Arsenal Transfer Rumours: Have the Gunners Fallen Behind in Chris Samba Race?

Arsenal have not been nearly as active on the transfer front as their rabid fanbase would have liked them to be at this stage of the summer. The club have made just one major move this summer (signing striker Gervinho from Lille), while also failing to land any real help along their sieve-like defense. 

But, the lack of actual signings does not indicate a lack of interest from the Gunners amongst the top defensive transfer candidates of the summer, as they've been linked in talks for both Bolton's Gary Cahill and Blackburn's Christopher Samba. 

Of the two, Samba was widely considered the likelier candidate to join the Gunners, as Arsene Wenger saw a better value in the 27-year-old central defender than he did in Cahill, who would likely cost at least £17 million to bring to Emirates. Samba, at just £12 million, might have appealed to Wenger's eternal quest for a bargain

Now, according to a Mirror Football report, that may not be the case after all. According to the report, Wenger is unwilling to pay the £12 million it would take to land the talented Samba from Rovers and has given North London rivals Tottenham the edge they needed to move ahead in the race to land him. 

That's because unlike Wenger and the Gunners, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is ready and willing to pay the fee to get the central defender to White Hart Lane, while throwing a couple of reserve players into the mix as well to help defray the cost. 

If you're a Gunners fan, there is definite cause for concern here. Samba, along with Cahill, were seen as the likeliest additions to the Gunners' back line, and if Samba winds up taking that deal in lieu of heading to Arsenal, suffice it to say that Wenger will be in hot water. 

While it's true that Wenger doesn't want to overpay for players, anyone who watched the club's defense last year knows that Samba would bring many of the qualities that the Gunners were lacking to the pitch. He's a big, strong defender with good tackling skills, and while he's not the swiftest player on the pitch, he's not exactly a turtle, either. 

Wenger is going to have to splash the cash to get someone to aid his defense, be it Samba, Cahill (who will still cost £17 million) or even Werder Bremen's star defender Per Mertesacker, who has recently appeared on the Gunners' radar as an option to bolster the shaky defense. He's not going to find a steal, because teams know how valuable their star defenders are, and they typically don't want to bargain much for them.

I know that the Frenchman is all about finding and exploiting holes and value in the transfer system, and that's great. It works for him a good portion of the time, as he's found tremendous steals on the market over the years.

But, every once in awhile, positions are overpaid to get for a reason. It's because teams know how much they need strength in those areas, and they don't want to give it up without making you pay through the nose. That's the situation the Gunners have run into in the center of their defense. To get a proven, solid defender who still has plenty of tread on the tires, you're going to have to splash some serious cash, whether you like it or not. 

There is still hope for Wenger to make amends for his penny-pinching ways, though. Spurs are struggling to figure out just how to pay Samba's £60,000 per week wage demands, and until they do, a deal won't be doing through. That gives the Frenchman time to actually pay market value for his defender and bolster the area of his club that most needs bolstering. 

In the end, it sounds like Wenger's managed to fall behind in what was once seen as a one-horse race, but there's still time for him to pull it out down the stretch. He's going to need to open the checkbook and splash the cash, though, or else the Gunners are going to find themselves in a familiar position come next season.