the media for mostly pointless money making entity it is and wait tell we have an actual signing before getting carried away 🙂

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  12. Mike

    I’m willing to be enthusiastic. But Arsenal is losing the race on Odsonne Edouard. A player who’d fit perfectly with our style of play, and with the likes of players we’ve got.
    He could link up greatly with Saka, ESR, Thomas, Tierney and so on …
    He’s apparently going to Leicester.

    Same story is happening with Buendia.

    I’m concerned the Kroenke are going to show during this mercato how they take Arsenal for a money sponge.

    Since they took over the club, we’ve seen a rapid diminishing of quality overall of our team.
    A near non-existent solid sport minded project.

    I wouldn’t be surprised to learn this is on purpous, as there is money to make on past glories of a great club and the beliefs of supporters.

    We don’t want big names to impress. We want the right players to mount a challenging team.

    My thoughts and wish-list:

    Odsonne Edouard
    Manor Solomon
    A solid midfielder to support Thomas.
    Varane is rumors are true he could add steel to our defense.
    A player to support Tierney.
    And Onana who would be a great goalie.

    Please tell me what you think.

    Have a great day Gunners.

    Mike

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  13. Elliot

    If Arsenal didn’t like the player, why then did they start scouting for him since last year. The naked truth is that they simply cannot compete on the market for better players. They would rather go for free agents. That’s today’s Arsenal. They were initially linked to Yevs Bissouma, now that there is talk of Liverpool joining the race, they tuck their tail in between their legs and move on to another target. Definitely this is not the Arsenal we used to support for years. No wonder they are missing on European football for the first time in 25 years.

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