Let me remind you that Potter assembled those recruitment teams; there is no way they would go for a player not on his A or B list, and BTW, I don't think there was any media hype for the Fofana, Badiashile, and Madueke deals; they were all secret scouts deals; the only deals we could argue received media attention were the Mudryk and J. Felix deals, and that was because some of the top clubs were interested in them. Chelsea was the only club to make direct contact with Benfica, and the deal received so much attention due to the price tag and the manner in which it was concluded between the clubs. Nothing has been done behind Potter's back, in my opinion.
You sound very much to have an insider feeding you with these information that are rather limited to the public, huh. Fofana was also a deal borne out of extreme desperation as well, hence the reason why Leicester were able to capatilse on Chelsea's desperation.
I wasn't referring to Wesley Fofana. I was talking about David Fofana, our new striker; I'm sure you didn't know that, but the D. Fofana, Santos, Badiashile, and Madueke deals were pure underground masterclass from our scouting department; nobody saw it coming. One amusing aspect of the current transfer is that every player has a release clause, which must be paid unless the club decides to reduce it. Gavi, Pedric, and Vini Jr all have €1b release clauses, which is the Laliga team's way of telling you to Fuck off. He's not for sale.
I'm not saying that those deals were done without Potter's consent of course, but that doesn't mean those were his solely his choices of players, I really don't know what coach is already scouting for players for a club that he doesn't even have any idea he was going to manage, that said I don't think a club trying to build for future players go for them in the more tensed January and more so in the final days and dying moments of the deadline, that could only suggest nothing but extreme desperation, and need for immediate result.
The only reason the deal progressed to deadline was because of Rui Costa. After our initial offer was turned down, the club moved on to other targets, with the intention of returning in the summer. However, the Twitter space we had with Todd Boehly and the new FFP (5-year maximum contract) rules changed everything, necessitating the signing of all of our top targets to 8-year contracts (with salary reductions for failure to qualify for the Champions League). The new years starts next summer to stop Todd Boehly madness
But Arsenal got Trossard one of their best players this season without having to try too hard.
Yes, his contract was only about to expire in 5 months and he had no intention of renewing it. However, the Arsenal bid was too fantastic to let go for someone at his age and contract length.
