With the end of the transfer window fast approaching, supporters on social media will soon be left bereft, no longer hanging on the every word of journalists and so-called ‘in the know’ accounts.
While Tottenham Hotspur haven't yet reinforced in the way their fans would have wanted and Manchester United missed out on Antoine Griezmann because of Atletico Madrid's transfer ban, there's no doubt the most disappointed set of supporters will be Arsenal's. The results and performances of recent weeks won’t have helped their mood, but the club’s willingness to sell players to domestic rivals must be extremely frustrating.
Chelsea won the Premier League last season and Antonio Conte decided that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would strengthen his chances of retaining the title. So, what do Arsenal do? Agree to sell him to the team that finished 18 points ahead of them. The England international has since rejected that move, so now the Gunners might sell him to Liverpool - 4-0 victors when the sides met at the weekend - instead.
Manchester City were favourites to win the league on the opening day of the season, yet they are still keen to strengthen their squad with the addition of Alexis Sanchez, who seems desperate to leave the Emirates. Do Arsenal tell them where to go? Or do they get on the phone to PSG, who had already shown interest? No - they open talks.
If Sanchez signs for City from Arsenal, he'll be following a well-trodden path. Bacary Sagna made 48 appearances for the north Londoners in his final season before moving to the Etihad, while Gael Clichy made 44, Samir Nasri made 46 and Emmanuel Adebayor made 37. Yet all were followed to leave and, with the exception of Adebayor, all went on to win silverware with City.
While City appear to be the club Arsenal most enjoy doing business with, the worst example of them strengthening a rival came when they sold Robin van Persie to United in 2012.
Having allowed the Dutchman to get within a year of his contract expiring - a mistake they've repeated with Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanchez and Mesut Ozil - they then granted his wish to join Sir Alex Ferguson's side, who wanted him to help the club usurp their crosstown rivals at the top of the division. And it worked. Van Persie was the league's top scorer for the second year running, as United wrapped up the title a month before the end of the season.
Arsenal aren’t alone in helping other Premier League teams, though. Roman Abramovich sanctioned the transfer of Nemanja Matic to United earlier this year, despite Conte playing him 35 times in the top flight last year. Although it is still early days, the Serb has been flawless in all his outings for United so far. It was his long-range attempt that set up Romelu Lukaku for United’s goal in the Super Cup final, while he was named Man of the Match on his Premier League debut and has put in great shifts against Swansea and Leicester.
United sit top of the table after three clean sheets and with an impressive goal difference of +10. While Eric Bailly, Phil Jones and David de Gea deserve much of the credit for their solidity, it would be wrong to ignore the contribution Matic has made in protecting United’s goalmouth.
This isn’t the first time Chelsea have given one of their better players to United either, with Juan Mata signing for the Red Devils in 2014. Perhaps at the time they concluded United were no longer rivals, which would have been a fair assessment as the champions floundered under David Moyes. But almost three years later, Mata is a regular name in Jose Mourinho’s starting line-up and playing his part in trying to bring the title back to Old Trafford.
While some teams are open to dealing with league rivals, United have a very firm position on this: they will not allow their players to join a team they're competing with.
In the summer of 2014, Wayne Rooney wanted to sign for Mourinho at Chelsea. United rejected every bid the west London club made. The following January, so keen were United to avoid any further talks about Rooney, United conducted all their business regarding Mata in writing, thus avoiding face-to-face meetings with the Blues. Ed Woodward instructed the club’s lawyer to send a written transfer offer to Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck. Chelsea then replied, again in writing, with one or two changes and an agreement was reached.
"Manchester United made it clear in the summer they don't swap or sell players to their direct rivals," Mourinho said. "They were clear in the way they approached the Rooney situation. For them it's pretty clear. They don't swap. They don't sell. I think maybe this summer they will try to sell to a non-direct rival. But they were very clear [about Chelsea]."
In 2007, Gabriel Heinze took United to an employment tribunal after the club refused to allow the left-back to sign for Liverpool. Having lost his place in the starting line-up to Patrice Evra, Heinze had an agreement with the club that he could join any team who met United’s evaluation. The tribunal ruled in United’s favour and Heinze joined Real Madrid instead, the defender later admitting it was the biggest mistake of his career.
Even if a player is surplus to requirements, the idea that a club would willingly help a team they're competing with seems absurd. When a player is still capable of doing a job for you, it becomes all the more bizarre.
Conte certainly couldn’t understand why Chelsea had allowed Matic to leave, while Wenger is probably used to seeing his board sanction transfers that benefit the teams he's trying to beat.
For United it will be business as usual, with Mourinho amazed he was able to bring Matic with him to Manchester but aware that his club would never be guilty of the same mistake.
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