Arsenal hero Merson delivers scathing indictment of club’s transfer policy
Arsenal legend, Paul Merson, has delivered a scathing indictment of the club’s transfer policy.
The Gunners have spent big this summer, investing £130 million on mostly younger players like Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, and Martin Odegaard.
However, Merson believes they chose players no one else wanted, especially at those prices.
“Why is someone like Danny Ings not playing for Arsenal? You cannot tell me he’s not good enough,” the club legend told Sky Sports.
“Why are Aston Villa getting players like Ings, Emiliano Buendia instead of Arsenal? Who is making these decisions? Surely these players would have been on Arsenal’s radar.”
He added: “What is the plan at Arsenal when it comes to transfers? And who is buying the players?
“If [manager Mikel] Arteta is buying the players, then he is under severe pressure. If Edu is bringing these players in and Arteta is having to work with them, then it’s a different story.
“Arsenal seem to sign players nobody else is after. When was the last time they beat someone else to a big signing? We are talking years.
“If you look at the signing of Martin Odegaard, he went back to Real Madrid after his loan and wanted to play for Real Madrid, not Arsenal.
read also:West Brom boss Ismael to play kids against Arsenal
“All of sudden Real Madrid say they don’t want him and he comes back to Arsenal where he knows he’ll earn a fortune and play every week.
“This is how it is now. Gone are the days when Arsenal would have said: ‘we’re a big club, we’re not going to get messed around, you cannot come and sign for us when you feel like it or when you’ve got nothing else’.
“When Real Madrid made it clear the Odegaard could leave, was anyone else in the race to sign him? No, just Arsenal.”
Merson finished on Joe Willock’s transfer to Newcastle from Arsenal this summer: “They got £25million for a kid who knows the club, loves the club, and then spent it all on Odegaard who scored two goals last year.
“What would have happened if Willock got a run in the team? He might have gone and done what he did at Newcastle and get seven goals in seven, who knows.”