Buy now or buy right? Luis Suárez deal won’t happen quickly

This topic has had the absolute a*** debated out of it this summer, especially in recent weeks, and I probably don’t have anything unique to say but I’m going to say it anyway.

Let me ask you a genuine question that I want to you think about deeply for a moment before answering. Would you rather Arsenal bought significantly better players regardless of how late they come or completed all business before pre-season (or soon into it) even if those players are only marginally better or similar to what we have already?

I asked this question on twitter and had many responses about the two options not being mutually exclusive. I think in a way, and especially where Arsenal is concerned, they are.

Not because “Wenger is tight and won’t spend” or “Gazidis hasn’t got a clue”. It is because of how football works and as I have mentioned before, because of budgets.

I completely agree that business should be done as early as possible, ideally before the season starts and better still, before pre-season starts.

Those words are important though. Ideally and possible. Sometimes in life as well as football things aren’t ideal. And sometimes it’s just not possible to get your deals completed before pre-season or even by the time the season starts.

There are so many things to take into consideration and it is because of this I find myself so infuriated by what I perceive to be blinkered people incessantly complaining about the club’s “inability to complete deals”.

If we had another manager or a different CEO, I doubt we’d be any further along in our negotiations. It’s not easy to buy a player unless you are benefactor funded or are the beneficiaries of exorbitant transfer fees.

Pretty much every “big” player who has been purchased this summer had a release clause. The only player I can think of who moved without a release clause was Higuain and even then he had a set price. Madrid said £35m and Napoli, flush with £55m from the sale of Cavani, paid up.

Should Arsenal have done that? Maybe. We can only truly say yes in hindsight. From Arsenal’s point of view, a deal was agreed at £25m and Madrid moved the goal posts. Should Arsenal have dropped their pants, bent over the barrel Madrid were gesturing to with predatory malice in their eyes and braced for impact? In hindsight, maybe.

People will only say yes if we don’t get Suárez and therein lies the problem. Why allow yourself to be shafted when you have the chance to get a much better player? It’s catch 22 and there is no right answer.

And whilst we are on Suárez, it’s not as simple as paying £55m. Firstly, we may not be able to afford £55m. Secondly, just because Rodgers said it would take that sort of bid for them to consider it doesn’t mean they will accept it. Thirdly, if we drop our pants that quickly and agree to £55m, Liverpool could do to us what Wenger did to Ferguson last year and ask for more money at the last minute.