Who would have thought that after stumbling into 8th place finishes the past two seasons that we would be in the running for Top 4 coming into the second half of this season? With tight fixtures coming up for Arsenal this month in the cups and the league as well as AFCON taking place, reinforcements are needed and I’m pleasantly surprised Mikel expressed as much in his press conference on Friday being open to signing a player(s) for the right price.
With the state of our current roster and contract situations beyond this season, here are the 3 biggest needs to fill in this January transfer window:
Striker: preferably someone that is positioned centrally and scores lots and lots of goals. Just an abundance of goals that comes from his right foot, left foot, and head. So basically 2003 Thierry Henry but that is neither here nor there.
Current Situation: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s future looks pretty much finished at Arsenal and there is no way back. You won’t find a bigger Lacazette fan online than me and how integral he has been for Arteta’s best Arsenal teams. His underrated ability to pick up spaces in between the lines, connect teams and technical skills on the ball has made a fan out of me. The issue with Lacazette are his physical limitations, age and his expiring contract coming up at the end of this season. If I had it my way, we would sign him on a short term deal but with where he is at in his career, I don’t see a situation where he would take a pay cut/similar wages on a short term deal. As sad is it would be to see him go, it would be best for both parties. Eddie hasn’t convinced me in the the same way the other Academy products have and is up at the end of this season. Flo Balogun is a project for the future which just screams out we need someone to lead our attack.
In a perfect world, we would use Ødegaard’s contacts to sign a 21-year-old Norwegian striker presently playing in Germany and has a knack for scoring more goals than appearances (something I appreciate and wish Arsenal strikers did, but that is just me). Since beggars can’t be choosers, I don”t seem to mind being linked to the players we have been linked with such as Dušan Vlahović, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alexander Isak. Gone are the days of being linked to European journeyman such as Mirko Vučinić and Dimitar Berbatov. I’ll profile the strikers we are being linked to in more detail in another blog but Vlahovič is definitely the crown jewel for young strikers on the move outside of the goal scoring freak from Norway. He strikes the ball so well with his left foot with minimal backlift. He has the requisite strength to hold off multiple defenders and link play with teammates. He is also very good looking if that means anything as well. Being able to nab him in January would be unbelievable but moves this impactful rarely happen in the winter transfer window (Yes, I know Auba was in January) and he will have heavy hitters across Europe trying to garner his services. None come more annoying than “The Old Lady” (Juventus) who are in desperate need of a striker with Alvaro Morata being linked with a move away and Juventus having recent history of getting Fiorentina starlets such as Chiesa and Bernardeschi doesn’t bode well for us. Vlahovič also seems keen on fighting for the biggest prizes in Europe and that isn’t something we can offer as strongly as others clubs.
Center Midfielder: ideally someone who played EXACTLY the way Thomas Partey played against Manchester City recently and did not have to go away for AFCON. On another note, I need to go in on a deep dive on that mesmerizing Partey performance.
Nonetheless, with Partey being away from AFCON in ravishing form I must say, Ainsley going off to Rome, Elneny out for AFCON, seems pretty imperative we bring another body into midfield. The Xhaka-Sambi Lokanga partnership has not been convincing together but I think more of that is Sambi playing within himself, especially with how quickly we thrusted him into the starting XI with Thomas getting hurt in preseason. Arteta values what Xhaka brings but if that is the case we definitely need someone in the athletic mold who can cover for Xhaka’s pace in midfield but also bring some dynamism behind our Ødegaard-Martinelli-Saka/Emile Smith-Rowe line. Like I said before, ideally Thomas Partey didn’t have to go on to AFCON but regardless, we are down 3 CMs if you also include AMN and Elneny. Sambi is the next one in line to play next to Granit but regardless another body is needed in the center of the park.
Backup Right-Back: One of my favorite players ever at Arsenal is Bacary Sagna and boy did we find a gem in Tomiyasu who has filled the seismic right-back void Sagna left behind. With that being said, when Tomiyasu went down against Leeds, the gap in quality between Tomiyasu and Cedric was so evident so quickly before Emile Smith-Rowe put the game away. We then had to play Ben White at right-back against Norwich with Tomiyasu and Cedric out for COVID-19. All of this isn’t ideal and should not be the case for us to be so heavily reliant on the health of our promising right-back. Ironically we were in the identical position last year at left-back with us always in crisis when Tierney wasn’t available and us having to rely on players playing out of position such as Xhaka and Saka to fill that role. With Cedric being linked to Atlético, bringing in a able bodied right back to to backup Takehiro needs to be on Mikel’s mind going into the latter part of this Top 4 scrap.
Honorable mentions: If we signed Messi, N’golo Kanté, Marquinhos, and Haaland, or 2003 Thierry Henry you wouldn’t hear a complaint from me.
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Vlahovic is a good shout but I do have doubts about his mobility and ability to create his own opportunities.
On a side note: I think Yves Bissouma would be an amazing pick up. Probably not a absolute necessity with Partey in the squad playing well. But I think he has the potential to be the best aggressive 6 in the prem.