Raphinha emerged as somewhat as a surprise candidate for Arsenal during this summer transfer window. The Gunners were after signings at striker, central midfield and defence, but a wide player did not appear high up on the agenda, especially for the figures being suggested.
It is not necessarily a shock to see Arsenal willing to spend large amounts on a position that is not key to their summer plans. The arrival of Ben White for £50m in 2021 stands as evidence of this when it seemed central midfield, attacking midfield and right-back were higher up on the list of priorities.
This summer, Arsenal again have areas that look to be in more dire need of reinforcement, upgrade and competition than the wide forward role. Arsenal have Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli plus Martin Odegaard and new boy Fabio Vieira, who can and have played in wide roles.
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Not to mention Eddie Nketiah and incoming striker Gabriel Jesus, who can also play wide roles. Whereas Arsenal currently have no left-footed centre-half nor competitive long-term backup to Gabriel Magalhaes and Kieran Tierney, should they suffer serious injury.
Both Pablo Mari and Nuno Tavares have question marks over their future and their quality. Ajax’s Lisandro Martinez can provide quality in both areas, plus defensive midfield too, and it is no surprise he is a priority for the club.
Whilst a progressive central midfielder who can play on the left and compete with Granit Xhaka for the role is a necessity this summer. Youri Tielemans appeared to be that man but interest has ‘cooled’, although it could be reignited.
Therefore, with these two roles, the asking price for Raphinha being deemed too high for the Gunners is a reasonable explanation for the club’s unwillingness to exceed their valuation. Paying over what the club may have budgeted for, compromising the ability to sign players in three roles to instead sign just two, could be the difference between success and failure next season.
The criticism will come should Arsenal fail to address these three areas after missing out on Raphinha. If the Gunners sign only the defensive and central midfield targets without strengthening the wide forward position, then questions will rightly be asked.
To call out the recruitment team, Edu or Mikel Arteta now would be certainly jumping the gun quite considerably. With the business done to sign Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Vieira and Jesus already, well ahead of the first pre-season fixture, this is shaping up to be a positive window.
It also means with so many signings through the door, it has given the club time to react to setbacks with other potential targets like Raphinha. Had this happened a month later and the new season days away, it would have been disastrous.
The club is learning from its past mistakes in both player profiling and timing. Hopefully, the benefits of these lessons are shown through the business completed in the coming weeks.
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