Arsenal Transfers: Should Arsene Wenger's Indecisiveness Worry Gunner Faithful?

Arsenal came into this summer's transfer window promising myriad changes to a roster that had finished a disappointing fourth last season.

The Gunners' hardware drought continued courtesy of the upset of the century in the Carling Cup final to Birmingham City, and things went downhill from there. 

The Gunners are in need of some serious changes to the roster, particularly in the defense, which looked downright awful down the stretch.

As the transfer window opened this summer, Gunner faithful were given hope from all sides, as the North London club was linked to myriad big-name transfer targets and were seen as the leaders to land their fair share of them. 

But so far this summer, the only thing the Gunners have managed to actually do is bring young English-Finnish defenseman Carl Jenkinson into the fold at Emirates.

Every other signing has been bungled, delayed or flat-out whiffed on by the Gunners, as Arsene Wenger continues to sit and wait for something, but no one's quite sure what it is. 

First, the Gunners let Phil Jones, one of the most promising young defensemen in the world, head from Blackburn to Manchester United with nary a bid. 

On top of that, the Gunners are only just now getting around to signing striker Gervinho from Lille, nearly two weeks after the striker eliminated the rest of the competition to get him by stating a desire to play at Emirates next season.

With such a slow reaction time to the market, should the Gunners' faithful be concerned that the club is going to get passed by in their quest to bolster the defense, missing out on top players like Bolton's Gary Cahill or Blackburn's Chris Samba? 

It makes sense; after all, Wenger hasn't even sold off some of the players who underperformed last season, failing to find decent bids for either Nicklas Bendtner or Andrey Arshavin, both of whom were thought likely to be headed out of Emirates next season.

If the Frenchman can't sell off the players he wants to sell in a timely fashion, how can he be expected to buy players he needs in a timely fashion? 

On top of that, there is a market for both Cahill and Samba.

The former has been coveted by big spenders Manchester City and Chelsea, and should the Gunners continue to wait to even make a bid for his services, the chances get higher and higher that he'll be snagged by someone else. 

In that sense, there is definite cause for concern because it feels like Wenger either doesn't know what he wants or isn't sure enough to bid on it yet.

If he's not willing to go to the negotiating table with a bid, it means he doesn't know if a player's worth it. At this stage, you have to know whether a player is worth the cash or not. 

But at the same time, some of the delay is simply Wenger being Wenger. He's a hard-lined disciple of paying market value or less whenever possible, and in some of these cases, the players being bandied about are being offered for more than he's willing to pay.

So, he simply waits until the price drops, or someone else makes a move.

The Frenchman drives a hard bargain and is always looking for a deal of some sort. If he has to sweat it out to get it, then so be it, but he won't pay more than he absolutely has to.

Sometimes, it works brilliantly, like when he grabbed Gervinho at a slight discount. Sometimes, he whiffs miserably, like in the case of Jones.

So, is Wenger's indecision and waiting a cause for concern? Not yet, but if it continues much longer, it will be.

Patience is smart in these cases; it can prevent rash decisions and overpaying for a player who's not worth the cash, but we're almost to the point where patience becomes inaction.

If the Gunners miss on Cahill because they haven't actually submitted a bid (which according to Bolton, they haven't), there will be serious questions Wenger will have to answer as to why the Gunners didn't bid on the perfect player to bolster their shaky defense. 

In short, now is not the time for concern over Wenger's waiting game, but if he continues much longer and loses Cahill as a result, you can bet things will get testy in a big hurry.