Eberechi Eze, Andrea Berta and Matheus Cunha (Photo by Shaun Botterill, Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Andrea Berta can be a difference-maker for Arsenal in the transfer market
I thought the messages that were coming out from Arsenal around the Newcastle game on Sunday were very interesting. They certainly did very little to dampen the expectation of the fans ahead of the summer.
You had Josh Kroenke guaranteeing that the club would invest to strengthen the squad and you had Mikel Arteta insisting, both before the game and afterwards, that plans for the upcoming window were set and ready to be put into action.
The line in Arteta’s interview with Sky just after full-time when he said “enjoy a few days [off] and make sure the ones upstairs, they do what they have to do” was particularly eye-catching. It almost felt like a challenge from the Arsenal manager.
And to be honest that is no real surprise because he will have been as frustrated as anyone about the lack of business that was done in January. He was left woefully short of options, especially in attack, and Arsenal’s Premier League chances disappeared as a result.
That can’t happen again. He knows it and I would hope those above him at the club know it as well.
All the noises we are hearing certainly suggests it’s going to be a big summer at Arsenal. There is plenty of business to be done to strengthen a squad that is already viewed as being short in key areas.
There are big expectations about what needs to be done and that was why Andrea Berta was appointed as sporting director.
The club see him as a difference maker when it comes to the market. Someone who will allow them to get deals done that maybe they wouldn’t have been able to in the past.
There were plenty of other candidates for the sporting director position and Arsenal believed all of those who got to the final stages of the process were capable of doing a fine job in the role.
But Berta just stood out over the rest. They are delighted that he has come on board and are very excited about the job he will be able to do.
I do think we will see a significant summer at Arsenal.
There will be lots of deals done, both incomings and outgoings and the…
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