Ambitious or unrealistic? How Arsenal’s Vini Jr pursuit cost them another signing

It seems Arsenal’s interest in an ambitious move for Vinicius Junior ended up costing them in their transfer pursuit of Morgan Rogers.

The Gunners looked to be in a strong position for Rogers, but he ultimately ended up joining Chelsea in a big-money move.

In what was a frustrating summer for Arsenal, they also missed out on Vini Jr and other big names, so was this strategy worth it?

According to the Athletic, the door opened for Chelsea to hijack Arsenal’s move for Rogers once the England international started to sense that Arsenal wanted Vinicius more.

Arsenal made a mistake targeting Vinicius Junior

Perhaps it’s easy to say with hindsight, but it was surely a mistake for Arsenal to think they ever had a realistic chance of signing Vinicius.

In fairness, a few people were probably saying this at the time, but the Athletic’s report suggests there was genuine confidence inside the Emirates Stadium about their prospects of landing the Brazil international.

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Arsenal were ready to offer huge money for Vini, but ultimately they still lacked that pull of Real Madrid, as well as the lifestyle in Spain which has so often been favoured by the biggest South American players.

Rogers looked far more realistic and was there for the taking, but Arsenal really got ahead of themselves by thinking they could go for an even bigger name.

Morgan Rogers to help Chelsea challenge Arsenal?

With Rogers now at Chelsea, that’s a hugely exciting bit of business that could help the Blues become genuine title challengers.

Arsenal are the reigning champions but have surely not done enough in this summer’s transfer window, and Chelsea might feel they’ve closed the gap.

Xabi Alonso’s side will also benefit from the extra rest as they don’t have any European football this season.

Rogers probably would have been more tempted by Arsenal over Chelsea earlier in the summer, but could a move to Stamford Bridge actually end up being the better option for him?