Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn believes there are three key areas Arsenal must strengthen ahead of next season.
Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu are expected to be bold in the transfer market this summer as they look to improve the squad on the back of a disappointing eighth-place finish which meant Arsenal missed out on European football for the first time in 25 years.
But there are some areas that need addressing more than others, and one of them is already on its way to being checked off with Arsenal making headway on a £50million deal for Brighton centre-back Ben White, according to talkSPORT.
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Other additions are needed, however, and according to Winterburn, there are three key areas, including centre-back, that must be accounted for, even if there are other questions that may need answering.
“They need another central midfield player to partner Partey and potentially an attacking midfielder,” he told NetBet.
“There’s questions about the centre halves, will Saliba come back into the plans?
“There’s a lot of questions to be asked at Arsenal, if Lacazette was to leave then they’d need another centre forward as well. There’s so many unanswered questions and so many ifs and buts about the squad.
“Some of the younger players may be moved on to raise funds if they aren’t going to be integrated into the first team.
“For me, they need a strong core of the team, whoever that may be player-wise. They need a strong centre back partnership, a strong midfield partnership and potentially a strong centre forward to make up that core.”
Whoever the Gunners get, they will need to be far more competitive next season if Arteta wants to keep his job with the Spaniard coming under intense pressure last season on the back of his failure to get the club into Europe.