An overview of how the Emirates Stadium side can make the most of their summer business.
Players they should sign:
Luis Suarez – A recent link, but apparently a concrete one at that. Suarez had been tipped to leave England but has now backtracked on that stance by insisting that a move to a club capable of offering Champions League football could be enough to keep him on these shores.
Arsenal could now be his most likely destination if they are willing to meet his £40 million asking price and if they had any sense then they will. The Uruguayan international may be an unsavoury character off the pitch (and on it) but he also happens to be an electrifying footballer.
The Gunners still haven’t replaced the hole left by Robin Van Persie last summer, and though Suarez is a different kind of player – he will offer 20+ goals a season to finally help get the club back on top.
Wenger has spent a lot of money in recent years, but more often than not it’s been on the wrong kind of player. Suarez is not that kind of player, he’s a star, and is just the kind of player capable of fitting into the club’s ethos for stylish play.
Gonzalo Higauin – Like Suarez, Higauin would almost certainly guarantee goals, and two heads are better than one, as they say.
Also, like Suarez, he’ll score with both his feet and his head, though unlike the Liverpool man, he’ll run all day in the process. He’s a different kind of striker to Suarez, and the prospect of the two of them leading the line together should be enough to get any Arsenal fans mouth watering.
At 25-year-old he still has plenty left in the legs to prove that he is worth the high fee. He’ll be the perfect foil to Suarez (should they sign them both, of course) as he will go about doing the business with an understated presence. He is quite clearly one of the top five strikers in the world, but he is never talked about at any great length.
Bringing Higuain on board would be a massive statement of intent from Arsene Wenger, but they’ll have to act fast if they want to bring him in as he is starting to make noises about staying in the Spanish capital.
Geoffrey Kondogbia – Like when Robin Van Persie left, Arsenal haven’t adequately replaced Alex Song following on from his departure to Barcelona either.
Kondogbia is prefect for this side – he’s young, powerful, energetic and comes with a potential resale value that could be three times what they’ll initially pay to bring him on board.
Furthermore, Sevilla are strapped for cash and selling their star players as though they’re closing down tomorrow, so the young French ace would be available for a fee of around £7 million.
Often likened to Patrick Viera, his arrival could be a match made in heaven and give Arsenal the midfield lynchpin they so badly need.
Stephane Ruffier – The Saint Etienne goalkeeper has been in fine form for the club over the past two seasons. Unflashy and unspectacular, he is dependable and solid, which is just what the side need since, well, David Seaman’s retirement.
Areas of weakness:
Goalscoring – Last season represented one of Arsenal’s lowest scoring seasons in recent years, netting just 72 goals in the league. Compare that with 74 in 2011/12, 72 in 10/11 and 83 in 09/10, it’s really not good enough for a side who are hoping to climb back to the top of the Premier League tree.
And this is exactly why Arsene Wenger should splash the cash on both Suarez and Higuain. Last season’s top scorer was Theo Walcott with a humble 14 goals – a personal best for him, but not good enough for a 24-year-old who is constantly billed as ‘the next big thing’ in English football.
At just one year older, Higuain bagged 19 in all competitions last term, which was a disappointment for him, but still better what Walcott was able to produce, and the Argentine struggled for games. If given a run in the Arsenal first team next year, and providing the supply line is as strong as ever then the goals will come.
Defensive midfield – Since Song left, Wenger has missed a man in the middle who can complete that midfield three and roam from box-to-box.
Whilst Kondogbia has been the easy link, any one of the excellent defensive midfielders would slot in nicely to Wenger’s 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid, partnering Jack Wilshere and feeding Santi Cazorla. All they’d have to do is stay fit.
Players like Frimpong and Diaby have fallen where many expected them to soar and now the time has come to make one final gambit to fill that position and be done with it.
Goalkeeper – It’s amazing that Wenger has let this problem go on for so long. Any top side needs a top goalkeeper, and though his insistence on sticking with the likes of Wojciech Szcz?sny, ?ukasz Fabia?ski and Vito Mannone, it’s ultimately backfired as none have been as good as he was hoping.
Szczesny came in for criticism after a number of gaffs saw him lose his place, Fabianski, though good at first, was obviously no long term solution, and Mannone has now left anyway.
Some young goalkeepers are bale to jump straight into a team, but others need a helping hand. Szczesny falls into the latter category, though Wenger sees a future for him at the club, but for the time being he needs a helping hand.
