Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has defended the club’s summer business by saying that there were many unforeseen complications that stalled their progress, and the new signings came in at the right time to provide a fillip to everyone associated with the club. He justified the departures of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, and said that he could easily write a book on the ‘unbelievable’ summer that had just passed.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Wenger admitted that players had been worried about the glut of high-profile departures and no imminent incoming transfers. But five new signings in the last two days has visibly uplifted the mood in the Emirates camp, and Wenger sounded relieved when he said-
“Yes, the other players could have been a little bit worried about our ambition when they see big players moving out and not big players coming in,”
“When you are a big player the confidence you gain when you look around is about who is around you. It’s important for a football player.
“But there was no resentment. There was maybe more, from the players who were here, uncertainty about our potential and our determination to strengthen the squad. But we have mastered the timing of that.”
Wenger, who has immense experience in England (he joined Arsenal in 1996 and has led them to unprecedented success), still confessed that last summer was unlike anything he had ever encountered during his managerial career. While he didn’t reveal anything substantial, he said that things had been infinitely more convoluted that they seemed from the outside.
He said-
“Honestly, I could write a book about the summer. I think it would quite be an interesting one. Not because of me but because of all that happened, it was quite unbelievable. And you would see that it was not as easy as it can look from outside.
“Of course I’m not the only one who controls things [in this situation]. It’s the clubs who buy, the players as well, the determination of the players, because they change sometimes their mind as well.”
Arsenal get ready to face off against German title holders Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in what is sure to be an open and exciting Champions League group match. Not as exciting as Wenger’s potential book of ‘No One Knows What I Did Last Summer’ however.