Arsene Wenger is set to sign 16 year old Jose Rodriguez of Real Madrid. The midfielder at such a tender age shows a complete array of skills that makes him a natural number 4. He became the MVP of the U17 Club World Cup after displays like the one he had against Schalke (above) and Barca.
Wenger is quietly putting together yet another generation of youth talent who will come good by 2015. Spain with its canteras are offering talent on tap and he added Barca reserves Jon Miquel Toral and Héctor Bellerín this summer. Before them, Ignasi Miquel another Barca standout with his defensive capabilities joined in 2008 and made his first senior squad appearance last season in the FA Cup fifth round second leg against Leyton Orient.
It's an interesting phenomenon. There seems to be a feeling that Wenger is putting a bandaid on this transition squad adding low cost players who will hopefully maintain the status quo of 4th position while developing this new group in parallel to takeover when Arsenal's rivals have been weakened by the financial fair play rules. One wonders whether he's even outfoxed Ivan Gazidis who said as if written in stone that this summer would be full of signings. It's true. They've been a number of transfers except they're once again with an eye to the future.
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