Arsenal have already seemingly missed out on first choice targets Julio Cesar and Victor Valdes, with the Brazilian set to join Italian side Napoli and the latter due to stay put in Catalonia.
A good goalkeeper is a hard thing to find, and not a position that should be filled lightly, Wenger seems to realise this now and will hopefully spend some of that £70 million transfer warchest on someone who can perform the duties ably.
Strengths
Style of play – ‘The Arsenal way’ is often feted as an aesthetically pleased yet ultimately unfulfilling style that has probably let them down more than it has served them in recent years.
The side’s 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 midfield system, though, could change that – providing they buy the right players this summer. Of course, that could then change the role performed by Santi Cazorla, who had originally thought he’d signed to play as an out-and-out winger, only for Wenger to utilise his subtle craft and guile as a playmaker instead.
Cazorla has become the key man in this system as Arsenal now drop deeper to form a rigid structure, and the intelligence in this system has been crucial. When a player is caught out of position, Cazorla is intelligent enough to take up positions away from his original starting position, ensuring that the structure remains intact, and revealing his tactical discipline and importance to Arsenal’s system.
This will most likely continue next season too, the width provided by the likes of Theo Walcott and Bacary Sagna will ensure that whoever Arsenal have up front next term will have an adequate supply line to make the most of this.
Defence – There was a time, not too long ago, when Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny were viewed as a liability, and new captain Thomas Vermaelen was seen as the key man at the back.
However, he now faces an almighty battle to get back into the side as the stand in duo formed a strong partnership that saw them concede just 37 goals in the leave – just three goals behind Manchester City who had the best record.
Arsene Wenger had originally teamed them up as a response to the 2-1 defeat by arch rivals Spurs back in March, and since then had taken 26 points in ten games. Over the course of the season Arsenal lost just one of the 21 matches that Mertesacker and Koscielny both started together.
Reinforcements are needed, and if they haven’t been scared off by the asking price then Swansea’s Ashley Williams will most likely be the man brought in to add some extra weight.
However, the Gunners may have to see improvement at the back at the sake of some of the younger members of the squad. Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs have both seen their paths to the first team blocked by Sagna and recent signing Nacho Monreal and their development could be hindered by the instant gratification of success, but after so long without a trophy this may be a small price to pay – they’re hardly going to become bad players overnight and the chance to learn from whoever is in front of/alongside them will also be of great benefit.
Who to sell:
Andre Santos – It’s a shame, Brazilians are always welcome in the Premier League, but it’s hard to know just exactly what Santos brought to the side that they didn’t already have. He spent the first half of the year back him him homeland, and if a buyer can be found he’ll most likely be moved on again, just to get his wages off the bill if nothing else. He has an impressive CV, though, and that could come in handy when touting new employers elsewhere.
Gervinho – A player who was much hyped when he signed on from French champions Lille in 2011 and Arsenal seemed lucky to have beaten off some stiff competition for his signature. However, for an attacker he has just 11 goals in 63 appearances for Wenger’s men and that just isn’t good enough, especially when there are teams who would quite happily pay a fee over £5 million to take him off their hands. Can show flashes of brilliance, but can also be comically bad and he may well find himself on the move over the coming weeks.
Marouane Chamakh – Wenger has a funny trend of buying striker from whoever has just won the Ligue 1 title. First it was Chamakh, who arrived from Bordeaux, then Gervinho followed from Lille and last summer Olivier Giroud signed on from Montpellier. Sadly, it’s only the latter who appears as though he could be a success in North London. Chamakh just never really got going, he never looked like an out-and-out goalscorer (low and behold; he wasn’t!) and it wasn’t long before he dropped down the pecking order. Recent reports have suggested that he could be on his way back to Bordeaux, but so far nothing has materialised. A short loan spell with West Ham at the tail end of last season proved fruitless, seeing him make just three appearances and he may well look back at his time in England as somewhat of a disappointment.
Nicklas Bendtner – Where to start? What was once a very promising career has now seemingly hit the skids thanks to his gigantic ego.He had never been prolific, to date his career tally stands at 66 goals in 242 games, but he was always a valuable player to have in the side. Two failed loan spells with Sunderland and Juventus hasn’t yielded any significant interest as his outrageous wage demands have priced him out of moves to the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt and Hull City. Clearly, he still believes he is better than those teams, but his unwillingness to take one step back to take two forward will eventually bite him back. If Arsenal are lucky enough to find someone willing to pay him what he wants then they would do well to take the money and run, leaving him behind like a faded memory.