The Dusan Vlahovic to Arsenal talk always felt a little too noisy.
When there is that much daily speculation about a proposed deal it is usually one of two things.
Firstly it is usually the agent trying to talk up a move for his man.
By continually leaking information to the press it gets his client airtime and generates a move elsewhere – the constant linking of Vlahovic to Arsenal has seemingly forced Juventus’ hand and sign a player they did not want until the summer.
The other scenario is that there is nothing else happening in the world of football and the media have columns and airtime to fill.
Ok the case of Vlahovic; it is both.
His agent wanted to force through that Juventus deal and the sports media have had very little else to report on. This has been a dull transfer window.
Arsenal’s pursuit of Vlahovic get very similar to the summer when we chased Manuel Locatelli.
We were clearly getting enough positive vibes from representatives to continue pursuing them; but it always felt that they were waiting for an offer to come from elsewhere.
Locatelli got his love to Juventus, and Vlahovic looks to be joining him.
Did Arsenal waste their time chasing the pair so deep into transfer windows – and missing out on other targets in the process? You could argue yes.
But when they are your top targets and the agents are indicating that a deal could be made, you focus on getting it over the line.
So the January transfer window is closing and Arsenal are no nearer to the new striker and central midfielder we need.
A move for Arthur Melo seems to have gone stale; whilst Alexander Isak and Dominic Calvert Lewin would unlikely move before the summer (unless Arsenal trigger the Swede’s huge release clause)
Real Sociedad are chasing Champions League football whilst Everton are battling relegation. Neither would likely let go the man they hope to score the goals they need in the second half of the season. Especially this deep into a transfer window where they will be unable to purchase a replacement.
So all in all, a frustrating transfer window for us Arsenal fans. The lack of activity could cost us 4th place.
The only ray of hope is that it has been a dead window for all the clubs around us.
Just £104m has been spent by Premier League clubs – 50% of which was spent by Everton and Aston Villa on full backs.
Arsenal are likely to make no January signings.
It looks like we will be playing the last 17 games of the season with the same group of players we started with.
This summer will be big (again).
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 