Lee Dixon has said that Vinicius Junior used interest from Arsenal to secure a new contract at Real Madrid. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, however, missing out on the Brazilian forward does not hurt Arsenal and instead sends a strong message to Premier League rivals.
Stressing that the saga was no coincidence, Dixon added that the Gunners showed real intent with their interest.
His words, “Funny that, isn’t it? Yeah, I think Vinicius’ team we’re playing the game.
I don’t think Arsenal not getting him hurts us, and I actually think it did the club a lot of good to throw their hat in the ring because it shows real intent.
Whether it was a completely serious pursuit or not, it’s a very complicated transfer to pull off.
Showing that level of interest was a good thing because, apart from the fans saying it was never going to happen, the insiders in the football world will know there was some truth in it.
All of a sudden, people at Manchester City and Manchester United see Arsenal throwing their weight around.
It gives other teams a bit of a “wow” moment – they’re thinking big, so we’ve got to step up too. So as a fan or player, missing out on him hasn’t hurt us at all.
I’ve always said about that left-wing position – even the season before they won the league. I said (and it might have been a bit harsh).
I don’t think you win the Premier League with Leandro Trossard as your starting left winger. Having said that, last season he played some really important games and scored some crucial goals.
It has become much more of a squad game where he and Gabriel Martinelli have rotated and done really well together.
But the player who stands out for me is Tzolis. I really like this kid. I think he’s that next level up from Trossard. Martinelli is a bit off-the-cuff – you don’t always know what you’re going to get.
So I think we should give Tzolis a bit of free rein and see how he goes in the first six or seven games. Other than that, bring Ryan Giggs back, he wasn’t bad (laughs)!”
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