DailyAFC writers’ ideal transfer window
The end of the transfer window is fast approaching, and Arsenal have been reasonably busy thus far, signing five new players.
Aaron Ramsdale and Martin Odegaard have recently joined Nuno Tavares, Ben White and Albert Sambi Lokonga at the Emirates Stadium, with more incomings promised before the window slams shut.
The Gunners have been less successful at moving players in the opposite direction, however. Joe Willock’s permanent move to Newcastle United has been the only sale Arsenal have managed to engineer, with Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba also joining Marseille on loan.
Below, a selection of DailyAFC writers share their thoughts on what would represent the ‘ideal transfer window’ for them.
Noah – (@noahknowsfooty)
Sell: Bellerin, Willian, Maitland-Niles, Lacazette, Kolasinac, Torreira, Nelson (loan)
Sign: Odegaard (done), Ramsdale (done), Calvert-Lewin, Aarons
Justification: Clearly this is an extremely optimistic end to a pretty underwhelming transfer window. If I’m being honest, I can only see two signings being made, and if we’re lucky, two sales being made as well. But I think that the six players I’ve listed need to leave sooner or later, and with Reiss Nelson not getting much game time at Arsenal, a loan move would be ideal for him.
As we know, the Odegaard and Ramsdale transfers are now completed, and I’m a fan of both transfers. Odegaard comes at a very reasonable price and can combine with Smith-Rowe well. And as I said in my goalkeeping analysis piece, Ramsdale still has a lot of room for improvement and can eventually take the number one role off Leno.
As for Calvert-Lewin, I think it is extremely unrealistic but he is the perfect striker for our system. Imagine how many assists Tierney would get, feeding crosses into Calvert-Lewin. And then right-back is of course another problem, and Aarons looks like the Premier League-proven option to me, but other options such as Emerson from Barcelona would appeal to me as well. Clearly though, Ballerin and Lacazette need to be moved on if improvements are to be made in these positions.
Joe – (@Joee_Ward)
Sell: Bellerin, Kolasinac, Willian, Torreira, Nketiah, Balogun (loan), Nelson (loan)
Sign: Ødegaard (done), Ramsdale (done), Emerson, Cabral
Justification: It beggars belief that the club still pay the wages of Willian and Kolasinac at this stage in the transfer window, but this is the scenario we find ourselves in. Getting shot of those two players as well as Torreira, who is also clearly not in Mikel Arteta’s future plans, is an obvious priority.
Nketiah and Bellerin can both conceivably be used as make-weights for any potential deals that advance in the remainder of the window. Both striker and right-back remain problem positions at Arsenal, and we already have an abundance of rotation players who can cover each role. It wouldn’t be a disaster to enter the season with these two still in the squad, but their exits should be facilitated if a reasonable opportunity presents itself.
As for Balogun and Nelson, they are clearly both in need of first-team experience. We can’t really afford to have players learning on the job at the moment, particularly with no Europa League football, so a loan move seems the best option (preferably to the championship).
I was delighted with the permanent signing of Martin Ødegaard. 22 years old, cut-price and already familiar with the league, he seems the ideal candidate to fill the creative midfield role for years to come. As for Ramsdale, he is also young, clearly talented and helps the club meet homegrown player criteria – definitely a sensible move from the board.
I do think that Maitland-Niles has a future at right-back, but if he remains insistent on playing in central midfield, I would have my eye on a Bellerin-Emerson Royal swap deal for sure. Barcelona isn’t exactly in the healthiest of financial states at the moment, and it’s about time we were more shrewd in recognising market opportunities when they arise. Having registered interest in Bellerin in the past, it’s possible we could tempt Barcelona into a player-plus-cash swap for their talented young right-back Emerson, who rejoined Barca on a buy-back option this summer.
