Arsenal.com finally confirmed what Arsene Wenger had already confirmed a day or two ago, with Calum Chambers completing his transfer to Arsenal. This is now our fourth signing in what has possibly been our most productive transfer window ever. Chambers is essentially a backup for now, to cover the positions of right back, centre back and central midfield, and knowing our ever continuing romance with injuries, he's bound to get more than a few games this season.
A fee rumoured to be around £11 million, potentially rising to £16 million has been mooted, and while that's definitely steep for a 19 year old with limited top class experience (which I shall get to in a bit), we're paying more for potential rather than performance. Chambers has played against us and in that game he seemed like a pretty solid right back, and his versatility means that he provides both competition and backup at several positions. This is actually a typical Wenger signing. The first two signings this season, Sanchez and Debuchy were full internationals with a wealth of experience in top flight football (not very Wenger-esque) . Ospina was a typical, bargain gem, but with Chambers, Wenger has once again spent big on potential rather than on experience.
Case in point, take the two former Southampton youngsters on our books, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Walcott came in as a 16 year old, for a cool £9.1 million, while we coughed up roughly £12-15 million for Chamberlain. Walcott of course has more than justified his transfer fee, and is a guaranteed starter when fit. And although Chamberlain has yet to justify a high transfer fee, he's only 20 and the potential he has shown thus far suggests that he's going to follow in Theo's footsteps. Of course it's going to take time for Chambers to start playing regularly, let alone performing regularly. It took Walcott a good 4-5 years before he started contributing regularly in terms of goals and assists, and as a defender, it's naturally going to be a while before see young Calum perform regularly. What his final position is going to be is anyone's guess, but it has been mooted that he could be a future centre back or a holding midfielder.
Of course, Chambers coming in means that Jenkinson's game time is going to radically be cut short. It has been mooted that Jenkinson will go on a loan, rather than sold, and West Ham seem to be ahead of the pack in achieving his transfer. It's a shame really. While he hasn't been a failure, not even close to one, he hasn't shown enough to be a regular starter. With Debuchy being the first choice right back, Jenkinson would only be a backup and with the arrival of Chambers, perhaps not even that. At his age he needs to be playing regularly and that's why a loan move might do him a lot of good. It hasn't been suggested that he's going to be sold, and this maybe a make or break season for him. If he performs regularly, at a level required while out on loan, he'll definitely be called back to his parent club. Wenger trusted him enough to give him a long term contract in December 2012, and if Chambers does end up playing in a position other than right back, as has been suggestion, Jenkinson may go on to become our first choice right back for years. I'd definitely like to see that happen.
Now onto two things not exactly Arsenal related. One of course is about the mass exodus at Southampton. Lambert, Lallana, Shaw, Lovren, Chambers have all left Southampton, with potentially a few more on their way out as I type this. That's almost an entire team! One decent season, and teams above them have pounced like vultures to rip apart a good team. One can't help but feel bad for Southampton supporters. By all means they have a lovely set of supporters, and had a good team filled with home grown players, who played nice football. Southampton are unfortunately a victim of their own success. Usually teams unable to compete at top financial levels, are robbed of their stars (something I've witnessed first hand as an Arsenal supporter) but this is a baffling case where an entire team has been dismantled. If the club and the manager's policy is that they don't want anyone who doesn't want to play for them, it's courageous, daring and stupid all at the same time. Hopefully, Southampton will bounce back. They have a good academy and they've managed to get top level prices for every player they have sold. If all the money in is put to transfers, that's a massive £100 million the manager has at his disposal.
Which brings me to my final point about the ludicrous prices for English talent. We bought Chambers, a 19 year old right back with very limited League experience and no European experience whatsoever for £16 million. Shaw, a left back was bought for £30 million. In comparison, Debuchy a right back, a full French international in the prime of his career was worth only £10 million. Lallana, a 26 year who scored 9 goals last season, never started for England in the World Cup was bought for £25 million quid. Sanchez scored 19, got his country to the Round of 16 and cost a mere £7 million more. Toni Kroos cost £5 million less than Lallana. The strangest bit is that English players have always been outrageously expensive, and sometimes it almost feels like they're simply bought at silly prices just by glancing at their nationality. Ashley Young and Stewart Downing both cost £20 million, while a player like Andy Caroll has raked up roughly £52 million in combined transfer fees (£35 million: Newcastle to Liverpool + £17 million: Liverpool to West Ham). The entire thing becomes a farce when you look at England's rubbish performance at the World Cup. These players, bought at huge prices all contributed to a grand total of zero win in three games and two goals. Enner Valencia, a £12 million buy for West Ham scored more than the entire English team. Tim Cahill and Gervinho scored as much!
Premium prices for not so premium players seems to be the order of the day in English football. And the worst part is that it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Okay, enough ranting about the ills of English football. Since I didn't start the post with this, I should at least end with it:
Welcome Calum Chambers!
