How An Arsenal FC Transfer Catastrophe Created Its Starboy

It was the breakthrough Arsenal fans had been praying for.

Finally, after months of speculation, it emerged starlet Bukayo Saka was closing in on a new deal with the club.

Although The Athletic’s David Ornstein, who broke the story, said there was still lots to be ironed out the hard part was over and there was an agreement in principle.

Without referencing the Saka news directly, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s pleasure was evident.

“We want to keep our best players. The players that we are developing,” he told the media. “We want to create a long-term project here and we need our best players at the club.

“That is our responsibility; to keep our best players and people, and the people who have the same aims and purposes with the club, and stick them together for a while and give them some stability. From there keep evolving and from there become a better club.

“It is part of developing a team and developing a squad and taking the club where we want. It is maximizing the resources we will have and we have huge resources as we have a lot of talent. We have to keep that talent and make it better.”

Arteta has become used to making such statements as the most significant signings for Arsenal in the past six months have been contract renewals.

The anticipated agreement with Saka followed another promising Arsenal youngster, Gabriel Martinelli, signing a new contract and talks have begun to tie defender William Saliba to a long-term deal also.

But it is also a demonstration of how in the past five years transfer dealings have not got quite as well as the Gunners would have hoped.

Saka’s emergence in particular, not only as a key player for the Gunners but also at an international level for England has been one of the most remarkable stories of youth development in the past few years.

It is still scarcely believable the west London teenager went from youth soccer to playing a decisive role in the latter stages of the European Championships and starring for Arsenal against the biggest sides in a handful of years.

But the truth is Saka’s sudden elevation to global star also obscured one of the worst strategic decisions of the past few years at Arsenal.

The curious case of Nicolas Pepe

In the summer of 2019, Arsenal was buzzing with the $83 million arrival of a different left-footed attacker who liked to cut in from the right wing.

The 23-year-old Nicolas Pepe was one of the most exciting prospects in world soccer and his strong performances for Lille in Ligue 1 convinced the Gunners to break its transfer record.

“Signing a top-class winger has been one of our key objectives in this transfer window and I’m delighted he’s joining,” then-manager Unai Emery told the club’s official website at the time.

“He will add pace, power and creativity, with the aim of bringing more goals to our team.”

At the time his capture was seen as a coup, particularly as there were strong rumors Liverpool had also been interested in buying Pepe.

It was even suggested the Ivory Coast international had chosen the Gunners on the basis he would be a starter rather than a backup for Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

But such speculation looked ludicrous once the season began, Liverpool established an unassailable lead at the top of the league while Arsenal and Pepe flattered to deceive.

As the schedule progressed the situation at the Emirates deteriorated further, coach Unai Emery was fired just a matter of months into the season his interim replacement, Fredrick Ljungberg, made a point of dropping Pepe from the starting 11.

The Ivorian soon admitted to struggling with the new environment. “Obviously it has been a little bit difficult to adapt, not only to a new league but to a new country and there is also the language barrier – which can sometimes get in the way of me speaking with my team-mates,” he confessed.

“But I am aiming to improve myself every single day and some aspects I am familiar with. For example, the weather is quite similar to Lille. So not everything is different.

“I tried to not put too much pressure on myself and I am trying to get rid of the pressure around me.”

But Pepe has not been able to shed the weight of being Arsenal’s record signing, the decline since his arrival has been terminal.

Three seasons since he was bought for a record fee, at an age that should be at his peak, he’s back on loan in France playing at a lower level than he was before and worth a fraction of the fee the Gunners paid.

Saka at the right time

Considering what a failure Pepe would prove to be it was extremely fortunate that, during his first difficult season, a teenage winger in the same mold emerged from the youth system.

It looks almost foolish now, but when Saka and Pepe were both vying for a first-team slot, there were fears the expensive winger could hinder the younger man’s progress.

“If you think back to Arsene Wenger, he would never have blocked the path of a young player but they are in danger of doing that with Bukayo Saka,” ex-Arsenal defender Martin Keown warned in the early months of the season.

Of course, you could make the argument that it was the brilliance of Saka more than the issues with Pepe that saw him replace the Ivorian.

But if we are being brutally honest, had Pepe even fractionally managed to live up to his billing as one of the most promising players in world soccer, Saka simply wouldn’t have been granted the opportunity to prove his worth.

It is precisely this blunder in the transfer market which enabled the Gunners to bring through a far greater talent.

And seeing how great Bukayo Saka is now it is easy to forget the circumstances which allowed for his development.

Like Marcus Rashford or Trent Alexander-Arnold, who were offered first-team chances because of injury crises, it is rarely talent alone that offers youngsters the platform to stake their claim.

The time invested in Saka looks like a masterstroke now, but when you consider the context for him becoming a starter in the Arsenal first team there was a lot more luck to it than that.