After an evening of frenzied speculation around Arsenal’s new-found wealth and intent in the transfer market, the BBC - or more precisely their Arsenal correspondent David Ornstein, reported that Arsenal were denying activating Marouane Fellaini’s release clause, and weren’t interested in Julio Cesar or Wayne Rooney.

Stevan Jovetic was described as ‘on the radar’, but not a major target.

So, not exactly what fans wanted to hear. But could there be an ulterior motive to this news?

Distraction

In general, clubs give very little indication as to their transfer dealings, or any dealings in particular. With the exception of colourful characters like Dave Whelan and Harry Redknapp, you won’t hear about prospective deals until they’re almost completed. There may be press speculation, but little concrete info comes out of it.

There are numerous reasons for this-to keep other clubs off the scent, to make it more of a surprise to the fans, and to make it clear to news outlets that the club are not an open book. Arsenal are one of the worst for this, and use their press office as a smoke factory, to keep their dealings secret.

For example, they described Robin Van Persie as receptive to contract talks, and denied any possibility of Mikel Arteta joining the club-hours before the deal was confirmed.

Arsenal’s transfer activity may not be as advanced as we’d hope, but the denials are curiously specific, and we’ve seen statements like these many times before, followed by the transfers going through. It would be hard to imagine Arsenal not being in the market for anyone, considering Ivan Gazidis’s quotes yesterday.

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