Arsenal’s miserable luck in the transfer window continued this week, as they lost the battle to sign Atletico Mineiro winger Bernard, after Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk revealed the signing of the youngster for a reported fee of £21.5 million.
Arsene Wenger will not be happy about this news, and as we enter the final stages of pre-season, Arsenal have not managed to sign any high-profile names despite reports of a spending spree. Undoubtedly, the transfer market is highly volatile in recent times, and no deal is done until the player signs on the dotted line, but given Arsenal’s history and stature, it should not be a difficult task to convince a player to sign. The supporters would presumably be confused whether to be happy about the fact that the squad has not lost any of its core members, or be disappointed about no additions despite promises from the club’s board about availability of funds.
This brought a whole set of players to be linked with the club, and having a attacker was top of the priority list to ease the pressure off Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski. Hence, the club were linked to players like former Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, who came close to signing for the Gunners, but for Napoli to offer a better deal to the player. The same was the case with Stevan Jovetic, who was linked with Arsenal for majority of the window, but was signed in the end by City, who offered a better deal.
Bernard is another Brazilian sensation. He started playing as a youth player for Mineiro in 2006 and spent a few years developing his game amongst the youth ranks. In 2010, he made his senior debut for the club, and went on to play 62 games, scoring 12 goals as a natural left sided player.
According to the Metro, Shakhtar confirmed the news of Bernard’s signing on their official website, breaking the hopes of Arsenal supporters who were hoping to hear better news in the coming days.
The statement read: “Shakhtar Donetsk signed a five-year deal with Bernard. The transfer fee for the Brazilian midfielder, who previously played for Atletico Mineiro, is €25m.”