Arsenal transfer news: Emirates optimism is as hard to find as an marquee signing by Arsene Wenger, says Ian Wright

IT BREAKS my heart to say but I can’t recall the last time an Arsenal fan really looked forward to the start of the season.

The weeks before the big kick-off should be among the most exciting for football supporters everywhere.

A time when they are rubbing their hands at seeing their team again, seeing how the new signings go, full of optimism about the months ahead.

But I didn’t sense any of that with the Gunners. Just more grumbling at a lack of transfer activity and the lack of a glamour buy while the others all spend bucketloads.

And after one game — in fact, little more than an hour into it to be honest — it was even worse.

Which is why I would ask the  powers-that-be at the Emirates to remember one crucial thing — football may be a business but it is still  supposed to be an entertainment too.

Yes, we all know these days it is about profits and balance sheets. But that cannot be at the total exclusion of everything else.

Speculate to accumulate? There is not a great deal of the former at Arsenal.

And unless they are prepared to do so, you really do fear the worst.

After that opening 4-3 defeat to Liverpool you could almost see how the campaign was going to pan out. The boos at the end told you that.

Disappointing start, little flurry where they raise hopes of challenging, a few injuries, a drop off in form and finish it by qualifying for the Champions League.

We should be talking about new faces, new  challenges, maybe even a title at the end of it all.

But optimism around the Emirates already seems as hard to find as a marquee signing.

I remember when they signed the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars and the real sense of excitement that brought to the place.

And not just among fans. Star name arrivals get the players buzzing too because they make your job easier and you’re more likely to finish with a medal or two.

But at Arsenal that feeling is simply not there. And I do have every sympathy for the fans who are so desperate to see them challenging at the end of the season.

Yes, I understand boss Arsene Wenger is a man of principles, who refuses to pay massive fees for players he thinks are over-priced. Yet with the cash in the  Premier League now, you HAVE to splash crazy money to get your man, like it or not.

But with Arsenal it always seems to be about missed opportunities. Like when they made that derisory  £40million and £1 offer to Liverpool for Luis Suarez.

If they’d made a genuine effort to get him, I’m sure he would have brought them the title. If it hadn’t been for dodgy defending, he’d have done it for the Reds.

They were linked with Gonzalo Higuain for years but now he’s gone to Juventus for £75m at nearly 29.

That’s the price you have to pay for people who can do the business. I can’t imagine what Suarez would be worth now, so they wouldn’t have lost money on him.

Again Arsene has left it too late. I’m sure he planned to get them in early but now clubs know he’s desperate, the price will go even higher.

I can’t understand why Shkodran Mustafi isn’t already there, unless it’s because Valencia are demanding  top dollar, which leaves Arsenal in the grinder.

The start of the season is when you really want momentum. Especially a side like Arsenal, where people are always waiting to put the boot in.

Now they will go to champions Leicester on Saturday knowing anything but victory and the pressure is already on — big time.

That’s why I found it strange  Wenger rested players on Sunday, saying they weren’t ready after the Euros.

Well half of Liverpool’s had been in France and they certainly were. If Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, Santi  Cazorla and Laurent Koscielny don’t hit the ground  running, they will be copping it off the fans too.

I know it’s a different era but, in my day, players would have been pleading with the manager to get back out there, even if it was only for half an hour or so.

I’d have a couple of weeks away at the end of a  season and then be desperate for the new one to start. We all would, because we just loved playing so much.

It really does leave you questioning the mentality of the squad, to be honest.

When you start a new school year, you don’t want to be wearing the same old uniform, you want a bright new one.

But, sadly for Arsenal fans, that’s the feeling they have been left with.