Perez is a lesser-known quantity, but, having reportedly been close to completing a move to Everton, Wenger refuted the claim he was signing players now as a reaction to supporters’ pressurising him into spending. Mustafi is a long-standing target but Perez is not. “And it was more hard than ever”, Wenger said.
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“In my job is to make the right decisions for the team and the club”.
Le Prof said this morning: “It was a unusual transfer market”.
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Watford, remember, have had eight different men in charge of their first team since the Pozzo family bought the club in summer 2012. But you will see how many transfers will happen in the next three or four days. “We are not close enough to announce to you today that they will sign for us”.
However, Wenger finally looks like adding to his squad with deals for Deportivo La Coruna’s Perez (£17 million, or S$30 million) and Valencia’s Mustafi (£35 million) expected in the coming days. The Germany global has been a solid performer at Valencia for two years and will bring an experience and presence at centre-back that Arsenal desperately need.
Arsenal fought off interest from Liverpool to land Shkodran Mustafi and are paying Valencia around €41m for the Germany global, it has been claimed in Spain.
And Arsenal manager Wenger is optimistic of strengthening his squad.
“We are working on the deals”, Wenger said on Friday at a news conference.
Wenger insisted that the timing of the transfer, on the weekend of Arsenal’s third league game of the season, was not his choice. “That’s why it was very late [before deals were finalised]”.
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Perez, who scored 17 goals in the Spanish top tier last season, has been talked about as one of the top attacking talents in his homeland outside of the all-powerful Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid trio, and it seems his performances had attracted the Catalan heavyweights. “He moved centrally and in a successful way”, Wenger said. And I think when I told you the transfer is linked of course with talent, the expected strength, but as well with resale. “If we get it done”, Wenger said, “we get what we wanted”.
