Arsenal hopes ended after transfer target signs new contract

Arsenal have been looking at several options for a midfield signing this summer and one player thought to be quite high up the list was Lyon’s Clement Grenier. The French International had a very impressive season in the French Ligue 1 last year and performed at the highest level, resulting in interest from Arsene Wenger, including a reported opening bid. However any potential deal in the future now seems to be dead, as the midfielder has signed a new contract with his Ligue 1 side Lyon, after weeks of speculation.

Upon signing his two year extension, Grenier stated, “It was difficult for me to relax on holiday as things hadn’t been settled. I found it tough to communicate. In my head, I knew I wanted to stay in Lyon and that it was my priority.”

That seems to be a bit of a lie to be honest, especially after the midfielder was often publicly happy and willing to move to Arsenal after hearing of their interest. But it’s not a particularly bad thing that we missed out on him, in my opinion anyway. I think Grenier certainly has the potential, and his performances last season would suggest he could be the best player in France, not counting all of the money imports at PSG and Monaco, but what was worrying to me, is that he also had the chance of becoming another one of Wenger’s all-star French Ligue 1 flops.

I also couldn’t quite picture where he would fit in at Arsenal and the only position I could think of, was the bench. If a player is not good enough to play in your starting XI, then unless he’s a teen or a 30+ year old then why buy him for the bench, when he isn’t good enough? And that’s what I feared with Grenier. No doubt the media will continue to link us with him, even though he’s signed a new contract. They’ll probably say something like the contract was just to impact a higher price, but I can be fairly certain in saying we won’t be taking this transfer any further.