Darren Bent has admitted that he “wanted Arsenal to sign” Amadou Onana during the last transfer window.
The Gunners were linked with the Belgian international but he joined Aston Villa back in July for £50m. Bent is an Arsenal fan but he is also a former Villa player. Speaking on talkSPORT (quotes via TBR) about the top purchases of the summer, he said:
“Best one, it is a lot of money, but I really like what they have done there. They lost a really key player in Douglas Luiz and they brought in Onana. Oh! I wanted Arsenal to sign him.”
“He is a powerhouse, by the way. Two goals in his first three games as well. I think he has been a great signing.”
Arsenal had limited financial resources
After splashing out on Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Arteta’s side didn’t really have the budget to go after someone like Onana. There was clearly interest in the player, with reports from multiple sources claiming that the club were monitoring his progress.
However, they didn’t have the money to meet Everton’s demands and, ultimately, they went with a cheaper option, spending just over £30m on Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino instead.
Fans will have to wait to see their new signing in action
Merino won’t make his debut for Arsenal anytime soon. He broke a bone in his shoulder after a collision with Gabriel in his first training after joining the club.
It is believed that the 28-year-old will be sidelined for at least two months, meaning he could miss up to 11 games, including the North London derby, the away trip to Manchester City, three Champions League fixtures (Atalanta, Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk), as well as the match versus Liverpool at the end of October.
