Cesc Fabregas has been gushing over the transfer business conducted by Edu and Arsenal this summer which leaves his old club as genuine contenders for a top-four place.
The former Arsenal captain was talking after his own transfer to Como and was full of praise for a summer of transfers which has seen Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko added to the first XI after moves from Manchester City, while Fabio Vieira and Marquinhos have also been added to the squad.
That follows a successful summer in which Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale and new captain Martin Odegaard were all added on permanent deals.
“I think Mikel is doing a good job and Edu is doing a fantastic job,” said Fabregas. “Edu is a football man and he knows what it takes to build a football project.
“You cannot do it in one day and sometimes the market doesn’t allow you to get the right players; sometimes you are too young to compete, which happened at Arsenal during one or two years.
“But I think they have now matured – the younger players are not so young anymore. I see a different face. They signed very well and strengthened the team in areas in which they were struggling.
“I’m really looking forward to the season because it is really exciting.”
Arsenal must now try and offload some players, with Nicolas Pepe leading a phalanx of players who are outside Arteta’s first-choice XI.
Nicolas Pepe transfer could suit settled Arsenal, ambitious Newcastle and the man himself
One player on his way is Lucas Torreira, who has reportedly agreed to move to Turkish club Galatasaray for a cut-price fee of an initial £4.6m, with a further £1.25m to be paid in add-ons. That is quite the loss on the £22m they paid for his services in 2018.
But Edu has been very vocal about the need to sometimes take losses on unwanted players, saying last week: “When a player is 26 or older, has a big salary and is not performing, he’s killing you.
“They don’t have a transfer value and are comfortable on a long contract living in London. So we needed to clean the squad and if we had to pay some to go, I considered it an investment.
“It’s better than having them blocking the path of another player. It’s not a problem if a player has a big salary and performs.
“I know it’s strange to go to the board and tell them, ‘Sometimes it’s better to pay a player to leave than to keep them’.
“I realise that hurts and some people say that it’s expensive – but you have to take the…
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