“Le Professeur” needs a lesson in logic

As the seemingly never ending Gary Cahill transfer saga continues to drag on into the final week of the transfer window, further cracks are starting appear where Arsène Wenger is concerned. I’m not just talking about the wrinkles on his forehead brought about by six trophyless years of sulking and brooding. Or the cracks in the foundation of the successful Arsenal side he’s forged over recent years caused by the tremors of star players Fabregas and Nasri’s departures. No, I’m talking about cracks appearing in his sanity, particularly when it comes to transfer policy.

If reports are to be believed, Arsenal placed a bid of £6m for the England international defender, valued by Bolton at almost triple the price. For a club that has brought in around £50m in transfer fees alone, never mind the loosening of the wage bill, in the space of a week, it makes no sense to place such a feeble offer. It is insulting to the player and to the Wanderers. Don’t get me wrong, the second to last thing I want to see is our prize asset becoming a Gunner, but compared to him potentially going to Arsenal for free when his contract expires in June it’s the lesser of two evils.

Arsène, as per usual, has feverously denied the allegations of this scandalous bid, playing his favoured “I did not know”, “I did not see” card. Bolton chairman Phil Gartside’s expletive outburst on Twitter to 4,500 followers (the 2% of Bolton’s population who care what he has to say) and more surprisingly, a negative comment from Mr Glass-half-full Owen Coyle who announced that “the word derisory doesn't even cover it.” Seem to suggest contact between the two clubs. It’s not the first time he’s failed to make a reasonable offer for a defender, Arsenal have been linked with Blackburn’s Samba, Everton’s Jagielka and Birmingham’s Dann with no end result. In recent months Gary Cahill has established himself as one of the country’s leading centre backs with a series of impressive, commanding displays.

As a Wanderers season ticket holder I watched his progression from a young man who had lost his way slightly at Aston Villa, to an imposing, powerful warrior in defence with the technique of a seasoned midfielder. As he rightly took to the field wearing the Three Lions on his shirt against Bulgaria on September 3rd 2010, Carl Jenkinson was plying his trade in the Blue Square South for lowly Eastbourne Borough. Meanwhile, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was to make his first League One start the following evening. Fast forward a year and £17m has been spent on unproven teenagers Jenkinson and Oxlade-Chamberlain by Wenger, coincidentally the figure quoted in Cahill’s release clause.

The pair may develop into world class footballers in 5 or 6 years time and we may look back on their fees as next to nothing, but for Arsenal Football Club that is the wrong attitude. Djourou, Bendtner, Denilson, Vela - all signed as youngsters and all have failed to cut convincing Premier League figures. A Bolton fan made the point on twitter that “If Cahill was 16 Wenger would be offering £40m+!” With envious amounts of money at his disposal, he needs to invest in players that can make an impact immediately. He needs committed, passionate players who can lead them out of tricky situations. Too often has it been the one man Vermaelen show at the back. The 8-2 defeat to Manchester United highlighted the shortcomings of his young defence, United’s opener through Welbeck epitomising its inadequacy.

For a Wanderers fan it’s infuriating that the Cahill situation hasn’t yet been resolved despite taking up as many column inches as any other transfer story this summer and as a football fan it’s infuriating that a man of Wenger’s intelligence cannot see the obvious failings in his side. The message from Bolton is clear; put up or shut up.

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