Where is Arsenal's transfer spree?

Gonzalo Higuain: Is he coming to Arsenal?

Carlo Ancelotti has now been at the club for two-and-a-half weeks, and Arsenal are still haggling with Madrid over the transfer fee. Wenger’s stubborn nature has proved to be one of his greatest strengths as a top-flight manager in the past, but in an era where big transfer deals are a necessity for most ‘big clubs’, Wenger’s practiced transfer celibacy has proved crippling.

Make no mistake, he still does possess an eye for a good deal. Santi Cazorla was one of the bargains last season, and the signings of Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker were also shrewd pieces of work.

But, what Wenger need to do most was sign a forward to replace Robin Van Persie, and Olivier Giroud – while providing a separate dimension to Arsenal play – just wasn’t what the doctor had ordered. Arsenal also needed to replace Alex Song, who’d left for Barcelona. But again, Wenger just chose to rotate Arteta, Ramsey, Diaby (on the rare occasions he was fit), and Rosicky for the holding midfield spots.

The doctor was unhappy again. Marouane Fellaini would have been the perfect fit for the Song void. But, till now at least, Wenger has been unwilling to meet Fellaini’s £24m release clause.

In the meanwhile, the club made an audacious £30m bid for Liverpool‘s want-away biter…erm , striker, Luis Suarez. Liverpool on the other hand won’t even begin to consider an offer lesser than £40m, which Wenger will again be unwilling to sanction.

The competition, in the meanwhile, hasn’t been sitting on their laurels, and have gone about their business swiftly, despite all three of the clubs placed above them in the Premier League having undergone managerial changes over the summer.

Manchester City have signed Jesus Navas for £15m, and Fernandinho for £30m. Considering the latter is 28, he possesses little resale value, and the club has clearly overpaid for him. However, that is just what clubs need to do if they want their targets, given the constant snifffing of the likes of new moneybags City, Chelsea, PSG, Monaco, the perennial moneybags of Real Madrid, and the new Russian and Middle-Eastern moneybags like Anzhi, Zenit, Al-Sadd, and so on.

Chelsea have bought in Andre Schurrle from Bayer Leverkusen for £17m and Marco Van Ginkel from Vitesse Arnhem for £9m. Tottenham have secured a £17m coup in the form of the Confederations Cup Bronze Boot winner, Paulinho. Everton, now under Roberto Martinez, have brought in Arouna Kone, Joel Robles, and Antolin Alcaraz, all from former club Wigan, and Spanish teenage prodigy Gerard Deulofeu on a season-loan from FC Barcelona.

Liverpool, too, have strengthened, with the signings of Kolo Toure, Luis Alberto, Iago Aspas, and Simon Mignolet. While some of these players may have cost a fair amount, some others, like Navas and Paulinho are bargain transfers, and it would appear that Wenger has lost some ground in that respect.

Only Manchester United are yet to make a big transfer, but given they finished League winners comfortably last season, their laxity can be forgiven.

Arsenal have fast run out of excuses, and time. The blame for their transfer inactivity can’t be pinned on one person. The entire institution lies at fault. And while the transfer season is far from over, the initial few weeks have played with a painfully familiar ring to them. And Gunners fans must surely be dreading another season with broken promises at the end. And given the speed with which the competition is catching up, Champions League football will also have to be fought for.