As is customary during the summer transfer season, I generally google search the term 'arsenal' and read all the news articles linking us with every footballer on the planet. In years past the narrative was something along the lines of Arsenal being linked with a lot of players, players other people have heard of, and then signing Park Chu Young. Last summer was us being linked to a lot of players, rumours of a medical, and then the player signing for Napoli. This summer, we've been linked to a lot of players, rumoured medicals, and we sign Alexis Sanchez..........WHAT?!
It's not even deadline day, and we've already bought a world class player? Doesn't sound like Arsenal at all. Of course, the Sanchez rumours had been going on for sometime now, but most people refused to believe it till appeared last night on Arsenal.com (the link has been provided for people still in disbelief). First things first, we have a great player. He's powerful, pacey, glorious dribbling ability, has a wicked shot, has played at a top level, and at the age of 25, his best years are still ahead of him. A lot was written about our attacking play last season, how we were devoid of pace without Walcott, how Giroud was our primary finisher with everyone else on the team being a creator, how we only managed to score 66 goals. Arsenal was crying out for a top class attacker, and in signing Sanchez, our attacking woes may have been solved.
From a pure footballing view, Sanchez has a lot to offer. He can play anywhere across the front three, on the flanks, as he's done for Barcelona, just behind the main striker as at Udinese, or even as a classic striker as we've seen him do for Chile. And let's face it, he was rather impressive for Chile. Where he finally plays is of course up to the boss, but he's flexible enough to play anywhere. He scored 19 La Liga goals from the wings last season, behind only Messi, and would go a long way in creating one of the best strike forces in the league, and perhaps even Europe. Furthermore, Sanchez has a great work ethic. Continuously haggling defenders, tracking back, for Chile he was the first line of defence. As far as transfer dealings go, 30 something million pounds for a player of Sanchez's ilk is pretty much a no-brainer.
Alexis Sanchez's footballing abilities aside, this transfer is pleasing for numerous other reasons. One of them is that no one is upset about Cesc Fabregas going to Chelsea anymore. Well, not as much at any rate. It was a known fact that Arsenal required a goal-scorer, and if 30 million pounds are spent on Sanchez rather than Fabregas, so be it. It was the necessary transfer, rather than the luxurious one. We had a problem in terms of goals. We addressed it. Another rather admirable aspect about this entire transfer was the efficiency of it.
Unlike the torturous summer of 2013, where we were simply bouncing from one transfer target to the other, this summer the club and it's officials settled on a transfer target, negotiated with one of the biggest clubs in the worlds for one of it's best players, and quickly signed him up. There was no dithering of old, no haggling, no endless talks. People talk a lot about the Ozil deal, but in my honest opinion, there's a huge difference between the two transfers. Ozil was a deadline day signing, after a summer of transfer dithering. I understand that he only became available after the Bale transfer went through, but it wasn't necessarily a planned one. Higuain, then Suarez, and then finally Ozil. This summer presents a different scenario altogether. It would appear that there are definite transfer targets, and the club is doing it's best to get them. Of course, the Ozil deal would have helped provide those in charge of transfers the requisite experience to conduct deals at such a top level, but the club itself deserves a lot of credit for conducting it's affairs in an efficient manner.
In my opinion, the most pleasing aspect of this entire transaction is that Arsenal is now looked at as one of the big boys once more. If Ozil's transfer was a hint as to what Arsenal's newfound financial power is capable of, then Sanchez's transfer is definite evidence of that. It means that last summer's record transfer wasn't a one off, rather the first in what can only be deemed as the flexing of the club's financial muscle. A lot has been said about the new Puma and Emirates deals, how the club could compete at a much higher level than before, and the club is putting money where it's mouth is. Ozil's transfer was pleasing as to how unexpected it was, and Sanchez's transfer is even more significant since we know what to expect now.
Of course, not every player coming in is going to be world class, or cost upwards of 30 million, but there is something comforting in the knowledge that when there is a need for a world class player, and such a player is available, the club is competent enough to buy him. At the centre of it all is Arsene Wenger. He may have come under a lot of criticism over the years for apparent penny pinching, buying bargain players, but 2014 was always going to be the year when Arsene would have substantial resources at his disposal, and thus far he has more than lived up to expectations. When you're competing against teams with unlimited resources such as Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG, and teams with resources greater than yours such as Manchester United, getting players such as Ozil and Sanchez cannot be easy. It would appear that Wenger is the difference. Despite what some supporters (and non-supporters) may say, he continues to be one of the most respected managers in the world, and getting top class players requires them being convinced of our club and it's abilities. To say that our manager has been convincing, would be an understatement.
Admiration aside, our transfer needs aren't over. We still need a Right Back (Debuchy seems pretty close), a holding midfielder and a back-up keeper at the very least. But for now, we should enjoy the fact that for the second summer in a row, a world class player has donned an Arsenal jersey. It's the dawn of a new Arsenal, and while the wait to see the actual team in action is agonising, the future is definitely an exciting one.
Welcome, Alexis Sanchez, our new No. 17.
PS: Sorry Nacho, hope you're ambivalent between No. 17 and 18.
