Arsenal technical director Edu has urged the fans to back the club, telling them that the club are “really excited” about what’s in store.
The Gunners have started this transfer window like a house on fire, securing the services of Brazilian prodigy Marquinhos and Porto star Fabio Vieira. Edu and co. have shown no signs of slowing down, with negotiations for Gabriel Jesus said to be at a “very advanced” stage, and a bid for Leeds winger Raphinha lodged last night.
Amidst the negotiations, the technical director sat down with Arsenal.com, and laid out his strategy for this summer.
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“We have to go into the market for exciting players with the right age, right attitude and right mentality. We want to see a club like Arsenal with a young squad, an exciting squad with a big, big future because as I said last summer, the idea is to have a young squad. We want to give them the opportunity to play together for two, three, four, five or six seasons."
“This summer is just the consequence of what we've been working on a lot, to try to find the best players, the best targets,”
That methodology was of course the core ethos of the transfer strategy last summer, with Ramsdale, White, Tavares, Lokonga, Tomiyasu and Odegaard all under the age of 24 when signed.
Fabio Vieira (22) and Marquinhos (19) adhere to this mantra, and the former in particular is an example of the aggressive, decisive transfer philosophy working in practice, with Edu claiming:
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“Fabio is a good example because we moved quickly because we prepared to get Fabio a long time ago and then when we face it, we make things happen.”
The Gunners technical director is aware, however, that this is merely a start, the first bricks in the wall, the solidifying of the foundation:
“We still have a lot to do but we are really excited to start the season with the players we target and the players we want to sign.”
“Yes I think we still have some good conversations and positive conversations to be fair. I hope we can give to the fans some good news.”
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The aforementioned Gabriel Jesus and Raphinha would appear to be players at the top of this list, and the rest of this week will reveal more. A decisively acting board is a strange feeling to Arsenal fans, who have seen their club dither in years gone by. Fans will be hoping the proactiveness signals the dawn of a new era, an era that ushers in a return of Champions League football to N5.
Topics: Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Transfers