Three Important Transfer Targets That Arsenal Missed This Season

Two games into the new Premier League campaign, Arsenal have succumbed to difficult defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea.

They face West Ham at the Emirates this weekend and with the transfer window already closed, many supporters cannot help but feel frustrated that their encouraging early transfer business was not fully supplemented with a few more deals to strengthen Unai Emery’s first-team squad.

1. Hamza Mendyl (Schalke) 

Sead Kolasinac’s knee injury sustained late in pre-season, coupled with Nacho Monreal’s own problems with fitness, meant that Arsenal suddenly found themselves targeting a backup option at left-back in the last few weeks of business.

Someone that would be willing to fill in, but understand that given competition, it’d be unlikely he’d make the left-back spot his own unless settled quickly and excelled in England’s top-flight.

Hamza Mendyl, 20, was expected to be that man. He made 14 appearances across all competitions for Ligue 1 side Lille last season and although he didn’t play, found himself rewarded with a World Cup spot for his native Morocco in June.

He made his senior debut as an 18-year-old under Herve Renard and has shown signs of promise, though a delayed work permit ruined Arsenal’s chances of finalising a deal in time.

Bundesliga side Schalke were keen too and parted with €7m (£6.2m) for his services last week. The club’s sporting director, Christian Heidel, admitted that they were fortunate to have signed him – saying “I think otherwise he would have gone to Arsenal,” when quizzed about the permit complications.

2. Gelson Martins (Atletico Madrid) 

In the early weeks of June and July, Arsenal were heavily linked with a formal approach for Sporting Lisbon winger Gelson Martins.

Martins, 23, was set to become a free agent after being one of nine players to rescind their contracts – the club’s well-documented player struggles saw many key players unhappy and angle for moves away across Europe.

He scored 13 goals and created 13 more across all competitions, as Sporting finished third in Liga NOS and were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by eventual winners Atletico Madrid at the quarter-final stage.

Despite his obvious ability, reported interest died down as he was focused on helping Portugal at the World Cup and not immediately thinking about his future at club level. He made one appearance, a substitute cameo against Morocco during their group stage victory, as Fernando Santos’ men were knocked out at the Round-of-16 by Uruguay.

Emery was said to be heavily interested, but Atletico announced they signed him on a five-year deal in late July.

3 Domagoj Vida (Besiktas) 

They say that a good World Cup can always convince top sides into making big-money moves and Arsenal were close to doing precisely that, when mulling over a late £27m bid for Besiktas centre-back Domagoj Vida.

Vida, 29, joined the Turkish side from Dynamo Kyiv at the start of this year and made 36 appearances (all comps) combined for both sides prior to the World Cup in Russia.

Having watched from the substitutes’ bench four years ago in Brazil, he started and played in all but one match (2-1 group stage win over Iceland). Here, he formed part of an impressive backline and his contributions could not be understated either.

Not without his faults, it was seen as a risk that Arsenal were ultimately unprepared to take. Spending so much on a 29-year-old defender with no Premier League experience and one who earned a reputation for some suspect decision-making in the past.

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