Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has questioned the direction that the club are taking after another summer of high-profile exits at the club and with that in mind, will he be the next key player to leave Arsene Wenger’s side in pursuit of silverware?
Ever since moving from French outfit Auxerre back in 2007, the 29-year-old right-back has been an integral part of the side, making over 150 league appearances in his five seasons at the club so far. His presence was sorely missed last term, during which he sustained two separate broken leg injuries as he bids to keep up his comeback to full fitness this term.
Speaking in French publication L’Equipe, Sagna, rather worryingly for the club’s fans, questioned the wisdom of letting both Robin van Persie and Alex Song go this summer: “Everyone was expecting Robin Van Persie to leave, but Alex Song, that was a surprise. I don’t understand that at all. It is a big loss for the club. When you see two of the best players from last season leave, you ask a lot of questions. I understand why the supporters are nervous. I am the only starting player left from 2007. In May, I watched City’s parade on TV. I saw Samir and Gael lift the trophy. I want that (feeling). For the moment, I want to play with Arsenal, and find my level again.”
The most alarming point to take from that is the declaration of professional jealousy at the likes of Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy for achieving success while at Manchester City, proving that their respective moves to the current Premier League champions for trophies were entirely vindicated last campaign.
Arsenal have routinely been labelled a ‘selling club’ recently under Wenger and the club have been accused of putting fiscal concerns above footballing matters, often choosing short-term financial gain to the detriment of the side out on the pitch. However, what this fails to take into account is that Arsenal under Wenger have always been a ‘selling club’, dating right back to Nicolas Anelka’s move to Real Madrid in 1999, while the likes of Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and then Cesc Fabregas followed a similar path – it’s a far more long-term trend than previously assumed, as opposed to a new idea since the stadium move.
If you look at Arsenal’s expenditure since Wenger took over the club back in 1996, while they may have spent £385m on new players, they’ve also recouped £363m from sales during the same time, to give the club a net spend of just £22m over 16 years, which is a truly staggering statistic.
If Sagna were to leave, the only likely destinations would have to be either Manchester United or Manchester City if he wanted to remain in the Premier League. Real Madrid are in need of another right-back to compete with Alvaro Arbeloa while Barcelona’s Daniel Alves has been linked with a departure for quite some time, so there are certainly options open to the highly-regarded defender.
The summer transfer saga that envelopes the club is almost a yearly ritual now, though, and even if they allowed Alex Song to leave for Barcelona on their own terms, they have acted like a feeder club in recent times for both the Catalan giants and Roberto Mancini’s side and there’s nothing to suggest that this will change in the future. Is Sagna the next obvious player to make the move out of the club over Arsenal’s perceived lack of ambition?
Jack Wilshere is the next logical player in mind other than Sagna and he’s likely to be a player that will be coveted by a whole host of top clubs throughout his career. However, after missing an entire year out through injury at such a crucial stage in his development, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to return to his best this season and he may need time to feel his way back into the side and any sort of form, so Arsenal should be safe for the foreseeable future at least.
Other than Sagna and Wilshere, the club’s next most highly-valued prospect is perhaps Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with the 19-year-old catching the eye with a series of bright displays last season. His performance against AC Milan during the team’s 3-0 win over them at home in the Champions League last term will have been duly noted all across the continent as he delivered a virtuoso display in a more central role with a maturity well beyond his years which suggests he’s capable of becoming a player of genuine class in the future and big things are expected of him, but whether that will be at Arsenal remains to be seen.
Cast your eye around the remainder of the Arsenal squad, though, and the club’s shift in transfer policy to recruiting more experienced players with proven European experience should see an end for a while at least to the destructive policy of selling on your best player every summer.
Unless the likes of Lukas Podolski, Thomas Vermaelen or Wojciech Szczesny have an absolutely storming season, they are probably at a club that matches their ambitions and talent level. You suspect that Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla could attract attention in the future from bigger clubs, but perhaps not to the same extent as the aforementioned trio.
This myth that Arsenal have only just become a ‘selling club’ is a false one and the club’s fans must come to terms with the likelihood of key players leaving at crucial times unless they start to challenge for silverware more at the end of the season; there’s no reason why that’s not possible, but until the seven-year trophy drought is ended, players like Sagna will always have a wandering eye towards other clubs and the thought in their mind that the grass may in fact be greener on the other side.
You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1
[ad_pod id=’dfp-mpu’ align=’right’]
