Contribution by @cfcasa
For years, Arsenal supporters and football pundits have called for Gunners boss Arsene Wenger to make big money signings.
Last summer he did just that. Arsenal signed Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for an incredible £42.5million.
At the time, people sat up and took notice of Arsenal spending this kind of money. Even ex-captain Thierry Henry came out and said that he never expected Wenger to go and spend that sort of money on one player.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and you could say the money the club spent on playmaker Ozil was wasted. Fans were crying out for a striker. They nearly (in Wenger’s eyes) got one in Liverpool’s Luis Suarez.
In the eyes of Reds owner John W. Henry, however, they were not even close to getting the striker. Instead they went with rookie Yaya Sanogo, a free transfer acquisition from French club Auxerre, targetman Olivier Giroud and outcast Nicklas Bendtner.
They still ended up in the Champions League and put an end to their nine-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup in May.
Fast forward to present day and the Gunners are on the verge of signing attacker Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona, for a reported £30m. What an incredible signing that will be.
Finally, the north London outfit are moving with the times and they know that in this day and age they need to spend big money on one player just to compete for their place in the Champions League, let alone clinch a title.
When you see Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain splashing out £50m on Brazilian centre-back David Luiz, you know that Arsenal are getting value for money with Chile star Sanchez.
Unlike Ozil, he is exactly the type of player for which the team has been crying out. He’s sure to slot straight in and his performances for Chile in the World Cup will have had every Arsenal fan purring.
Asa Clark
Twitter: @cfcasa
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