‘They have panicked’: Paul Merson stunned by Arsenal’s contract call on 28-year-old

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Paul Merson has told Sky Sports that Arsenal have ‘panicked’ and been ‘lazy’ in their transfer approach, including penning down Granit Xhaka to a new contract.

The 28-year-old was seemingly heading to Rome and possibly linking up with Jose Mourinho, but instead, he stayed put at Arsenal and signed a new contract, as Merson documented.

Questions have to be asked as to how Xhaka goes from heading for the exit door to then leading the team out for their opening Premier League game against Brentford.

It perhaps sums Arsenal up and how they deal with business because it’s not like their wage bill has a lot of space.

Nonetheless, when being very critical of Arsenal’s handling of the transfer market, Merson didn’t hold back when talking about Xhaka.

“Then there’s Granit Xhaka, who has just signed a new contract,” said Merson. ” It seemed like he was out of the club two years ago.

“Then he was going to go to Roma this summer and now he’s signed a new contract after his good performances at the Euros.

“He’s not going to be on the youth training scheme, is he? You’re talking £100,000 a week.

“I’m not having a go at Xhaka. He performed well at the Euros and has been one of Arsenal’s better players, but Arsenal’s recruitment is safe and lazy. They have panicked after the Euros and not had any vision or conviction in the transfer market to progress.”

Only days remain before the transfer window slams shut and it’s going to be interesting to see who Arsenal are able to bring in.

Whilst Ben White has been their big-money signing, the club hasn’t been able to move around and bring in all the players they would have wanted.

One big reason is that they have such an inflated wage bill.

So, when it’s suggested that Xhaka could leave and then there is a U-turn and he stays then questions have to be asked.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that the man running Arsenal’s ship, Edu, is being questioned and his job is now seemingly on the line, as reported by the Express.