Arsenal transfer news: Campbell delivers Gunners board verdict after De Tomas phone call confirmed
Arsenal were right not to panic buy a striker on deadline day, according to Kevin Campbell.
The former Gunners forward, who delivered weekly punditry for La Liga TV last season, exclusively told Football Insider that the club should not sign players “just to appease the fans.”
Arsenal failed to sign a striker in the January window despite interest in Dusan Vlahovic, Alexander Isak, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Raul de Tomas.
As quoted by the Mirror (31 January), Espanyol director Jose Maria Duran told told Esport 3 that his club rejected Arsenal interest in De Tomas in a phone call on Monday.
Mikel Arteta now has limited options up top as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Folarin Balogun were allowed to leave before Monday’s deadline.
When asked by Football Insider‘s Dylan Childs for his though on the failed attempt to sign De Tomas, Campbell said:
“Look, De Tomas is a good player and if he came in it would have appeased the fans.
“I think the club decided not to do the business now. It is their prerogative.
“If the right player isn’t available, the right player isn’t available. Don’t just sign someone to appease the fans. That’s not right. I agree with the club on that.
“If the right player is not available then you have to take the risk and wait until the next window. You have to go with what you’ve got.
“It’s about getting the right players for the long-term as much as it is disappointing that we didn’t get the striker we needed.”
In other news, a pundit has claimed Arsenal ‘dodged a bullet’ after a ‘devastating’ Romano transfer update.