Another day, another press conference, another round of Arsene Wenger transfer bingo. While quizzed on transfers ahead of the Manchester City game, the manager replied with this:

"In England you are always under pressure to buy. We are still working in the transfer market but we only want exceptional players.

“So far we have not found him. We have no problem in players wanting to join us. I’ll give you my phone for 24 hours! We can afford 90 per cent of them.”

We've heard this 'exceptional players only' line many times before. Either Wenger really is dedicated to only buying the finest players, or he's using it as an excuse for something. After the debacle at the end of the last transfer window, you'd have to think he's deflecting attention from somewhere else.

Prudence

Wenger's reluctance to give a straight answer about transfers is infuriating, but it does have some basis in practicality. All his quotes about being "happy with the squad" aren't necessarily true, but admitting you aren't happy with what you have is admitting weakness.

Furthermore, once you admit you want to sign players, price tags everywhere go up. It's not worth paying an extra five million or so just to make journalists and fans happy, and half the time the selling club aren't aware their player wants to move.

What's most interesting is the quote about Arsenal having 'no problem with players wanting to join us'. Players link themselves to Arsenal constantly, most recently Stopila Sunzu, a transfer that's gone very quiet all of a sudden. You will likely find that Arsenal have a number of deals on the go, only for them to be abandoned if the player isn't deemed right for the team. Which is annoying, but sensible.

We've heard the 'super quality' excuse too much. Let's hope that Arsene actually backs up his quotes this time, rather than using it to mask a lack of activity.

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