Despite needing a versatile defender or a strong, physical defensive midfielder more than a striker, Arsenal insist in marching on in their pursuit of Liverpool goal-machine Luis Suarez.
It’s a pursuit that seems destined to fail so much so that one has to wonder if Arsene Wenger and his back-room boys are even serious in their approach.
A colleague of mine, Tom, suggested last week that Arsenal’s bid for Suarez is simply a means of proving to supporters that – after announcing last spring that they had a massive transfer kitty and could afford Wayne Rooney’s wages – the club is finally ready to ‘splash the cash,’ when in actuality, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Why?
Because splashing the cash is bad for business. And when it comes to England, no one runs a better business-based club than Arsenal.
So these bids for Suarez?
All hogwash. Veiled moves designed simply to back up those careless words uttered a few months back that convinced Gunners supporters of big name signings in this summer’s transfer window.
Look, I’m not saying that I necessarily believe such a conspiracy theory but it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility. Whether you believe such a theory or not, the question you’ve got to ask yourself is this —
Are Arsenal really going to pay Liverpool the fee they desire for Suarez?
If your answer is yes, then I’m interested in hearing why, so feel free to drop a line in the comments.
But keep in mind that prying the Uruguayan from Anfield will likely cost in the region of $77 million (£50m). That means Arsenal will be ponying up $54 million (£35m) more than their previous record transfer fee paid to Zenit Saint Petersburg for Andrey Arshavin in 2009.
To do that for a player with Suarez’ checkered past – especially when Arsenal could bring in Wayne Rooney at a savings of $31-$39 million – seems completely ridiculous, not to mention counter-intuitive to the Gunners financial credos.
Of course, Rooney has been known to be a bit of a headache as well. But you get the point.
Arsenal fans, you have my sympathy.
