Former Arsenal captain slams Arteta for wasteful spending in transfer window | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta and Edu have made it very clear that this summer’s transfer strategy was to buy up-and-coming talent that already have extensive first team experience, and it looks like he has got a few bargains in Tomiyasu, Lokonga and Tavares, but could possibly have paid over the odds for Ramsdale and the 50million for Ben White.

The ex-Arsenal captain William Gallas certainly seems to be outraged about the purchase of White, who has only played one season in the Premier League in the whole of his career. “It’s difficult for me to understand why Arsenal spent £50m on one player who is yet to prove himself at the top level, and at the same time Manchester United can spend around £40m on Varane who won the World Cup and has four Champions League titles,” he told GentingBet, as quoted in the Mirror.

“He’s won the Spanish league. You have to explain to me how it’s possible. Perhaps it’s partly because Ben White is English.

“Listen, Varane is a different class player compared to Ben White. Ben White is still young.

“I respect him and I hope he will be the great player, but he hasn’t proven anything yet. You can’t compare Ben White and Varane, I’m sorry. It’s not possible.”

There are many people who would agree with Gallas, possibly even Arsene Wenger, who always maintained that defenders matured later and insisted on cool-headed experienced centre-backs in his line-ups.

But Arteta seems convinced that his policy of buying a youthful squad that can develop and grow together is the new way forward.

And if Ben White can grow to be an even better defender than Varane in the future, then surely it is worth bringing him to Arsenal at 23 years old rather than 28?

Arteta obviously thinks White is worth the investment, so we can only cross our fingers and hope he is right…