Arsenal are unlikely to bring in more than three players this summer, according to Arsene Wenger.
In the same interview where the manager said he expects Jamie Vardy to stay with Leicester City, Wenger also discussed his plans for the squad this summer.
“We’ve already bought one player – Xhaka – From Monchengladbach. So we’ve bought one midfielder and we’re still on the market to buy one or two more players. But it is not easy.”
It is not just buying. We also have to keep a good balance. If you buy too many players you destabilize your team. So three is the maximum.”
This isn’t a departure from previous statements made by Wenger this summer – in mid May, Wenger made the same claim. Arsenal is in the market for a striker, and have been linked with a number of wide attacking players.
The club has seemingly moved on from Borussia Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with Julian Draxler being the latest name linked to the club. In the interview mentioned above, Wenger admitted he is an admirer of Draxler and is a player he plans on watching at Euro 2016.
Arsenal were heavily linked with a move for Draxler in 2014, but a deal never materialized. Reports in Germany this morning indicated that Draxler is unhappy at Wolfsburg, who he signed for from Schalke in 2015, and is pushing for a move.
Wenger’s comments could be interpreted to mean that he plans on bringing in no more than three additional players, meaning that if a player were to leave, his replacement would not count as one of the three new additional players.
So for example, if Kieran Gibbs were to leave and Wolfsburg’s Ricardo Rodriguez was brought in as a replacement, Rodriguez would not count as one the three additional players because he is a replacement. Rodriguez has been heavily linked to the club so this scenario is entirely plausible.
In reality, Arsenal could bring in up to five players this summer, depending on who leaves and stays this summer. Either way, once Euro 2016 ends, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Arsenal make a few quick splashes during the second week of July.
