Arsenal might need a perfect window to secure their top-four status.
With Arsenal, it’s the same old story going into the January window with everyone knowing exactly what they need: a strong centre half at the back and a robust defensive midfielder in the middle, but no-one believing Arsene Wenger will actually get it.
Arsenal can probably scrape into the top four without major work to the side in January, but is that really good enough for Arsenal and their star players?
After a season of so much promise this season has been nothing short of a letdown; if Wenger really wanted to challenge next season he’d be laying the groundwork in January.
We look at the deals that should get done in January and what would be the perfect window for Wenger looking to the future.
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OUT: Yaya Sanogo
Cult hero to some he may be, but Sanogo is more Bambi on ice than deadly Premier League centre forward.
His confidence will no doubt be high following his first goal for Arsenal against Borussia Dortmund but Arsenal cannot compete for honours with statistics like one goal in a season and a half.
Loaning Sanogo out to a Premier League side to beef up his top flight experience could be just the tonic the young French striker needs to kick start his Arsenal career.
OUT: Lukas Podolski
It’s been made abundantly clear Podolski is unhappy on the sidelines but his constant snipes toward Wenger from the bench are at best annoying and at worst a disruptive influence on team selections and morale.
It’s okay for Podolski to want more game time but he can hardly be provided it if he doesn’t put a shift comparable to Welbeck or Sanchez who are his direct competition.
A loan move with an eye for a permanent summer transfer could help both Podolski get the game time he so annoyingly keeps crowing for and allow Wenger to get a high weekly wage off the bill to provide further funds for more useful signings.
OUT: Joel Campbell
Another to complain through the press rather than attempt to impress the manager on the training field and earn a place.
Wenger could either loan Campbell out to another Premier League side and see how he competes in the robust, english top flight or be rid of the Costa Rica forward permanently for a tidy fee.
IN: Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton)
Schneiderlin is just the player Arsenal need – strong, experienced, prime age and physical condition.
Schneiderlin is a Premier League ready, heavy midfield presence and the figure Arsenal so badly need to marshal the space behind their brittle forwards and protect their sometimes snail-like defenders from the kind of counter-attacks they’ve been vulnerable to for several seasons.
The Southampton man would probably cost an arm and at least part of a leg, but you’d think it was money well spent on a hardened midfielder who could slot right into the side and dominate for years to come.
IN: Loic Perrin (Saint-Etienne)
You’d be forgiven if you’d never heard of the 29 year old Frenchman before this week but Arsenal are reportedly interested in the Saint-Etienne captain.
Whilst he might not be the most high-profile defender the Gunners could target he’s a proven and competent option from the bench that could work with both first choice centre backs Mertesacker and Koscielny and add much needed arial ability and steel on set pieces.
Added to that, he’d cost a minisucle amount compared to the marked up Premier League defenders Arsenal have been scouting and more or less provide the same role to the same standard.
IN: Tyrone Mings (Ipswich Town)
Mings has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time and certainly fits the bill of the Gunners recent acquisitions of young, English talent.
Mings hasn’t proven himself at the top yet but there’s no doubting his potential and that Arsenal is one of the best places for him to develop.
Wenger would probably have to pay the fabled English Premium on Mings and who knows how much that would cost them but Mings could provide some much needed cover at full back if the Arsenal boss cannot acquire the centre back he desires and continues to use Chambers and Monreal as stand ins in the centre of defence.
IN: Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint Germain)
Cavani to Arsenal may seem a quite ridiculous suggestion on the surface and just speculative paper talk to fill column inches during the transfer window – but the move does make some kind of sense.
If Wenger sells Podolski, Campbell and loans out Sanogo as reports have suggested, the acquisition of a world class addition to their strike force could be a smart move in January.
It would allow Cavani time to settle, get used to the nature of the Premier League and be fighting fit for the next season.
SEE ALSO: All the Premier League done deals.