I think everyone needs to take into account that the boss/club are slowly but surely transitioning the team and starting to replace players whose powers are on the wane. It was shanks only flaw - he was too loyal and attached to players but then came Bob who was pretty ruthless. We seem to be entering a phase of that sort of transition to younger players (Elliott, Carvhalho, Jones, Trent, Nunez, Diaz) and the strong suggestions have been that Bellingham may well be coming next year. That means there is little point in really splashing the cash in midfield now against a backdrop of an injury situation that you would hope improves in the coming weeks.
Against that backdrop the signing of Arthur on a load deal with an option to buy makes perfect sense. We don`t have the financial clout to do for example what Chelsea have just done if we want to be self sustaining (albeit that Chelsea seem to be like a kid in sweet shop). The owners have made the money available when the target we really want becomes available - and I am pretty hopeful that Bellingham will be that next big money signing. People can understandably be concerned about our lack of cover in midfield and point to a relative lack of net spend, but to be fair to the owners they do seem to make cool, calm and calculated decisions and with a plan.
