Arsenal’s desire to sign a new winger to reinforce the attacking options is well-documented. With Eddie Nketiah leaving and the future of Reiss Nelson far from certain, the Gunners would have wanted to bring in someone who could provide cover everywhere across the front line.
There are very few players in the world who are capable of playing on either wing and also as a striker. It requires an innate football ability and intelligence to understand two vastly different positions and also be successful at it.
In recent hours, the Gunners have been linked with transfers for different attackers including Kingsley Coman, Raheem Sterling and Raphinha to name a few. All these players are set to be expensive in terms of either the transfer fees or the salary that they will command.
Leaving aside the financials, Sterling makes no sense even from a sporting perspective. Coman’s injury issues make him a liability more than an addition. Raphinha is the only name on this list that makes a lot of sense.
It is also currently the only name Arsenal can attempt to sign due to Barcelona’s financial position. That said, the Catalan club won’t even consider a transfer unless the Gunners make a significant transfer offer. Thus, the question is, did Edu & co. miss out on the one player who would have ticked all these boxes?
Federico Chiesa – A missed opportunity?
Federico Chiesa is now a Liverpool player. He has signed from Juventus for a bargain £12.5m fee and is set to earn around £115,000 a week at Anfield. He is 26 and most importantly, can play in all the positions across the forward line.
Of course, Chiesa is not the same player that he was back in 2021 where he dazzled opposition defences in Italy’s successful Euro campaign. The post-ACL version of the Italian is not right up there and he still continues to work his way back to that level.
However, except for this injury concern, Chiesa makes sense at every possible level. It still baffles to think that Liverpool landed the 26-year-old without any competition except for Barcelona who were interested but could not afford his signature.
Embed from Getty Images
MUST READ: Sterling to Arsenal? Gunners now favourites to secure late deadline day deal
Edu and Arsenal have been astute in transfer dealing so far and have hardly taken a wrong step but this is one opportunity that they have missed. At the fee at which he was available, the Gunners should have been all over this signing.
Chiesa, at his best version, is ahead of Martinelli in terms of ability. Not for no reason that Italian legend Giorgio Chiellini label the player ‘unstoppable’. Even if not as a starter, signing him would have given us envious squad depth in the attacking areas. This feels like a missed chance but there is no point in ruing over what has already happened.
It remains to be seen if Arsenal move for a new attacker in the final hours of deadline day. It might be crucial for the club to bolster the area ahead of a long season where they will need to compete on different fronts. Let’s see if Edu has something special in his locker before the transfer window slams shut.
MUST READ: Southampton agree fee with Arsenal for Aaron Ramsdale as medical permission given
