The problems with the defence seems never ending for Arsenal as the North London side conceded four goals again at home and lost their opening match against Liverpool. Having two of their centre backs out with injury and another one not ready yet to take to the field following his Euro 2016 exploits, Wenger had to gamble with two inexperienced centre backs against the likes of Firmino, Lallana, Coutinho and Mane and disaster struck early in the second half with the Merseyside club at one time taking a 4-1 lead.
The massive injury setbacks of the defenders has put the club in a position where they need to act instantly to arrest further damage but for some reason or the other, the fans are presented with a picture of uncertainty regarding the arrival of a potential central defender as the names of the targets keep on changing as we approach the deadline day of the summer transfer window.
Shkodran Mustafi was expected to be the one the club were after, with reports claiming that the Valencia man has already agreed personal terms but is waiting to get the clearance from the La Liga outfit as Arsenal are yet to negotiate the transfer fees for the player but nothing has happened yet. Gooners all over thought that at this hour of desperation, Arsene Wenger would be a bit more lenient in sanctioning the price tags slapped on the players and the transfer will ultimately happen within days. We were so wrong! Like the other stories, the Mustafi deal has also continued to be one which seems imminent but somehow never happens for god knows what reason.
There were names such as Jeremy Mathieu, Fabian Schär, Simon Kjaer and Omer Toprak all popped up as alternatives to the Valencia man, recently there has been another inclusion to that list. Watford target Marcel Tisserand is reported to be a target for Arsenal who can be signed if Mustafi deal fails. To be fair it feels like a weird dream where you start with a fantastic scenario amidst a beautiful garden full of its natural beauty but find yourself being led ultimately into a dark tunnel where you feel suffocating in the dark, at this point you get up and try getting over your sadistic nightmare. The fans who has high regard for the board and the manager can associate their change in perceptions over those mentioned with the dream I talked about earlier.
Tisserand is a decent defender but with all respect, he is not the one who is likely to lead the line at the back for Arsenal. Arsene Wenger has mentioned it innumerable times that he never spends money just for the sake of it, he spends only when he feels the signing would add to his squad and not just make up the numbers at the Emirates.
I personally am a huge admirer of this strategy and approach, I believe in spending smartly always and Wenger has also been able to get the better players from the market more often than any other manager getting the best value for money buys as we call it. While Kjaer, Toprak and Schär can be considered to be players acceptable to provide backups, Marcel Tisserand just doesn’t cut it at all.
The fans though are in a dilemma, for at the moment, they realize fully that the team needs a defensive addition and won’t care much about the name of the one coming in to fill the ranks but eventually if the player is not able to do what’s required of him in the first place falling short with his talent and ability, questions will be asked and the way with which the transfers are being handled, especially this one if the club finally signs AS Monaco defender failing to get in the other names, the tone won’t be modest in any sense.
