A year ago talk of Carlos Vela returning to Arsenal was rife. The Mexican never returned to the Emirates, staying at Real Sociedad, and questions whether Arsenal should have brought him back were asked. The big question is though, should Arsenal have ever let him go in the first place?
Carlos Vela was never more than a fringe player at the Emirates, making only 62 appearances for Arsenal in his seven-year spell at the club. As well as those starts, Vela also had five loan spells away from the club, the final one being at Real Sociedad during the 2011-12 season. He moved permanently to the club at the end of that season for around €3 million.
Increased game time has transformed Carlos Vela as a player
The transformation of Carlos Vela is something that many Arsenal fans thought they wouldn't see. At Sociedad he has become a proven goalscorer, with 57 goals in 157 games. In that time he's also registered nearly 40 assists, meaning, on average, he's scores or assists goal slightly more than once every two games. Whether Vela would have become the player he is now at Arsenal is something that nobody will ever know, but the regular high amount of playing time he gets at Sociedad must be a factor in his improvement.
At Arsenal, both then and now, there is a surplus of attacking players. This limited Vela's opportunities at the club before he left. As he can only improve with game time, which he wasn't getting at Arsenal, it was unlikely that he would have made the improvement that he made at David Moyes' Sociedad at the Emirates.
This means that maybe Arsenal were right to let him go, as he wouldn't get game time. It could be argued that Arsenal could have continued to loan him out, but at some point a club has to cut their losses and sell the player.
Re-signing Vela and then selling him would have made a healthy profit for Arsenal
So, it looks like Arsenal were right to sell Vela, but should Arsenal of brought him back when they had the chance? Last year, Vela was linked with a return to Arsenal after it was discovered that the Gunners had a buyback clause that would allow them to buy the Mexican for a minimal fee, reported to be around £3 million.
Buying Vela for such a small amount of money looked to be a great move, and it may have solved some of Arsenal's taking worries before the signing of Danny Welbeck on deadline day. Also, buying Vela for such a small amount of money means that he can easily be sold on for much more in the future.
Vela didn't want a return to Arsenal last season, so it is likely that the move may have faltered anyway. Also, the Mexican still might not have got the playing time that he craves if he moved back to Arsenal a year ago.
Furthermore, not buying Vela did make quite a lot of money for Arsenal. Real Sociedad bought out all the clauses that Arsenal negotiated for Vela's original contract for €12 million. This money may have been pumped back into transfers, so not buying Vela in fact gave Arsenal money to buy other players.
Carlos Vela's time at Arsenal wasn't totally successful, and Arsenal were right to let him go. He's shone at Sociedad, and that's where it looks like he will stay, as a return to Arsenal doesn't look likely. In the end, despite his newfound goalscoring talents, not bringing him back shouldn't really be seen as a regret for Arsenal.