Well it has happened. The transfer window started off so well with the capture of Sead Kolašinac and Alexandre Lacazette but has now derailed like a South West Train in morning rush hour.
It is all so predictable. It has all been seen before. And it is all so frustrating. Just as you think things are going to be different, you were promised they were different, you fooled yourself into believing they were different, you are let down.
This transfer window is turning into the exact same as other transfer windows. And it keeps happening. And you can only blame the management, from Arsene Wenger upwards. If it was a one off, you would give them the benefit of the doubt. But it is not a one off. This sort of transfer window has happened for Arsenal for over a decade.
Firstly we have the public chase of Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.
Reports are Thomas Lemar was done. That he wanted, and had agreed, to join the club. All that was left was for Arsenal to agree a fee. And like so many transfers beforehand, that was the stumbling bloke.
Of course, no one knows exactly what is going on, but reports are that Arsenal did not meet Monaco’s early season valuation. The two clubs were not too far behind, but Arsenal were just not willing to stump up the cash.
By the time Arsenal finally decided to pay the asking price, Monaco had moved the goal posts. Having already sold Bernardo Silva, Tiémoué Bakayoko, Benjamin Mendy and a handful of squad players, the asking price of Thomas Lemar jumped up. Arsenal had dragged their heels and have ended up missing out.
Perhaps Arsenal should have given up on the chase a few weeks ago, when the Monaco management had made it clear that Lemar would not be sold. Arsenal should have either made Monaco an offer that they can not refuse, or just moved on. Instead it seems we have done neither.
We then come to player sales. How long have we moaned about too much dead wood at the club? Too long. Yet here we sit, in the middle of August, and the likes of Mathieu Debuchy, Carl Jenkinson, Francis Coquelin, Kieran Gibbs and Lucas Perez are still at the club.
Even the ‘semi dead wood’ of Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Calum Chambers are here.
Clubs do not want to sign our players. Are we holding out for too much? Are they demanding too much money? Or are the players just crap? Probably a mixture of all 3. But it feels like a blocked drain at the moment. There is too much shit waiting to leave that we are unable to add anymore on top (I will work on this analogy).
With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looking to move, and no central midfield reinforcements on the horizon, we might end up in the situation where some players who really should not longer be at the club end up remaining as squad players.
Having got through a U23 game a few days ago, I can see Wenger looking at Jack wilshere and thinking might as well keep him. Rather than spend £20-£30m on someone like Jean-Michael Seri, he keeps Jack Wilshere.
Likewise, if Ox does go, Debuchy or Jenkinson will be thrown a lifeline.
Add in Coquelin likely to stay, Gibbs seemingly happy to see out his contract, Walcott not being replaced, and Arsenal pricing Chambers out of a move, it will be the same old stale squad filled with players who should have been shifted on years ago.
It is all a little depressing. All a little bit of same old, same old.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 