On the eve of the carnival of wanton consumerism that is ‘Black Friday’, Arsene Wenger has reiterated that he’s only looking for top quality players in the January transfer market.

Noting ‘bargains’ come in all shapes and sizes the boss referenced the purchase of midfield maestros Patrick Vieira and Mesut Ozil as examples of great value for money…despite the £39 million difference in their price tags.

“I love a bargain,” the boss said at his weekly press conference. “Who does not love a bargain? I don’t know many people that don’t like a bargain.

“If people need two TVs, yes, [buy them]. But if they don’t need one, why should they buy two? That’s where you come back to a bargain.

“What is for us a bargain is to buy players of top quality, because only top quality strengthens our squad.

“I can tell you I bought Patrick Vieira for £3.5million and it was a top bargain because he was a top quality player. we spent £40m on [Mesut] Ozil but I still consider it a bargain because the player is top quality and the priority has to be the quality of the player.”

No doubt comparing Vieira and Ozil will provoke heated debate, but one thing is for sure…Ozil is certainly starting to demonstrate the quality expected of a man who cost us £42.5 million.

Anyway, we’re off to queue outside Currys with our boxing gloves…that 1998 Sony MiniDisc Walkman will be ours.