Now that I've got that off my chest, what a deadline day it has been! Years ago I could only have imagined a player like Mesut Ozil signing for The Gunners.When I woke up this morning and saw the circulating rumours, my naturally pessimistic attitude led me to disbelieve. And yet, as the day wore on, I got more and more excited. The stories were genuine!
And then, at long last, the deals for Mesut Ozil and Italian goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano slowly surfaced and were announced at various points during the day, Ozil's being announced at 10:29 PM; agonisingly close to the cut-off time.
So, a world-class 'marquee' signing and some competition for Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny. Happy days, right?
To say I'm completely happy would be a lie, however.
Arsenal need another striker to provide assuring backup for our current ones who seem to pick up injuries frequently. With Podolski out at the moment, the time will come when Giroud falls foul to injury and Arsenal are well and truly stuffed. Until January, that is.
Earlier this year I mentioned about the importance of acquiring a proper defensive-midfielder. While Ozil is certainly a great catch, but I'd argue the main impetus should have been on bringing in a midfielder who would hold. That way, Arteta could be freed to play more creative, attacking football the like of which we saw during his Everton years.
How can we not avoid Arsenal's defensive frailties, either. Arsenal were left in dire straits against Villa, and the defence are taking hit after hit with players falling out of fitness left, right and centre.
Bacary Sagna can deputise well at centre-back but with Thomas Vermaelen's recent dip in form and Kieren Gibbs' wavering fitness, one can see how the defence is constantly stretched and having to reshape. Having put in a good shift against Tottenham at the weekend, every Gooner will be praying they maintain their fitness so as to build up some consistency.
But let's not let our shortcomings dominate us; not right now. What is arguably most important is that Arsene has done what he said he would; spend a lot of money on talented footballers (well, one). £42.4m is a lot of money but Ozil is an extremely talented footballer, and it was about time Arsenal spent some of their cash.
Those problems mentioned earlier will need to be rectified, but for the time being I'm happy to bask in the imagination of seeing a world-class footballer in an Arsenal shirt, lining up next to the likes of Wilshere, Santi and Arteta.
Thankfully, I do not have to imagine anymore. It is real.
More Germans please!
