Arsenal have been criticised for attempting to splash so much cash in their failed transfer deadline day bid for Monaco winger Thomas Lemar.
Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler described the bid as ‘mind-blowing’, following reports that the Gunners were ready to pay somewhere in the region of £92million for the France international.
Lemar shone as one of the top players in Ligue 1 last season, but remains inexperienced at the top level and would have been a risky buy in a deal that would have smashed the club’s current transfer record.
Liverpool were also strongly linked with Lemar towards the end of the summer, but Fowler took aim at Arsenal as he discussed some of the crazy spending by clubs all over Europe but especially in the Premier League this summer.
‘There does come a time when the clubs need to take a step back and see where they are taking the game,’ Fowler wrote in his column in the Daily Mirror.
‘It seems to me they are taking it closer to the cliff edge. When Arsenal are offering almost £100million for a kid who has played only one decent season in a very weak French league, that’s mind-blowing.’
Chelsea have taken a great deal of criticism for their work in the transfer market, not least from their own manager Antonio Conte, but Fowler singled them out as a better example of how clubs should go about their business.
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He added: ‘Chelsea seemed to have, at least, stuck to their strategy and I think a few other clubs refused to be held to ransom right at the death, even if they have got some stick for it.’
Arsenal only made two signings this summer – Alexandre Lacazette for £52m from Lyon, and Sead Kolasinac on a free from Schalke.
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