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Josh Kroenke optimistic about the transfers and targets the Premier League title

Published at :August 20, 2019 at 1:01 PM
Modified at :August 20, 2019 at 1:01 PM
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Atrayo Bhattacharya


The gunners are set to play the European champions Liverpool in their next game week on Saturday.

Arsenal director Josh Kroenke sounded optimistic with the business and the decisions carried out by the Gunners in the summer transfer window.

The aggressive and proactive mindset shown by the club was lauded by Josh Kroenke as he laughed off the reports of the limited budget in the transfer window for the Gunners.

The Gunners were reported to be in a tight space before the start of the summer transfer window with a limited budget to work with. But the management worked their way through and showed proactiveness to get the deals they managed.

The claims of the limited budget were rubbished when the North London outfit secured the services of former LOSC Lille man, Nicolas Pepe for a record-breaking £72 million alongside players like Kieran Tierney, David Luiz and Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid.

Kroenke who is a part of the Arsenal management and son of the owner Stan spoke to BBC Sport about the limited budget reports. He said: “I joked with a few of our colleagues back in the States about this topic and as much as I want to win the conversations in July, I really want to win the matches come May and June."

“So I think it’s important to have that type of conversation - but whether we’re going to be lauded for our efforts or perceived in a negative light, we want to be doing what we think is right for the club and I think we had a very strong summer.

“We addressed certain areas on the pitch for this season and in the years ahead. We had certain age profiles that we were after."

Josh claimed that the 1-4 defeat in the Europa League final against Chelsea at Azerbaijan was a turning point in the transfer window. The loss meant that the Gunners were without Champions League football for a consecutive third season. Kroenke feels that the Champions League could have been a deciding factor in the transfer window.

"I think we had a very strong summer. We addressed certain areas on the pitch for this season and in the years ahead. We had certain age profiles that we were after. Without Champions League football we weren't exactly sure, but I encouraged our football operations department to be aggressive and when Arsenal Football Club knocks on a player's door it's a different knock.

"This summer, even though we weren't in a position of strength coming out of Baku, I think there were a few people caught off guard that Arsenal Football Club still has the aura that it does. We're excited to keep pushing that now and into the future."

While they invested in young players and strengthened their squad with top players, they also allowed a horde of players to leave Emirates. Sales like  Alex Iwobi, Krystian Bielik, Laurent Koscielny, David Ospina, Dominic Thompson, Xavier Amaechi and Carl Jenkinson, Eddie Nketiah's loan and sell-on clauses related to Ismael Bennacer and Jeff Reine-Adelaide meant that a certain amount of money was recovered by the Gunners after their busy transfer window.

Kroenke feels that the primary goal of Arsenal must be to return to Champions League but he believes that Unai Emery's men can even go higher than that.

“Challenging for the Premier League title is always our goal, that’s what we talk about constantly," he added.

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“Based on the strength of our league, which is the greatest in the world, if you’re competing for the Premier League title, you’re competing elsewhere for other silverware as well - whether that’s the Premier League title, whether that's the FA Cup whether that’s European silverware - we want to go for it all.

“But we know it’s not a process that’s going to be easy and we know it’s going to require a lot of work - our work has already started and I’m thrilled to be with the group that we are, pursuing the goals that we are.”

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