Arsenal once found themselves regretting a last-minute signing when they brought in Kim Källström, despite discovering during his medical that he had a fractured vertebra.
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However, the club can..Continue Reading
Medical evaluations haven’t always gone smoothly for the Gunners, who chose to proceed with Källström’s loan despite his significant injury concerns.
Back in early 2014, Arsène Wenger’s squad was plagued by absences—Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey were sidelined, and Mathieu Flamini was suspended—forcing the club to seek reinforcements before the January window closed.
Källström, then 31 and playing for Spartak Moscow, appeared to be a sensible short-term fix. He was signed on loan until season’s end and underwent a medical that was technically cleared.
However, it later emerged that he had sustained the back injury during a beach football session in Abu Dhabi, casting doubt on the decision to approve his fitness.
As a result, he missed the first six weeks of his stint at Arsenal, by which time Flamini had returned to action.
The move ultimately proved ineffective, as Källström made just three league appearances and failed to offer the immediate impact Wenger had hoped for.
Wenger later admitted he considered pulling out of the deal but felt compelled to proceed due to the team’s injury crisis.
Wenger previously explained: “I’m sure that, if you’ve played football, you might have played with a micro fracture of a vertebra without knowing you had it. You don’t even notice it.
“It crossed my mind [not to complete the deal], but I would not have signed him if we’d had two or three more days to do something. It was 5pm on Friday night, so it was sign him or nobody. Spartak are paying his wages for the first six weeks. We thought it would be four to six weeks.
“There is a possibility for every single player that they will not play but there’s also the chance he scores a winning goal that’s vitally important. We will only know if we’re wrong or right at the end of the season.”
There are no worries surrounding England star Eze, whose arrival marks a headline-grabbing addition to Arsenal’s summer business.
The Gunners beat rivals Tottenham to his signature, securing the dynamic midfielder in a move that pushes their total transfer spend this window to £260 million.
According to Fabrizio Romano’s update on X early Saturday, Eze successfully completed his medical on Friday, and all necessary documents have now been finalized—indicating he cleared the health checks without issue.
For Eze, who once trained in Arsenal’s youth setup, this move represents a homecoming and a major leap forward in his career. He’ll no doubt be excited to rejoin the club where his football journey began.
When questioned whether he now possesses the most well-rounded team of his near seven-year reign, Mikel Arteta said: “In terms of numbers and quality, yes for sure. When you shake the tree and bring in more players, there are always things that can happen.
“The spirit of that is to be more competitive, to be better and learn from the past, and with the squad we had last year we made life very, very difficult for ourselves if you look at the size and depth of other squads and the resources they had.
“So, we all have big smiles on our faces with the understanding that we have done really well, but the market is not closed and we have to stay very alert because there are a lot of things that can happen still. But so far, so good.”