Arsenal have announced the signing of Fabio Vieira from Porto in a deal that could rise to as much as £34million. The Gunners were able to keep the deal under wraps for much of the negotiations and by the time it surfaced Arsenal were moving for the player the transfer was effectively completed.
football.london understands that this is a trend that is expected to continue and even increase whilst Mikel Arteta remains manager of the club. Strategies are being put in place to ensure that information regarding player negotiations does not get out.
Arsenal have seen a number of top targets fail to materialise after a protracted and well-publicised pursuit. The January transfer window witnessed attempts to sign Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina.
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Despite the club doing everything possible to secure the Serbian international, football.london understands, that ultimately the player’s personal desire to seal a switch to Juventus won out. Arsenal ended up not signing any forward in January despite late inquiries for Alexander Isak and Noa Lang.
Whilst in the early stages of the transfer window, Arsenal have made serious moves for priority targets swiftly in an attempt to try and complete business early and get the jump on potential rivals. Central midfield and striker were thought to be priorities however serious investment could also take place in the wide forward role and in defence, of which the latter is perhaps a surprise.
However, the trend across all the roles is Arsenal’s attempts to try and ensure secrecy with their moves. Although this will not always be possible, and the well-publicised discussions surrounding Gabriel Jesus and Youri Tielemans highlight this, this is a step in the right direction for future success in the market.
There has been plenty of examples that the new strategy has been evident over the past 18 months. In fact, deals involving Mat Ryan, Calum Chambers and Auston Trusty are further evidence of this as the first developments were the announcements. No rumours, just confirmation they had either left or joined the club.
With Alex Runarsson's move not going to plan, a backup for Bernd Leno was required in January 2021 and it was a shock to see Ryan unveiled. This was also the case five months ago when Chambers completed his move to Aston Villa as nothing beforehand suggested the defender was going to leave.
And then, a week later on deadline day, out of nowhere, the club confirmed a deal for Trusty. Again, there were no signs that a central defender was on the club's radar at the time and this points towards an approach, if they can manage it which is difficult in the age of social media, of keeping transfers under wraps until it's time for an announcement.
football.london understands this could be a recurring theme in future transfer windows with the South American market a particular area of interest to Mikel Arteta and Edu as new rules that came in after Brexit have made it harder for British clubs to sign foreign players from second-tier European leagues.
Last summer, the Gunners dismantled and then quickly rebuilt their scouting department with a number of new scouts being tasked with finding the best talent from abroad thus giving them an advantage over their rivals.
Mikel Arteta was also keen to address information leaking from inside the dressing room. He confirmed in January of last year that he had an idea who leaked information regarding a training ground bust-up between Dani Ceballos and David Luiz.
"I have sort of an idea, yes," he said when asked if he knew who it was. Arteta was then asked whether it was one of the players that have left this month and he answered, "No comment on that."
Both in the training ground and around the negotiating table Arteta wants secrecy. It is likely that further moves in the market will come out of the blue in an ever-increasing number.
