According to The Independent, Arsenal did match Aston Villa’s offer to Emiliano Buendia – but he picked the latter.
It’s claimed that the deal is worth £33million plus bonuses, and he will earn £80,000-a-week in wages at Villa.
Arsenal allegedly matched those terms, but Buendia told Edu of his decision on Friday having picked Villa instead.
What else is being said about Arsenal missing out on Buendia?
Football.London state that Arsenal were ‘seriously’ interest in Buendia.
However, the report adds that one Arsenal source, when asked why a deal for Buendia didn’t happen, stated that Edu ‘has his way of working’ and ‘won’t change from that’.
What exactly does this mean? Well, it may just be that Edu won’t get mired in bidding wars and overpaying just to win a race.
Arsenal may have been able to give more money to Norwich or even Buendia, but seemingly had their valuation of him and weren’t going to push beyond that.
How do Arsenal fans feel about missing out on Buendia?
Not great, as you can imagine. Fans took to Twitter to call the situation ’embarrassing’ and are seriously worried that Arsenal won’t land top targets this summer.
Failing to sign Buendia leaves Edu scrambling for another playmaker, with Martin Odegaard a prime target after his loan spell from Real Madrid.
Having pursued Buendia for so long, miss out is now a major blow. We’re still early into the window, but it’s not a great start for Arsenal.
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