Burnwinter wrote:
I don't concur with you, Gunner89.
And now I'm off my phone so I can argue my point a bit more clearly.
There are a host of meta-issues here. It must always be accepted that quirks including Wenger's footballing ideas, the target's preferences, the urgency of the deal or anything depending on it, or a late rival bid from a richer or more intent club can prevent any hypothetically advantageous deal from happening.
As Tim pointed out earlier, we bid seriously on Higuaín but then Madrid significantly jacked the price point. Not a little bit, a lot. At that point, they knew that Napoli were also involved, and were cashed up with the proceeds from Cavani.
With the option of bidding on Suarez it's understandable that we walked away from a deal that wasn't being made in good faith.
Jovetic? City were competing—we would've ended up paying more than they did if we'd gone in for him. Villa, Gomez and Soldado—clearly inferior alternatives to Suarez for whom we're still in the mix.
What is true is that we seem to have risked a fair bit on landing Suarez at this point, and it's true that if we don't get him we'll have egg on our faces, especially if someone's lawyers misread that clause. That's about it.
Our behaviour up until now is, however, pretty justifiable. We've gone in for a few very good targets—Bender, Higuaín, Suarez—and backed off when we didn't we haven't met with encouragement. There's a month left in the transfer window, and as the only serious suitors for the obviously unsettled Suarez, we're right to try to wear Liverpool's price down.
We don't know who our alternative targets may be, but a midfielder seems highly likely, and if Fabregas somehow does come on the market we need £30m stashed in our back pocket to snap him up.
