Luiz Gustavo moves to Wolfsburg

Despite apparently wanting to move to Arsenal, Luiz Gustavo has transferred to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, with a contract until 2018. There are various reasons why Gustavo chose Wolfsburg over Arsenal, such as the close relationship between Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg (they share one or two board members, it seems), the reported wages of 131,000 pounds per week and guaranteed first team football, important in a World Cup year. However, this can only be regarded as a failure for Arsenal, as they were unable to land a top quality player in a position of need who was not only willing to leave his club, but was also for sale.

Perhaps Arsenal couldn't offer guaranteed first team football, but Gustavo would've probably won it for himself. Not only is Mikel Arteta injured, but Gustavo gives Arsenal the option to play a double pivot, either with Arteta or Aaron Ramsey, but he also can play as a deeper midfielder and allow Ramsey and Jack Wilshere to play ahead and be more attacking. Because of his ability to cover ground, to go along with excellent tackling and positional play, Arsenal could've played Jack Wilshere in a double pivot with Gustavo.

Now, they cannot, and it is really hard to see what the club's strategy is this summer. We're coming up to the first match of the season, and the Champions League qualifier, and there've been no signings save for Yaya Sanogo. On the other hand, there've been several outgoings, which, combined with injury, makes Arsenal very shorthanded. Arsene Wenger today has promised that the team will remain active in the window, but there seems a strong possibility Arsenal could be sacrificing points by not doing business early.