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'Huge' - Exclusive: Finance guru raves about Arsenal swap deal report
Arsenal are ready to initiate a swap deal for Norwich City’s Emi Buendia — and the deal makes “huge sense” from a financial point of view.
So says author, university lecturer and new Football Insider columnist Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to correspondent Adam Williams amid a Football London report that Buendia could arrive at the Emirates with either Joe Willock or Reiss Nelson going the other way.
It is not the first time Arsenal have been pursued this sort of transfer arrangement, with Matteo Guendouzi said to have been offered up as a makeweight in a deal for Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho in the summer.
Maguire says that this is a well-thought-out strategy in terms of balancing the books and improving the quality of the Gunners’ squad.
“It makes huge sense because what clubs like Arsenal are looking at is the net cost. You won’t have to pay agent fees to the same extent,” he told Football Insider.
“In the post-Brexit world, trying to work out VAT implications can be a bit messy. Clubs are also looking at the impact on the wage bill. So if you’ve got one player going out, one player coming in, the net impact on wages is going to be relatively benign.
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“I suspect both players will end up with pay rises, but at least you’re not left with an unhappy player who’s not getting into the squad and you’re having to pay his full wages.
“So swap deals make a lot of sense. The only situation when they don’t make sense is one party is desperate for cash and therefore has to sell for cash reasons.
“If Arsenal are looking to improve the overall quality of their squad, then player-player transactions are very logical.”
Mikel Arteta spent £60m in the summer, with Thomas Partey and Gabriel both arriving for big fees.
If Arsenal do manage to push through a deal for Buendia, he will be their sixth arrival of the season.
In other news, a 26-year-old Arsenal player is to leave the club on a permanent basis, Football Insider understands.