Yesterday’s transfer window closure came and went with the usual amount of Arsenal transfer action, i.e. hardly any. There were rumours of big bids for strikers Isak and Vlahovic, but I’m sure there actually were any, and no one of note came in (see below), yet we still managed to win the window somehow.
The headline of the window, usurping Spurs two rather underwhelming signings, was that we managed to offload Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Barcelona for nothing. The Gabon striker apparently flew to Barcelona, Odemwingie style to force through a move, and whatever he did, he managed to get it pushed through, looks like he’ll be revealed this morning.
There was talk of Arsenal covering some of his wages until the end of this season, then Barca themselves take his wages on in full from the summer. So effectively, his contract was cancelled, and he joined them on a free transfer, in effect saving us a sh*t load of over-inflated wages for the player as opposed to him Oziling in the reserves for a year and a half.
Aubameyang leaves as a player who got us through a couple of tricky campaigns, winning us two FA Cups, pretty much single-handedly. He will also be remembered for missing ‘that’ penalty in the last minute, and the absolute sitter in the last minute v Everton recently.
Trusty the Process
We did manage to ‘bring in’ a ‘signing’ yesterday, bringing in defender Auston Trusty from the Colorado Rapids. The 20 year old will remain in Colorado until the summer, where it’s expected he will join a European club on load. Stan Kroenke, owner of the Rapids, said on the deal to the Kroenke owned Arsenal:
“This is a great transfer for all parties… well, me.”
Overall in the case of Auba, I think the good outweighed the bad, caused more good hangovers than bad, so I think we notch him down as a success, but not a legend given the way he left.
Good luck Auba in your new role, see you in the Intertoto next season!
