IT goes without saying that Arsenal desperately need a wide forward and a top quality centre-half in the transfer window this summer. Thus far, they have indeed signed a wide forward and a centre-half, in the shape of 18-year-old French defender William Saliba and teenage Brazilian winger Gabriel Martinelli.
Martinelli is currently on tour with the first team in the US, but with very little professional experience behind him in his native Brazil, where he played for lowly Ituano, he is a signing for the future. The same is true for Saliba, who, we are told, will be instantly loaned back to St. Etienne for the 2019-20 season.
Neither Saliba nor Martinelli address the club’s short-term needs, which has caused some consternation among Gunners fans. The club still absolutely needs a central defender and a winger for next season. However, Arsenal fans need not fret about the business they have completed so far. The transfer strategy at the club needs to change to a more forward looking, long-term approach and that needs to start now.
Arsenal & St Étienne agree €29m including bonuses deal for William Saliba – done deal. Breaking | William Saliba's desire to join Arsenal over other interested. 5-year contract, loaned back for 2019/20.
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) July 18, 2019
Arsenal have fallen foul of short-termism in both their transfer business and their contract management in recent years, leaving them short on cash for the current window. Stemming that flow was and is urgent. About to negotiate their third consecutive season in the Europa League, the Gunners need to become shrewder than ever. Head of Football Raul Sanllehi spoke of ‘outsmarting the market’ back in May.
Part of this new strategy will involve trying to pick up ‘before they were famous’ types in the transfer market and I think most Arsenal fans are in agreement that this is a prudent policy. Such a strategy requires patience and acceptance that there is a hidden toll when it comes to unearthing young players that have escaped the notice of other clubs.
In Saliba’s case, that means waiting at least 12 months for his debut as he returns to St. Etienne for next season. Any 18-year-old that is good enough to fix the Gunners’ leaky defence now is out of their reach. A defender that good will be climbing a little higher in European football’s food chain. Unai Emery’s team desperately needs defensive reinforcements now, but they will also need a good centre-half in 2-3 seasons’ time, which they could have if Saliba develops as hoped. A 21-year old Saliba might well be out of their reach.
Gabriel Martinelli scores his first goal in an Arsenal kit. pic.twitter.com/H9j5ftOEOu
— Mark Harris (@TweetsByHarris) July 16, 2019
Likewise, Martinelli’s first team impact is likely to be insignificant this year. Arsenal will need to coach and develop him behind the scenes and even when integrated, they are going to have to tolerate some of his wrinkles. That’s just the contract a club has to enter when they want to ‘outsmart the market.’ It’s not ideal, but Arsenal do not operate in an ideal world at the moment.
Arsenal have seen before that once you earn a reputation for developing exciting young players, it becomes a self-perpetuating part of your ‘brand’ and young talents become easier to attract. One can only speculate, but I wonder how much inspiration William Saliba took from Matteo Guendouzi when he chose Arsenal over Tottenham this summer. Guendouzi arrived from Ligue 2 last year with a modest reputation, but quickly impressed and became part of the first team picture.
The more Arsenal can provide this sort of role-model, the easier they will find it gain an edge in this market. The likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Nicolas Anelka, Cesc Fabregas et al are fading memories now. Teenage footballers will not recall how they were able to carve out their reputations in N5. The Gunners need to turn over a new page and re-establish themselves as the employer of choice for the world’s best young talents.
In the short-term, that means gambling on a winger from the lower reaches of Brazilian football. That means agreeing to loan back a highly rated centre-half to his parent club so that he can continue to learn his trade. Transfers have become a sensory addiction for fans in the modern game and it’s fair to say that little known youth prospects don’t get the blood pumping in the same way that signing an Aubameyang or a Lacazette might.
It also means the impact is delayed, but the club desperately needs to move in this direction and that needs to start now. There will be work to do on the training ground, frustrations to endure for fans and some unsuccessful gambles along the way. Development is difficult and unpredictable. But there should be nothing to stop Arsenal from operating a dual transfer policy that sees them buy players in their early to mid-20s, who are ready now, as well as teenage talents of the future.
Arsenal to finish in the top four – 6/4
