It was rare to see Arsenal spend any serious money in the transfer market, so the longer that trend continued meant the eventual huge signing would be under even more pressure.
You expect to see the club sign a ready made superstar when they break their transfer record, but Nicolas Pepe looked more like a highly rated project than someone ready to lead the team.
The Sun has reported on the latest with his move from Lille, and this is just getting worse for The Gunners.
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They claim that Arsenal agreed a deal for a club record £72m to actually sign him, only that money was to be paid across five installments.
They’ve been hit in recent weeks by the whole Coronavirus situation, and that means they need to find a way to raise some money to pay for that.
It’s suggested that as many as six players may have to go to raise those funds, and it really is a nightmare situation for Mikel Arteta.
Essentially he may be forced to lose some members of his squad just to keep a player who was signed before he arrived, and surely this will reduce his options to improve his team too.
It’s likely other clubs will be in similar financial positions, but this hasn’t worked out well for Arsenal at all.