Joel Campbell was desperate to leave Arsenal for Benfica…
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Arsenal have been slammed by Benfica, as well as the agent of wantaway forward Joel Campbell, for their conduct on Monday’s transfer deadline day.
According to the Daily Mirror, the Costa Rican World Cup forward was desperate to seal a move to the Portuguese giants, only for the Gunners to block the move.
The North London club were not willing to allow Campbell to leave until they had secured the signing of Danny Welbeck from Manchester United and, by the time that they did, it was too late.
Benfica have claimed that Arsene Wenger was willing to sell the player, either on loan or in a straight £10m deal, but left them hanging on until it was too late.
The source explains that while Wenger had insisted publicly that Arsenal would not let Campbell go, he in fact offered him in a player-plus-cash deal for QPR’s Loic Remy, who instead signed for Chelsea.
In addition, the Lisbon club said that they only got a last-minute call saying the deal was off, which has left them short of a striker until the January transfer window. Campbell himself is also believed to be frustrated by the decision, and is fed-up at not getting a chance at the Emirates.
The 22-year-old’s agent, Joaquin Batica, told Portuguese media: “Benfica fought until the last minute to sign Campbell but the operation didn’t happen because, in the last hour, Arsenal decided to keep him. Wenger says he did not want to sell him. But if he is not in his plans, then why not allow him to leave?”
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