COMMENT: You can just see the stewards checking behind the seats at Emirates stadium, scrambling to find those pennies to get at least one Arsenal deal - and of course in the form of a loan - over the line before Thursday's deadline.
The Denis Suarez one has been in the works for weeks. Ivan Perisic? That's just popped up over the weekend. The heartening thing for the Arsenal support is that both players want the move. At Barcelona, Denis has already rejected offers from Real Betis and Sevilla in the hope of being reunited with his old Rojiblancos coach Unai Emery in London. In Italy, Perisic holds the same ambition. Slapping in a transfer demand - which was accepted - just hours after telling his minders at Lian Sports to get him a move to London Colney.
No need for convincing. No reason for the hard sell. Arsenal, despite the managed declined of Arsene Wenger's latter years, still has that cache to tempt top drawer talent. So it should be easy, right? Emery simply needs to pick the one whom best suits his needs...
Problem is. Even with Wenger gone. Even with a whole new management team. Indeed, a brand new management structure. This is still the same Arsenal. The one of Stan Kroenke. And even after Emery has managed to avoid emulating the fallout at Manchester United post- Sir Alex Ferguson. With the top four still within reach. Champions League qualification via the Europa League a genuine prospect. When he's managed to keep it altogether. Despite the injury crisis. Despite the glaring hole in his midfield. The board - more specifically the owner - has zero interest in coming to his aid.
It almost reads like an us versus them saga. It's not just Emery left hanging. Those on the ground doing the haggling with Barca and Inter. Raul Sanllehi. The departing Sven Mislintat. They've brought these two great options to the table - and been told to make these deals happen on the cheap. And if not, well... so what? There's just no money. The budget's spent. And the higher ups. Again specifically the owner. They're just not going to bend for the sake of the team, the players and the ambitions of those managing them.
Self-sustaining. That's the Arsenal model. The Kroenke model. An outstanding approach - in the literal sense - amongst the big spenders around them. And it is outstanding. Admirable. A club that can be run independently. No need for state backing as Manchester City enjoy from the UAE. No reason for a billionaire, as Roman Abramovich has dug deep into his personal fortune to support Chelsea. Arsenal run on it's own steam. There's no need for a moneybags owner. There's no need really for... Stan Kroenke.
Away from the frustration. The ranting. The raving. Arsenal fans. Indeed the Arsenal Supporters' Trust (AST). They would do well to simply, calmly, ask the club owner: 'What exactly do you bring to the table?'
It's not money. We now know that. Worth £7bn, it was revealed earlier this month that Kroenke was the only owner in the Premier League not to spend a penny of his personal wealth on his club. So he's certainly no Sheikh Mansour.
Football knowledge? Football connections? After all, Abramovich had Piet de Visser to lean on in his early years and a deep network of Russian football contacts. But Kroenke..? Try again.
Oh c'mon, what about the US? The commercial opportunities. The growth potential? Surely Kroenke's America sports portfolio would benefit the Gunners?
Nope. Well, not when you're comparing the efforts of Kroenke's team to promote Arsenal to the US public compared to FSG and Liverpool. And there's certainly no comparison between the two US owners when you consider the record spending - and the reward it has brought - to Liverpool over the past two seasons.
So what is the value of Kroenke to Arsenal? Is there anything?
What about ambition? Well, this month's loan fiasco tells us all we need to know there. What about direction? Passion? Nah. He's never in the country. And never speaks. Not to media. Not to fans. Not at AGMs. Nothing.
Take someone off the board of the AST. Someone with passion. With business experience. Who knows the club inside-out. Remove Kroenke and stick this nominee in his place. And what be the difference? Oh, apart from someone actually being answerable to the support.
Self-sustaining. For the current regime, it is an outstanding achievement. Particularly given the team has remained competitive over this time. But such a model also makes some dispensable.
Which is what we're seeing now with Kroenke. If the club can run on it's own. And the owner, so indifferent to the club's needs, refuses to help get a deal over the line. Then what value does he offer?
Indeed what, in the Arsenal scheme of things, does Stan Kroenke bring to the table?
