Why Arsenal is now the go-to club of choice for so many players

 

 

• How journalists try to destabilise clubs by their constant demand for change
• Football has just got incredibly weird – from the Arsenal game to the rest of the world

By Tony Attwood

“Chelsea targets will think twice before joining – they could be next year’s Raheem Sterling” is a headline in the Telegraph and it is a timely reminder of the way the transfer system works, for it is not just a case of one club buying another player – players do still have a choice of where they want to go.  And the lunatic behaviour of the owners (and to some degree the compliant management) of Chelsea must make those players with a certain amount of intelligence, think twice.

The point made by the paper is that the “randomness of Chelsea’s latest player cull is no way to treat people” and I think many would go along with that.

I think Barcelona find themselves in a similar position, although of course their reputation is Spain is higher than Chelsea’s in England, with Barcelona pushing out Ilkay Gundogan who won the treble with them so they can sign Dani Olmo.  The attraction of certain clubs can remain, but it is hindered by the way they are seen to treat players.

This does not imply that all such measures are what players use when deciding if to accept a transfer or not. For example Tottenham has been “named England’s best-run men’s football club in Fair Game Index” according to the Guardian  but I am not sure that this award for them or the other four Premier League clubs in the top ten of the index, will really make much difference to a player’s desire to play for a club.

To a larger degree I suspect history and recent performances will also be taken into account. and Tottenham’s record of the last six seasons, in which they have come 4th twice, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th is not really what the top players are looking for.  Chelsea’s 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 12th in the last seven years doesn’t cut it much either.

Meanwhile other nuances can also influence players as to where they go.  For example Kai Havertz played 30 league games for Chelsea in 2022/23 and scored five league goals.  Last season he played 30 league games for Arsenal and scored 13 goals.  Such things are noticed when players decide where to go (and that of course leaves aside the chaos of Chelsea having far too many players to register in their 25).

So while it is a fact that players have a prime interest in money, and also have a tendency to believe that whatever bad things have happened to their fellow professionals, that won’t happen to them because they are sharper and brighter, it does sometimes sink in that certain clubs are not the best ones to go to, even if the money is amazing.

Thus headlines such as today’s “Chelsea’s summer of upheaval continues: Conor Gallagher out, Joao Felix returns” don’t help much either, although some players, perhaps guided by their agents who of course don’t actually have to play for the club they fix up the transfer to, will continue to go to the bad employers.

But this in turn burns the money some clubs have.  Chelsea for example sold Kai Haverttz at a loss; if Arsenal were to sell him now it would be at a good profit.  Meanwhile David Raya is shown to be now at his highest value in Transfermarkt’s analysis.  Martin Odegaard is also worth more than Arsenal paid for him.  And although Declan Rice’s cost from West Ham seemed high at the time, TransferMarkt reckons he has now added another 20 million euros to his value, since being at Arsenal.

Ben White is another player whose value has gone up – by 15 million euros in his case, since leaving his previous club.  As for Gabriel his value has more than doubled in his time with Arsenal.

Then we have William Saliba; his value has got up 400% since he signed for Arsenal in 2021, and his loan arrangements, so heavily criticised at the time, obviously helped develop him.  He is valued now by Transfermarkt at 80 million euros.

Such increases in the valuations of players while at Arsenal is one of a number of factors relating to how players see a club, influencing whether they agree to a transfer or not.   Arsenal’s success in developing players’ talents and thus raising their value is obviously then reflected in the salary they get, and of course their reputation within the game.

It all reinforces the view that Arsenal is now a club that players would love to join given the choice, while Chelsea is seen as unstable and unlikely to develop their careers.  Tottenham is now seen as having a lovely sustainable ground and being a well-run club, but does not that much chance of winning anything.