Arsenal Transfer News: Santi Cazorla Right to Urge Arsene Wenger to Buy Talent

With apologies to Gervinho, new signing Santi Cazorla was the finest player on the pitch when Arsenal finished in a disappointing scoreless tie with Sunderland on Saturday. Certainly, his performance has quickly endeared him to fans.

So too should his admission that the Gunners really could use the addition of another talented player or two to replace the holes left by the departures of Robin van Persie and Alex Song.

I hope you are listening, Arsene Wenger. From John Cross of the Mirror:

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Arsenal played well in patches but they desperately need a defensive midfield player after selling Song and Van Persie’s goals will take some replacing.

Cazorla said: “It’s clear that Van Persie is a great player and obviously we would all have preferred it if he had stayed. Song has gone as well and there are still 10 days left in the transfer market.

“I do not know if we will sign anyone but obviously it’s important to replace players like that because they were so important for the team.

"

He's not wrong. I liked the additions of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud as much the next guy, but adding another true goal scorer would sure be nice. And while Arsene Wenger has said Arsenal has plenty of midfielders, the box-to-box presence of Alex Song will be missed.

At least in that regard, the season-long loan of Nuri Sahin that is in the works will certainly help.

But Arsenal needs to make a splash. It's ridiculous that a club with the second-highest attendance in the Premier League and the fifth-highest revenues of any club in the world (via Gabriele Marcotti at The Wall Street Journal) continues to simply sell off talent without spending big bucks to replace it.

There is no question this Arsenal club has talent, and nobody is suggesting the team spend an obscene amount of money to bring Neymar to North London or anything of that nature. But you can't tell me that a player like Clint Dempsey wouldn't look good with Fly Emirates on his chest, either. 

There is no reason why Arsenal can't compete with teams like Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United. There is no reason why the club can't do what it takes to keep some of its highly-rated talent on the Gunners. 

At what point does this strategy of selling high, buying low and continuing to watch other teams win trophies finally run its course? Or is business too good for the board to bother with actually trying to win something?

It's not a new debate, and if Arsenal fail to land any silverware this season, I'm sure it's one we'll have next summer too. And if another young player with promise—Theo Walcott, anyone?—decides to leave, it will only add more fuel to the debate that Arsenal isn't terribly concerned with being the best on the pitch.

Being the best in the books is good enough for them. 

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