I asked a very simple question to the She Wore WhatsApp group.
Would you have wanted Arsenal to sign any of the players Chelsea bought at the same price?
Wesley Fofana – At the time it felt like a lot of money for a talented young central defender who had spent a year injured. As it turned out, his injury issues continued. Would not have him ahead of William Saliba or Gabriel. We are not Manchester City and can not afford to spend £71m on a back up defender.
Marc Cucurella – Cost nearly twice what we paid for Oleksandr Zinchenko, half the player.
Raheem Sterling – Not the profile of player we are signing. He has peaked and is now on the decline.
Kalidou Koulibaly – Always felt he was massively overhyped. There was a reason he had been linked to Premier League sides for half a decade (or more) but never made the move. Like Sterling, best days are behind him.
Benoît Badiashile – Would have provided good cover and competition for Gabriel. Plenty of experience for someone only 21. £34million looks a good price. Kiwior a similar profile at half the price.
Carney Chukwuemeka – Very talented player. A btec Jude Bellingham. That is not a bad thing, Jude will become one of the best in the world. £16million could look a steal if he develops. We have Charlie Patino.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – He was done as a top player when we got rid. Not sure why Chelsea fans celebrated signing him so much. They already want to sell!
David Datro Fofana – Never seen him play. Signed from Norwegian team Molde. Any new Arsenal striker needs to be better than Eddie Nketiah. Do not think he is.
Andrey Santos – 18-year-old central midfielder. Charlie Patino, Catalin Cirjan, Marcelo Flores, Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand, Ethan Nwaneri. We have plenty of young midfielders. Unless he is better than all of them, it would be a waste of £11million.
Joao Felix – We were right to not sign him whilst we pursued Mykhailo Mudryk. Would have made no sense signing both. Chelsea have got both, we got neither. Think if he was stil on the market we’d have moved for him following the Mudryk deal breaking down. Would not be surprised if he joined us in the summer.
Gabriel Slonina – We have Karl Hein as the “young, 3rd choice keeper” option. Hein is also home grown. Also Arthur Okonkwo out on loan.
Denis Zakaria – Would have been a good option for a season long loan to be cover for Thomas Partey.
Mykhailo Mudryk – I wanted him. But a fee rising to £88million is just to rich for my liking. Glad we stepped away. Longer explination in a blog last week.
Christopher Nkunku – We could have signed him a few years back but opted for Nicolas Pepe. Been very good for RB Leipzig the last 18 months. But he plays off a big central striker. We do not play with one. Could he develop into an out and out centre forward and be the cover for Gabriel Jesus? Or maybe return to playing outwide as competition for Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli? A lot of money for a player who I am not sure where he would fit into our team.
Noni Madueke – England you international who has suffered a serious ankle injury this season. £28.5m is big money for an attacker with just 20 goals in 80 games in Holland. Saka, Martinelli, Trossard and Smith Rowe all better. Same level as Reiss Nelson.
Malo Gusto – In Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, we have two brilliant right backs for Arteta’s system. Spending £30m on another right back would make no sense.
Enzo Fernandez – No one had heard of him before the World Cup.
Chelsea have spent over £600m this year and none of their signings scream out “we should have got him at that price”.
Badiashile and Chukwuemeka are the two main men that would have suited us. But with the signing of Kiwior and development on loan of Patino, we have similar options.
Denis Zakaria is a player I have always liked and I think he would have been a good signing to be that Thomas Partey back up.
Mudryk could become a world class player, but they have paid a world class fee for someone who only has potential.
Finally Nkunku is a player I have always liked. In another system he would have been a good signing for us. But we do not play a system that suits him.
Let us know your views…
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Very fair summation.As you say,perhaps two only would be for serious consideration.The chavs have mortgaged their future transfer budgets.Got a feeling it won’t take long to blow up in their face.Couldn’t happen to a ‘ nicer club & fans’.😉
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Would’ve took Sterling in the summer, thank fuck that never happened. Think the chavs have recruited a few decent players but when you spray about that type of dough then you’d expect it. The only one that bothers me is Mudryk, he was clearly our number 1 target this window and I was disappointed not to get that deal over the line. However, there has to be a point when you walk away. When you start off bidding 50 million, then end up offering 80 and someone comes in and offers 90 you’ve just got to wipe your mouth and move on.
The daft thing is, I’ve only seen the geezer play 3 times. Hopefully he ends up a dud and Chelsea do their dough but I must admit, he’s looked mustard whenever I’ve seen him.
Oh well, I’m happy with our business during the window, no point looking down at the chavs, let them look up at us. It’s a fucking long way up as well.
Up The Arse.
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