Wenger needs more arsenal
August 21st 2008 05:27
Much is made of Arsene Wenger's reluctance to buy British but his real reluctance is to buy from Premier League clubs with the exorbitant price tags that are inextricably attached.
In 12 years he has only bought five players from top-flight clubs in England, which is a remarkable figure considering Sir Alex Ferguson has bought 11 in the same period - paying massive sums for the likes of Dwight Yorke, Louis Saha, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick along the way - and various Chelsea managers have splashed out on 19 players from other English clubs.
It would be five years before Wenger would recruit from Arsenal's league again, with William Gallas arriving as part of the Ashley Cole move to Chelsea. Wenger would probably describe Gallas' spell as a success - particularly at a low price - but he has been the experienced head in a side that has won nothing, and he unravelled in spectacular fashion under pressure last season.
This time last year Wenger recruited from the Premier League for the fifth time - spotting a bargain in Lassana Diarra for £2m from Chelsea. He may have played only a handful of games but just six months later, Arsenal received £5.5m from Portsmouth for the Frenchman. Football-wise a poor decision (brought into sharp focus by the exit of Matheiu Flamini), but undoubtedly a fantastic piece of financial business.
So after the mistakes of 2001, Wenger will only ever buy from Arsenal's domestic rivals if the price is right. If Mikael Silvestre becomes the sixth in this list, it will be because he recognises that £750,000 for a man capped 40 times by France, who has played almost 250 top-flight games in England and won four Premier League titles, who can play at left-back or at centre-half, is a bargain.
It is less than five years ago that a partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Silvestre was considered the best in the country, and it was less than five months ago that Sir Alex Ferguson played him at left-back in a Champions League quarter-final. Silvestre may not be Nemanja Vidic, but he would still walk into most top-flight defences when fit, and he is still better than current Gunners' back-ups like Johann Djourou, Armand Traore and Philippe Senderos. Perhaps Wenger should have moved for Sylvain Distin a year ago instead, but that boat has now sailed.
In an age when Arsenal can somehow recoup £3m for someone of Justin Hoyte's 'ability', to spend a quarter of the money on a proven international footballer seems sensible. To those who complain that Wenger only buys unknown kids...here is your answer. If you can see past the blind hatred of anyone associated with Man United, you will see a move that makes sense.
Wenger is never going to buy a big-name player at the top of his game - that's not his schtick. But buying a still-decent player with his best seasons behind him should be seen as a refreshing change from buying kids that may or may not end up even half-decent. What's the bigger gamble? £750,000 on Silvestre or a similar amount on Amaury Bischoff
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