Typically, the club who spends the most money during a transfer window ‘wins’ the summer, as Sky Sports and other outlets tend to phrase it.
Going by that logic, Arsenal would be the winners of the 2021 summer window.
Mikel Arteta and Edu spent £147.5m on six new players, including Martin Ødegaard, Aaron Ramsdale and Ben White.
However, we don’t believe the Gunners won the transfer window – not by any means. In fact, two deals done by Crystal Palace have made Arsenal look foolish.
Odsonne Edouard and Michael Olise.
Why didn’t Arsenal hijack these Crystal Palace deals?
Last season, the Gunners scored just 55 Premier League goals – eight teams scored more, including Leeds and West Ham.
However, Arteta bizarrely didn’t sign a striker, while Patrick Vieira and Dougie Freedman wrapped up a bargain £14m deal for Odsonne Edouard.
The Frenchman is prolific, scoring 86 goals in four years at Celtic – he surely would’ve been of use to Arsenal.
Additionally, Arteta is lacking creativity in his side.
One player who surely would’ve helped is Olise, who won the Championship Young Player of the Year last season after scoring seven goals and providing 12 assists.
However, Crystal Palace got him for just £8m.
Crystal Palace have made Arsenal look silly
If a club of Crystal Palace’s stature can lure Edouard and Olise, then surely Arsenal could’ve done the same.
To make matters worse, Arsenal spent £24m on Ramsdale to act as a backup for Bernd Leno, when the signings of Edouard and Olise only cost the south Londoners £22m.
In a market hit by COVID-19, there were plenty of bargains to be had.
Sadly, it seems Arsenal were looking in the wrong places.
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