Transfer Centre

Emmanuel Petit hits out at Arsenal transfer policy

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 07 June 2021

Ex-Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit hits out at the club's transfer policy after Aston Villa won the race to sign Emiliano Buendia.

Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has hit out at the club's transfer policy after they lost out on the signing of Emiliano Buendia to Aston Villa.

The Gunners were expected to win the race for Buendia's signature, but Villa moved quickly to strike a deal with Norwich City and beat the Gunners to the Argentinian playmaker.

Arsenal have come under fire for questionable decisions in the transfer market for a number of years now, and double-winning Frenchman Petit has claimed that "this is the end of the street" for the Gunners.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Petit said: "How many times were they wrong in buying players at Arsenal? Defenders, [Shkodran] Mustafi, Sokratis, with the same talent. They were adding players on players on players, but they was no difference between them.

"This is the end of the street for them. Make changes, you have to. It's been the case for the last couple of years, but what have they done? It's not a question of money as they have the money.

"After all the famous Super League drop in the water, after all the frustration in the transfer market and the profile of the players who left, I can understand that they have to be careful by repaying the loan from the bank for the Emirates Stadium.

"I can understand that, but now it's over it's not the same anymore. Don't tell me it's because of COVID-19. When you spend £60million on players every single transfer market, you have the money to bring in talent.

"Can you tell me how you choose your talent? How you choose your profile? What is your target?"

Arsenal are still thought to be prioritising a permanent move for Real Madrid's Martin Odegaard after missing out on Buendia, while Borussia Dortmund's Julian Brandt has also been mentioned as a potential alternative.