Every club needs to have a long-term plan, but it’s sometimes interesting to see that smaller actions can eventually have bigger, unintended consequences.
A report from Football.London has confirmed that Arsenal are still showing an interest in Lyon star Houssem Aouar, and they claim that he was one of their major targets last summer, but the projected asking price of €60m was so much more than they wanted to pay.
They do go on to say that it’s thought he could be available for as little as £22m this year because the French giants failed to qualify for Champions League football next year.
Where this gets extra-interesting is when you realise that they missed out on the final day as they lost 3-2 to Nice, and the winner in that game was scored by Arsenal loanee William Saliba.
Obviously it’s a major coincidence but it is funny when you consider how it worked out, and these fans are delighted with the long-term vision that Mikel Arteta showed to get to that point:
Just clocked we sent Saliba on loan to Nice to score the winner vs Lyon to deny them UCL ball so they’ve got to sell Aouar to compensate the loss of funds and they’re losing Memphis for free omds unreal 4D chess from Mikky Teta pic.twitter.com/hdHRwgsoOf
— ?? (@hfussbaIl) May 25, 2021
Wenger left so that Emery could ruin Arsenal so that when Arteta came in to learn on the job he wouldn't get fired immediately because the bar is so low so that Arteta could loan Saliba to Nice to score the winner against Lyon so we get Aouar.
ARSENE WENGER, HE'S DONE IT AGAIN! https://t.co/EhOliT7eya
— garuf? (@GarethWareth) May 25, 2021
SALIBA SCORING THE GOAL THAT PUT LYON IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE MEANING THEY LOSE MILLIONS IN PEOFIT MEANING TO MAKE ENDS MEET THEY HAVE TO SELL AOUAR FOR A LOWER PRICE
— Lacazette is a g (@davidluizdid911) May 25, 2021
Lyon's failure to qualify for the Champions League means, as per L'Equipe, Houssem Aouar will be available for between £22m – £25m this summer.
Arsenal fans think that Arteta sent William Saliba on loan to Nice to score on the final day against Lyon to stop playing in the CL.
— Aadil Mohamed (@AadilMohamed14) May 25, 2021
Just realised we sent Saliba on loan to Nice to score the winner vs Lyon to deny them UCL so they’ve got to sell Aouar to compensate the loss of funds.
Mikel Arteta working wonders pic.twitter.com/xjaCHB151y
— ? (@afcjxck) May 25, 2021
Arteta is a genius. He didn't let Aouar's bro hold us ransom.
Instead, he loaned a Paris boy (Saliba) bred by Saint-Étienne (Lyon's rival) knowing he'd score against them, forcing Aulas to sell Aouar to Arsenal the next summer for a cheaper price. pic.twitter.com/1oFHO6ig9O
— ' (@DocAFC_) May 25, 2021
Agent saliba knocking lyon out of the champions league so we can buy aouar pic.twitter.com/XAfEmszF03
— Ben (@FreeJohnJules) May 25, 2021