An analysis of Arsenal’s squad and where it needs to be improved (part two)

Arsenal’s Premier League season began with a disheartening 2-0 defeat against newly-promoted Brentford that laid bare the deficiencies of the Gunners squad.

However, the transfer window remains open until the end of August, and the club still have time to reinforce the team with new signings.

In part one of this analysis, Arsenal’s goalkeeping and defensive options were scrutinised. Here, in part two, we will look at the midfield and forward areas and assess how they can be improved.

Central Midfield

Arsenal are well-stocked in the centre of the park and have already added a new recruit in the middle – 21-year-old Albert Sambi Lokonga from Anderlecht, who has impressed in his short time at the club.

However, if the Gunners are able to make room for a new face, they could further improve the quality of their options in the position with an additional signing.

Matteo Guendouzi is gone, as is Dani Ceballos, while Lucas Torreira clearly does not feature in manager Mikel Arteta’s plans. 

The future of Ainsley Maitland-Niles is still up in the air, and it remains unclear – in the event that he stays – if he will be used as a central midfielder or a full-back.

Meanwhile, Granit Xhaka had seemed to be on his way to Roma, but the Serie A club’s failure to submit an acceptable bid has prompted a change of heart from the club and the Switzerland international is now set to sign a new contract instead. 

Whether this is simply a means of preserving his value ahead of a potential sale next summer or Arteta genuinely wants him to remain at the club over a potential new recruit remains to be seen.

Either way, Xhaka, Lokonga and possibly Maitland-Niles join Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny as Arsenal’s senior options in the double-pivot of Arteta’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation this season.

Arsenal had been linked with a number of central midfielders earlier in the window – Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli, Lyon’s Bruno Guimaraes and Brighton and Hove Albion’s Yves Bissouma.

However, since it became apparent that Xhaka would not be leaving, those rumours have gone quiet. At present, there is clearly insufficient space in the squad for a new holding midfielder, even if Maitland-Niles were to depart.

If an appropriate offer were to arrive for Mohamed Elneny, though, it could be a chance for the Gunners to upgrade on the Egyptian with an opportunistic signing.

The presence of Xhaka and Partey means that a big-money acquisition is impractical, but there are options on the market that could represent good value. For example, Borussia Monchengladbach’s Denis Zakaria and Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara both have just a year left on their respective contracts. 

Aged 24 and 21, respectively, the pair are young enough to potentially succeed Xhaka, should he be sold next summer, whilst boasting enough top-level experience to provide competition across the coming campaign.

In all likelihood, though, Arsenal’s options will remain as they are, while academy product Miguel Azeez may be afforded the chance to impress by providing depth and appearing in cup competitions.

Attacking Midfield

Arsenal are in desperate need of a new attacking midfielder. The Gunners were already light on options for the position going into the window, but the sale of Joe Willock to Newcastle United means that Emile Smith Rowe is now the only natural offensive midfield player at the club.

Real Madrid’s Martin Odegaard – who spent half of last season on loan at Arsenal – has been mooted as a serious target, along with Leicester City’s James Maddison and Lyon’s Houssem Aouar.

There is an argument to be made for each of these three candidates: Odegaard has already had half a season of adaptation, Maddison has Premier League experience and is homegrown, and Aouar is available for a very reasonable fee, reported to be in the region of £20 million.

However, the potential arrival of a marquee creative midfielder is unlikely to see a reduction in game-time for Smith Rowe, given his importance to the team – reflected by the fact he has been handed the number 10 shirt and a new contract this summer.

Instead, Smith Rowe is likely to operate as a creative presence on the left wing, a role he carried out to good effect when he and Odegaard played together last season.

As a result, there is potentially space for a second creative midfield signing, albeit one who would demand fewer minutes than the aforementioned trio, in order to provide optimal depth in the number 10 position. This is likely to be a lesser-known young player available for a modest fee, although the opportunistic acquisition of a more senior player is also a possibility.

However, given the amount of work Arsenal still have to do this window, it is very unlikely that the Gunners will look to optimise their depth in this way, especially with a marquee attacking midfield signing still not completed.

Wingers

Arsenal are relatively well-stocked in the wide areas, and this is one of the few positions which the Gunners do not have a particularly pressing need to reinforce.

Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pepe are the two left-footed wingers in the squad, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabriel Martinelli, Reiss Nelson and the aforementioned Smith Rowe provide a quartet of right-footed options. 

Willian is a fifth right-footed wide player, but the Brazilian looks set to leave the club after a disappointing debut campaign in North London.

Nelson may also leave in this window, although his future is less clear. He could go out on loan, but a permanent departure or no departure are both still possibilities. 

Even if both players were to move on, however, Arsenal would still have five solid options for two starting places.

Should an opportunity arise to sign an elite winger with a high level of goalscoring production at an affordable price, space could be made for his inclusion, but this is not an area of the pitch Arsenal’s recruitment team will be spending too much time thinking about.

Centre-Forward

Yet another another position in which Arsenal are not short of numbers. However, the Gunners have an awkward mix of burgeoning talent and ageing stars here, and need to sell in order to sign.

The aforementioned Aubameyang (32) and Martinelli (20) join Alexandre Lacazette (30), Folarin Balogun (20) and Eddie Nketiah (22) as the five centre-forward options at the club.

Balogun and Martinelli are both exciting young prospects, but the pair are still raw and inexperienced and cannot be expected to carry the goalscoring burden of a team looking to return to the Champions League. 

Nketiah has impressed in pre-season, but did not pull up any tress in 2020/21 and, with just one year left on his contract, it looks increasingly likely that his future lies away from the Emirates Stadium.

Therefore, Arsenal need a senior centre-forward to lead the line and provide the majority of the side’s goals. Aubameyang has previously been the side’s talisman and superstar, but last season his production levels took a serious hit, scoring just 10 league goals – less than half of the Golden Boot-winning tally of 22 he managed the year before.

Additionally, Arteta appears to have reservations about using the Gabon forward as a central striker, with the Spaniard looking for a different profile up front.

Meanwhile, Lacazette – who was crowned Arsenal’s Player of the Season at the end of the 2018/19 campaign – has not looked himself since returning from an injury he sustained at the start of 2019/20.

The Frenchman was the Gunners’ top scorer last season, with 13 Premier League goals and 17 in all competitions, but those tallies are not good enough to propel Arsenal back to where they wish to be. 

Furthermore, Lacazette also has just one year left on his contract and the club are reportedly keen to move him on and avoid losing him for nothing.

If Arsenal can sell two of this crop of five (almost certainly Lacazette and Nketiah), there will be space for a marquee centre-forward, particularly given that Aubameyang and Martinelli can operate out wide.

Lautaro Martinez was an exciting rumour, but the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea makes a deal for the Inter striker much less likely. There were also links to Tammy Abraham, but the Blues forward is on the cusp of a move to Roma.

Regardless of the identity of a potential signing, Arsenal’s biggest issue here is their inability to find buyers willing to meet their demands for Lacazette and Nketiah. Without the pair’s departure, the club are unable to sign a replacement.

Verdict

Arsenal are in desperate need of a marquee attacking midfielder to ease the creative burden on Smith Rowe, as well as an elite goalscorer. An opportunistic squad-depth signing at central midfield and a back-up number 10 would not go amiss either. 

However, attacking midfield aside, the rest of these proposed signings are dependent on the Gunners first selling fringe players in order to make space – a task that is proving more difficult than expected in a Covid-hit market.