Arsenal Transfer News: Mino Raiola Slams Gunners, Latest Hector Bellerin Rumours
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Super-agent Mino Raiola has criticised Arsenal's approach in the transfer market and questioned whether the Gunners "have the balls" to go all out to sign a top player.
Dutchman Raiola brokered a number of major deals during the summer, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba's moves to Manchester United—the latter going for a world-record £89 million fee.
He hailed Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's measured philosophy in the transfer market but questioned whether the Frenchman has the chutzpah to go up against the likes of United and Manchester City, per the Daily Mail's Simon Jones.
"Arsenal have the money but do they have the balls?" said Raiola. "I respect Arsene Wenger. He has a philosophy that says these figures don’t match what I want to do, so that’s OK."
Per Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol, Arsenal spent just shy of £90 million in the recently closed summer transfer window as they brought in midfielder Granit Xhaka, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez:
While a huge amount of money, the Gunners spent considerably less than Premier League rivals City, United and Chelsea, per Sky Sports.
Arsenal also, unlike United and City, did most of their key business very late in the window.
Early deals for Xhaka and Holding were sealed before Wenger then spent the summer complaining about "scary" inflated prices while many cried out for him to sign a defender and a striker, per Joseph D'Hippolito in the Guardian.
Tony Marshall/Getty ImagesHe did eventually make key additions to his squad, but Mustafi and Perez were signed very late in the transfer window—for a combined fee of more than £50 million—while the Deportivo La Coruna striker was hardly the well-established superstar many Arsenal fans wanted.
Wenger is unlikely to change his transfer philosophy, while he has broken from his usual frugality to sign the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in recent years.
However, with City, United and Chelsea making several huge money deals every window, Arsenal may not be able to keep up if Wenger insists on finding value in the market.
Meanwhile, the north London outfit could be in danger of losing star right-back Hector Bellerin as he is reportedly Barcelona's "No. 1 target" for the January transfer window, per Sport (via Andrew Richardson in the Sun).
The Mirror's Ed Malyon explained that Barca are looking to move for the 21-year-old Spaniard before Arsenal can tie him to a new deal, with his current contract at the Emirates Stadium set to expire in 2019:
Per Sport's report, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique and director Robert Fernandez have identified the former Camp Nou academy player as the "chosen one" as they look to find a replacement for recently departed Dani Alves.
Bellerin has established himself as the undisputed first choice at right-back for Arsenal and was one of the Gunners' best players in the Premier League in 2015-16, per Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe:
It would be a huge blow for Arsenal if they were to lose the youngster, and it is in their interest to sign him to a new deal as soon as possible in order to ward off Barca.
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