Shiny new toy syndrome – The tendency to be distracted by something new, often abandoning existing items that may not be inferior.

We all remember being kids, or having kids, and getting a new toy. You would immediately stop playing with your favourite toy and start playing with the new one. But after a while that new toy would become boring and you would either go back to your old favourite, or begin pining for another new toy. Parents would be frustrated that the new toy they have invested in has been so quickly thrown away.

And it is the same with football.

Fans often get obsessed with what their clubs are spending. And would often call for players who are not actually an improvement on those currently in the squad. They want a shiny new toy to watch. And after 2-3 months, when they realise the new fella is not as good as the old fella, they will be calling for changes to make, or criticising management if the old fella has been sold.

And it certainly feels like that is where we are at with Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

Fans’ frustration has led to calls for players who are inferior to Martinelli and Leandro . Wanting something just because it is “new” despite it not being superior to what you currently have is a symptom of shiny new toy syndrome.

Whilst we are still crying out for a new left winger, we blogged back in May, it is not an easy position for us to improve. And the situation has not been resolved.

The headache for Arsenal is who could come in that would be an immediate upgrade on Martinelli. And the answer has always been not many players.

Gabi is not the bad player many make him out to be. He is a fantastic left-winger and has scored 51 goals in 225 games for us. Yes, he has had a tough last season, and has perhaps not kicked on from 2022/23, but that does not make him a bad player.

In my view, he is probably that level below World Class. And that means that only really the best left wingers in the world would be an improvement on him.

Eberechi Eze is one name we have been heavily linked to this summer. But Eze is not a left winger.

The Englishman’s best performances for Crystal Palace have been playing centrally. And Palace fans will tell you he is less effective out wide. Eze is certainly not a natural left winger and would not be an upgrade on Martinelli.

He would be a good option to replace Trossard however as a back up left winger and an attacking option more centrally.

Another man we have often been linked to over the years is Rafael Leao. I have never really been a fan.

Leao is not a team player. He reminds me of Cody Gakpo in that he wants to play high on the left and not have to worry about being involved in the team play. Lazy in defence, he just wants to sit on the half way line, on the half turn, ready to attack.

Whilst this might work for AC Milan, and worked for Gakpo at PSV, it would not work at the top level of the Premier League where attackers need to put in a defensive shift. And you only have to see how Gakpo has for regular starts for Liverpool in his 2 and a half seasons at the club to highlight why a “selfish” attacker is not suitable for the 90 minutes.

On top of that, I do not think Leao is much better than Martinelli in attack. Yes, he might be more pleasing on the eye, but his output is not much better than our Brazilian. And then you have to consider that with Milan, he only needs to focus on attacking and much of their play goes through him on the left hand side.

Leao would be a perfect example of a shiny new toy. Someone who we would all get excited over, but quickly realise is no better than the old toy we have mentally cast away.

I have also seen Arsenal fans cry out for the likes of Savinho, Mohammed Kudus, and Jamie Gittens. The latter two moving to Tottenham and Chelsea respectively.

I have seen claims made over the weekend that all 3 would all start at elft wing for Arsenal. But is this true?

A great response I read to those saying Savinho is a better left wing option that Martinelli was: Which of Savinho’s 1 league goal last season was your favourite.

And that really highlights some Arsenal fans affliction with shiny new toy syndrome. It is not about having a top class left winger. It is just about having a left winger that is not Gabriel Martinelli. Even if they are inferior.

Martinelli had that tough season last year, but he still scored 8 goals in 33 games. Meanwhile, Savinho scored 1in 29 games, playing predominantly right wing. Mohammed Kudus scored just 5. Are any of these really an upgrade in Martinelli?

As for Jamie Gittens, I liked him and would not have minded us going for him. But at 21 he is still very raw, and would have been more suited to being cover and competition for Martinelli than an instant replacement. He does have the potential to become better than Gabi.

This is shown by Chelsea already looking at both Xavi Simons and Alejandro Garnacho. Both of whom start ahead of Gittens on the left. And £50m is a huge fee for someone who only really made his breakthrough last season. And scored the same amount of goals as Martinelli.

We also have Rodrygo. I have always scratched my head with him and felt that were he to join Arsenal, he would have to be for a deal that suits us.

At Real Madrid, Rodrygo plays right wing. The theory is he is better suited to the left but is forced to play out of position due to Vinicius Junior. But this is all just theory.

In 6 seasons with Real Madrid, Rodrygo has played on the left in just 33 La Liga games. That is compared to 83 on the right and 50 up top. The data does not exist that he is a world class winger waiting to break out.

And a deal close to £100m, and a contract of £350k a week, is huge sums to pay on a theory. And he is a player with just 6 La Liga goals last season…

Yes, he might do an Alexis Sanchez and explode when he becomes more of the main man (although Sanchez’s talent was a lot more obvious for everyone). But what is more likely is that he proves for Arsenal the same as what he has proved for Real Madrid. That he is a decent utility man capable of playing across the front 3, but not really good enough to regularly hold down a single position as his own.

“But Pep wants him so he must be good” – And Pep is well known for massively rotating his forward players and liking a couple of utility players in his squad
“Liverpool also want him” – Like Pep, Both Klopp and Slott have rotated the two “non-Salah” forwards, with none of Nunez, Jota, Diaz or Gakpo regularly playing. Rodrygo would fit this mould, being able to play left, right or centre where he is needed.

Arsenal do not need a utility forward providing us with an option on the left, right or centre. We need a top class left winger who would be an upgrade on Martinelli. And I have not always been convinced that Rodrygo is that.

I am not saying that we can not improve on Martinelli. What I am saying is that the market of players that would improve on him is small. And that if we are demanding us spend big in the last week and a half of the transfer window, it has to be on someone who could come in and improve straight away.

We are not Manchester City who can spend £100m on Jack Grealish, then £55m on Doku, and now looking to spend another £80m on Rodrygo. We can not just chuck money and 3-4 players to fix a position and hope one turns out alright.

Nor should we do a Chelsea whom seem to make a signing (Gittens, Delap), then make another signing that immediately usurps them (Garnacho potentially and Pedro). This after they usurped other players of a similar level already (Madueke and Jackson). You adopt this policy and whilst you have plenty of new toys, non are really that much better than what you previously had.

The players I like are Raphina and Bradley Barcola. These might be gettable. But not this summer.

Other wingers, such as Vinicius Jr, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Lamine Yamal, Michael Olise and Desire Doue are unobtainable.

We could talk about Antony Gordon, Maghnes Akliouche, Kaoru Mitoma, Antonie Semenyo or Malick Fofana. But none of these would be an upgrade on Martinelli. They would be coming in as squad players.

And as we have seen this summer with the links of Madueke, Kudus, Gittens and Elanaga, as well as Cunha and Mbeumo, this level winger is still costing £50m+.

A new left winger is still my preferred option. But new does not automatically mean better. And a lot of the players I see us linked with are simply not better than Martinelli.

Who would you like us to sign? Let us know why in the comments.

Keenos

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