Wenger To Go Shopping At QPR?

Wenger To Go Shopping At QPR?

So while Arsenal were playing their high intensity 1-1 draw against Man United at the Emirates, Harry Redknapp’s QPR faced Reading at the Madjeski where the teams played out a scrappy 0-0 tie. When you consider what QPR have spent on players (around £87million reportedly) and the money they have spent on managers like Neil Warnock, Mark Hughes and most recently Harry Redknapp it is hard to understand how they have failed so badly. They spent £58million on wages in the 2011-12 season which was 12th in the league but I am sure their wage bill is higher this season with the expensive additions they made in both windows. Astonishingly, according to BBC Sports, QPR’s costs over the complete length of Remy and Samba’s contracts would be the best part of £80m. QPR gambled big time and sadly for them they have lost.

Anyway what does this all have to do with Arsenal? Well with the QPR/Reading result yesterday both teams were consigned to relegation and with that the inevitable departure of players will happen. Clearly, Reading may have some players who will interest other Premier League teams but QPR really do have a number of players who will be interesting to a number of clubs. QPR’s unfortunate loss could be Arsenal’s gain and this is where le Boss needs to work quickly if he is to pull off a major transfer coup.


Wenger is looking for a new striker and Loic Remy has had an audition in the Premier League now and he has certainly passed with flying colours so Wenger should move for him and should get his man for not too much more than the £8 million QPR paid Marseille for the French international due to his extremely high wages. Remy would surely love the chance to work with his countryman and would give Arsenal the type of Henry-esque forward they have missed lately but he clearly comes at a price.

The Gunners seemingly need an experienced keeper to help bring Szczęsny along and also give him competition. Julio Cesar is one of the Premier League’s form keepers this season and he would love the chance to play for a top team and play in Europe again. The transfer fee should not be too large but Cesar’s wages will not be insignificant.

Wenger needs another centre-half and despite some inconsistent performances for QPR since his move from Anzhi, Christophe Samba is still a serious customer and would provide a really solid look to the back four and he would quite likely take a pay-cut to come to the Emirates. Samba would surely be back to his best if he has a full Premier League pre-season to prepare.

These 3 deals would really address some of the key areas of need for Arsenal and they would really only be looking for a defensive midfielder like Celtic’s Victor Wanyama to meet their glaring deficiencies. Deals like this will certainly effect the wage bill which is already one of the highest in the League (it was 4th highest last season according the recent Guardian article) and it could be even higher if these players are all signed.

Sometimes you have to gamble big and even though it did not look like there were 21 points between Man United and Arsenal when they met at the Emirates yesterday, the table does not lie and Wenger needs to make some big-time acquisitions. Most potential signings by Wenger will surely require Arsenal to qualify for the Champions League but they are sitting in 4th right now, 2 points ahead of Spurs and a point behind Chelsea having played a game more so hopefully they pull it off.