Vlahovic and the Politics of Desirability

Arsenal is currently in a transfer drama regarding the signing of Dusan Vlahovic. He is one of the hottest prospects out there right now: he is 21 years old, hyper-athletic, hyper-lethal in front of goal, determined, and won't be signed for cheap. The news going around are that Arsenal see his signing as the one that takes them 'to the next level', which, to some extent, I agree with. 

Yesterday I saw Vlahovic play and watched some of his highlights and finally understood what he is about and what Arsenal could look like with him. His signing would mean that the team is ready to really be ambitious, to truly aim to become the best possible Arsenal that can exist. That's the bet Arsenal wants to make in Vlahovic - no more waiting for other pieces of the puzzle to be in the right position, for the right time, or for anything else. This is the right time. Regardless of any other factor, Arsenal wants to prove to itself and to others through the signing of Vlahovic that we are serious about who we are today, and the attempt to sign him shows that self-confidence, embedded the most in the lack of hesitation of the board despite the very large fees being cited. If there was ever gonna be a fate-changing signing, it's now. That's the message being sent, at least.

That's part of why this season has been so poetically right for me to come out as a woman and also support Arsenal: this season has been about creating 'the right time' for ourselves. Arsenal is full of youngsters, but achieving the long-desired goal is within reach this season - there's no 'we need to wait 2 or 3 years' narrative going on this time. In May, Arsenal can be there already. That's what Arsenal's ambition in Vlahovic represents (regardless of him signing or not): we are ready. Both to classify to the UCL and to be a woman.

However, the main issue with Vlahovic's signing is his will to come. He seems to be unsure about coming to Arsenal, according to a lot of reports. Here, using the language of the politics of desirability feels right to me. If he doesn't come, it doesn't mean Arsenal is not ready. There's desirability involved. He is desired a lot, for he possesses a lot of normative traits: he is white, fit, a prolific goal scorer already, very young, rapidly developing, experienced, and ambitious. Any team in the world would want him, and he will probably have very seductive options to choose from. Why would he move to a just-flourishing baby Arsenal when he can be winning the Serie A with Juventus in 18 months? His success is not guaranteed at Arsenal in the ways it might be elsewhere.

This feels analogous to trans desirability: why would someone love a trans woman when there are cis women to be loved? I like to think of Mia Mingus' task of 'Moving Toward the Ugly' and stepping out of the ugly-beautiful dichotomy to grapple with this question. The apparently superior feminine beauty of cis women and the appeal of Juventus in these questions are rooted in hegemonic notions of desirability. But Mingus reminds us that there's beauty in the ugly, in that which steps of out the 'normal', and in that which cannot be commodified or hegemonically celebrated. Learning to see someone beyond a cis-trans or ugly-beautiful binary is to learn to love and truly accept someone, finding beauty in their honest presentation rather than on their approximations to the beauty norm. 

Mingus writes: "Ugliness is a pathway to intimacy. You can’t have intimacy without trust, and you can’t have trust without vulnerability". It makes me think I'll be happy whether Vlahovic comes or not. Arsenal knows this is the moment to change an ugly reality through honest growth - when the transfer policy changed this summer to do no short-term deals and only long-term investments in young players (who entail risk), Arsenal made the choice of honest growth. It required accepting the ugliness of Arsenal's reality for the last few years: it has been merely the shadow of the Arsenal that made millions including myself fall in love. So, if Vlahovic doesn't come, I won't be heartbroken. He was not ready to join the club's healing journey. 

Instead, I will feel even more connected to Arsenal, accepting its ugliness, its undesirability to some. Ultimately, following these kind of rumours are all about embracing vulnerability. It would be a dream to have someone as hot as Vlahovic come along. But well, if he doesn't want to come, we move on to some who will love us. For Arsenal to heal it is not necessary to get the hottest prospect out there, but simply to find someone with the right mindset to join our journey, someone who can and wants to grow with us. It's the same it takes to be loved as a trans person: I don't need to be hyper-desirable - all I want is people I can feel the company of while showing the ugly parts of myself. That's how I make my own healing collective.

I am happy to wait a few days for Vlahovic's decision. I am certain Arsenal will bring in someone who is happy to be here, excited to love this version of the Arsenal, and eager to grow together with it. That might be Vlahovic, or Jonathan David, or Dominic Calvert-Lewin (my crush!), or Alexander Isak, or someone else I've never heard of. 

Divesting from hegemonic desirability and healing are part of the same journey, as I've been taught by disability writer Mia Mingus—introduced to me by my beautiful, ugly, and disabled partner Kat (our London Correspondent!). Hence, this is a moment—fixing our striker situation—to simply trust the process. 

PS I'm quite happy and surprised disability studies can inform my experience with Arsenal too! 

Citations: 

Mingus, Mia & ALOK (2018). Why Ugliness Is Vital in the Age of Social Media. Them. Last retrieved online on January 11 2022 from https://www.them.us/story/ugliness-disability-mia-mingus.

This is the Vlahovic compilation I've enjoyed the most: