Greedy For New Players?

Arsenal’s summer transfer window is starting to feel a little greedy.

Not that there’s anything particularly wrong with that.

Having finally won the Premier League, the temptation might have been to admire the shiny trophy, congratulate everyone involved and conclude that the squad was pretty much fine as it was. Instead, Arsenal appear to have decided that winning the league is an excellent reason to buy even more very good footballers.

Illan Meslier, Christos Tzolis and Bruno Guimaraes have already arrived, strengthening a squad that was good enough to finish top of the pile last season.

And judging by the latest noises coming out of Spain, Mikel Arteta might not be finished yet.

The latest name being enthusiastically fed into the Arsenal transfer rumour machine is Barcelona defender Jules Kounde.

According to Spanish outlet Sport, Arsenal have expressed an interest in the France international, with Kounde apparently regarded as a “perfect” fit for Arteta’s system. More significantly, the report claims Arteta himself has given his backing to the potential move.

Which, if true, immediately makes this one a little more interesting.

Kounde is exactly the sort of defender Arteta seems to collect. He can play centrally or at right-back, is comfortable with the ball, quick enough to defend large spaces and tactically flexible enough to be moved around depending on whatever elaborate scheme the manager has dreamt up that particular week.

Essentially, if you were designing an Arteta defender in a laboratory, there’s a decent chance he would emerge looking suspiciously like Jules Kounde.

And now we have the obligatory intriguing development.

According to Jijantes FC, Kounde’s agent was spotted arriving at Barcelona’s Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training complex on Wednesday.

Does this mean he was there to negotiate Kounde’s transfer to Arsenal?

No.

Could he have been there to discuss a new contract, another client, Kounde’s role under the manager, his parking space or the quality of the coffee?

Absolutely.

But this is August and we have a transfer window to get through, so naturally we are going to stare at footage of an agent walking into a building and attempt to interpret it like the Zapruder film.

What we do know is that another defender makes sense.

Arsenal have strengthened the goalkeeping department with Meslier, added attacking threat through Tzolis and made arguably their biggest statement with the £75million arrival of Guimaraes. The Brazilian made his first appearance at the Emirates against Como on Wednesday night and received precisely the sort of reception you would expect for a player supporters have spent most of the summer waiting to see in red and white.

The match itself finished 1-1, Myles Lewis-Skelly putting Arsenal ahead before Martin Baturina equalised just before half-time. Arsenal eventually won the penalty shootout 4-3, with Guimaraes converting from the spot and fellow new boy Tzolis dispatching the decisive penalty after David Raya made two saves.

Pre-season results are pre-season results, but the more interesting sight was Arsenal beginning to resemble the squad Arteta will actually have available when the serious stuff starts.

And it is already an intimidating one.

That is perhaps the most significant thing about the Kounde story. Arsenal aren’t desperately trying to repair an obviously broken team. They are trying to improve the champions.

There is a difference.

For years, Arsenal transfer windows were about plugging holes. Find a centre-back because the existing centre-backs weren’t good enough. Find a midfielder because the midfield didn’t work. Find a striker because nobody could score.

Now the question is much more luxurious: how do you make the best team in England even harder to play against?

Kounde would provide another answer.

Whether Barcelona are remotely interested in selling him is another matter, as is the small question of what they would demand for a player of his quality. Arsenal have already spent significant money this summer and there are still suggestions that another attacker could arrive.

Eventually, even Premier League champions have to encounter an accountant.

There could also be consequences for players already at the club. Adding another versatile elite defender to Arteta’s collection inevitably squeezes somebody’s minutes, and Arsenal already have plenty of players capable of operating across the back line.

But perhaps that is precisely the point.

Winning the league was the destination Arsenal spent years trying to reach. Now they have discovered the slightly inconvenient truth that reaching the top merely gives you somewhere new to fall from.

Manchester City will strengthen. Liverpool will strengthen. Chelsea will presumably purchase another small European country.

Standing still isn’t really an option.

So Kounde’s agent walking into Barcelona’s training ground may ultimately mean absolutely nothing.

Or it might be the first visible twitch in another significant Arsenal transfer.

Welcome to August.

Sent from my iPhone