By Daily Sports on July 30, 2019

Allow me to employ a term the abrasive President of the United States of America Donald Trump used a lot for emphasis during his improbable run for the presidency. “Bigly!” Arsenal’s reported impending record £72m signing of Lille winger Nicolas Pepe is huge news “bigly”. For a big club renowned for frugality when it comes to the business of acquiring players, coughing out £72m to buy a player who’s popularity soared on the back of an impressive season in the French Ligue 1 is a big statement of intent that the Gunners are ready to go all out for glory this season.

In the last few weeks Arsenal had looked like a club in a considerably desperate state of disfunctionality. They supposedly had just a meagre £40m to spend on new players, which is like taking 50 naira to a restaurant in Lagos and expecting to be well fed.

The captain of the club and long serving player Laurent Koscielny, probably fearing the direction the club were heading requested to be allowed to jump ship and join French Division 1 side Bordeaux for free despite having a year left on his contract. When Arsenal insisted that he won’t be allowed to be transferred for free, Koscielny went on strike and refused to travel with the Gunnar’s on their playing tour to America. Arsenal on their part issued a public statement expressing their displeasure with the behaviour of the captain.

With every passing day in the transfer market the Gunners’ faithful were disillusioned to hear of other top clubs signing players with big money only to learn that their darling team didn’t have the money to go for their top targets. A £40m bid for Chrystal Palace winger Wilfred Zaha was laughed off by the latter who felt their most prized asset should be worth double that amount. Arsenal’s interest on the player cooled off and with it the excitement of the billions of fans worldwide.

And then there were the widely reported protests by the Arsenal fan groups against the perceived inactivity of the Arsenal hierarchy with regard to improving the squad in the transfer market.

When club director Josh Kroenke issued a statement reassuring fans in the wake of the protest of the club’s commitment to address the shortcomings of the team and improve things, it was widely received with a dose of pessimism. Kroenke had told Arsenal fans to be excited and then BOOM! The news of the Arsenal agreeing with Lille some days ago for the big money transfer of Pepe. Suddenly things have brightened up and the Arsenal fans have been sent into wild celebrations.

The impending arrival of Pepe has some big advantages for Arsenal even before he dons the Red and White of the London outfits. It shows now that Arsenal are really serious about becoming a top force in English and European football once again. When big players see an assemblage of big names in a club, it becomes attractive to want to play for that team. Acquiring Pepe makes Arsenal more magnetic to other big name players considering a move to London.

The psychological boost it gives fans to know their club is doing its utmost to mix with the big forces of European club football cannot be over-emphasised. With the fans believing their club has done their bit, they would likely come out with a strong and united wave of support and this could just propel the team to greater heights this season.

Then the obvious footballing talent of the player itself must make fans of the club salivate. Pepe is an electrifying winger with a bundle of skills and a remarkable goalscorer as well. Linking up with the likes of Alexandre Lacazzette, Pierre-Emeryk Aubameyang and Mezut Ozil looks on paper a devastating forward line that could lead the Gunners to challenge for all the big competitions.

Caveats remain though. Success in the pitch is not always linked to how much is spent on buying players. There’s the small matter of getting the tactics right this season. The tactical approach that would bring the very best out of the players as individuals and as a collective unit is of big importance.

Arsenal are in crying need of addressing their creacky, leaky defence. Over the past few seasons they have been undone by their porous defending and the club looks to not have found the right combination at the back since the heady days of the Invincibles. A stack reminder of the need to do something about their defence came on Sunday afternoon as poor concentration at the back caused a 1-2 home loss against Lyon in the Emirates cup.

Head Coach Unai Emery is a man under pressure. Well, we could say all managers are. But Arsenal are basically a team paying players the kind of wages a champions league side pays and with Pepe in the team it means big wages for him as well. The club may not tolerate any other finish other than a champions league place come the end of this season. Last season was very much a transitory one from the Arsene Wenger days and Emery now has a squad (with the addition of midfielder Dani Ceballos and likely arrival of left back Kieran Tierney from Celtic as well as the players he signed last season) he has moulded himself. There’s little wriggle room for him if a Champions League place is not delivered this season.

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 30, 2019

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