As for a striker, we may need to manage expectations with what little funds we have in reserve. Calvert-Lewin is the dream, but there’s next to no chance that Everton will sell this late in the window, so it might be worth looking elsewhere for a forward that fits the same profile. Arthur Cabral has registered 12 goals and five assists in only eight games already this season leading the line for FC Basel, and the 23-year-old Brazilian’s European hat-trick last time out shows he has no intention of slowing down. He would offer Arsenal something different to our current options up front as a combative target man, and Arsenal would be wise to look into his reported €20 million release clause.
Dope Gooner – (@dopegooner)
Sell: Bellerin, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Azeez (loan), Willock, Willian, Nelson (loan), Lacazette, Nketiah, Balogun (loan)
Sign: Onana, Baku, White, Doig, Guimaraes, Sambi, Buendia, Abraham
Justification: Now, I’m trying to keep things relatively realistic in terms of an ideal transfer window. Yes, a lot of business would need to get done in order to make the sales and signings above happen. However, all of the signed players have been linked with Arsenal, and all of the proposed sales are of players Arsenal have reportedly sought to offload.
Let’s start with the sales. Hector Bellerin, as great a right-back as he was a couple years ago and as terrific an ambassador to the club as he has been, has not been the same since his ACL injury. He needs a change of scenery, and Arsenal need a right-back who can match what the Premier League demands. Ainsley Maitland-Niles has rejected the opportunity to be that player, and is not good enough in midfield to warrant not capitalising on any profit the club can get for him. Sead Kolasinac is simply not up to the standard. Lucas Torreira has been a wantaway player since shortly after he arrived at Arsenal. Granit Xhaka is a good player, but a more dynamic midfielder is needed to take Arsenal to the next level. Joe Willock reached the pinnacle of his transfer value after his spell at Newcastle last season, but his propensity for goalscoring does not compensate enough for his lack of technical ability. Willian… well, there’s no need to go over it. Alexandre Lacazette has been decent for us, but Arsenal need a robust striker to latch onto all the crosses Artetaball involves, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is too elite a striker to let go just yet. Eddie Nketiah has failed to prove that he is good enough to lead the line for Arsenal moving forward, and enough clubs have been interested in him that the Gunners can surely recoup a profit for him.
There are also a few players Arsenal need to loan for the sake of their development. Miguel Azeez has such a bright future ahead of him, and now is the time to start preparing him to integrate into the first team by giving him minutes on loan in a more competitive setting than Arsenal’s U-23 team. Reiss Nelson’s once-promising career has stagnated after barely playing last season, and no European football on offer doesn’t offer much improvement on that in this coming campaign. Assuming Arsenal can work out a contract extension with the young English winger, a loan to a mid-table club in the Premier League would do him a lot of good. Lastly, there is Folarin Balogun, who has the potential to become an elite striker. But spending this campaign third in line behind Aubameyang and another centre-forward, and potentially even fourth depending on how Martinelli factors in, does not allow him to properly progress in his development over the coming year.
As for incomings, Andre Onana is a good keeper with a passing ability to potentially match the likes of Ederson and Alisson. Ridle Baku is a very physical right-back who can bomb up and down the flank while providing defensive stability and offensive support, which are all attributes Arsenal desperately lack in that position at the moment. Ben White is a young centre-back with a high ceiling who is very skilled at distributing the ball from the back. Josh Doig would have served as a very natural successor to Kieran Tierney should the older Scotsman leave north London. Bruno Guimaraes would have offered an upgrade on Xhaka, providing the ability to serve as both a deep-lying playmaker and a box-to-box midfielder. Albert Sambi Lokonga is showing that he can be a long-term successor to Thomas Partey in Arsenal’s midfield. Emi Buendia would have been an excellent positional analog for Emile Smith Rowe, and would have potentially given an immense level of fluidity and standard of creativity in the three behind the striker. Tammy Abraham is precisely the dominant, powerful kind of forward Arsenal need in the opponent’s penalty box, and would have served as an excellent offensive fulcrum through which Artetaball could truly come to fruition.
