I don't disagree, i believe we should have bought a player of such caliber irrespective of whether either of them left. The club saw it differently though sadly, whether for lack of resources - we need to sell to be able to buy, or some other reason, i am not sure, but from the club's point of view, if we were buying only in case either left we couldn't have only moved on expectation. Barca could have cooled their interest for now, Man City or United may not have wanted to pay for a player who would be a free agent next summer. This was a tough summer for all involved and i can only wish we had completed the Nasri/ Cesc business in July.

We probably had 30 - 40 million available for transfers before the summer began. We could have quickly tied up a Hazard, and then waited to see what happened with these two fools. If they left, then we could have gone after replacements (even eg Arteta for Fabregas and Gervinho for Nasri), but we would still have a quality player on board whether or not they stayed.

This summer was a how-to guide in fecking up a transfer window.

Indeed, if you're not going forward you're going backward in this game.

i think webber sees more value in buying two okayish punts at 10 mill than buying one top drawer 20 mill player

And that's the problem, Lex. Having a few superstars is so much more important than having a lot of good but unspectacular players.

He is a top player, very heartening to know we went for him. But a little disappointed we got Benayoun instead

Lex Chambers wrote:

i think webber sees more value in buying two okayish punts at 10 mill than buying one top drawer 20 mill player

Well spending big is a risk, especially on a very young player which would be what Wenger would buy if he ever spent a decent amount.