Forget Wenger’s Departure – Here Are 3 Players Arsenal Must Buy This Summer To Compete For The Title

A whole lot criticism is what Arsenal’s Manager Arsene Wenger is facing these days just due to his failure this season as his team lost its shape in the second half of the season. The team was knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona and also have also exited the FA Cup and is struggling to hold their spot in the Premier League as well. Though the beginning was good but then the team eventually vanished and had a poor run of form since past two months.

After the announcement of Pep Guardiola to City, the Manuel Pellegrini’s side slipped out of the top spot where on the other hand United has been affected by their poor performance a lot this season and still cannot find a way to compete toughly. Chelsea had their worst start of the season and Liverpool had their ups and downs and so Arsenal had their best chance this season of winning the Premier League title, but their recent form can only buy them a 3^rd or 4^th finish in the table as the side has won just one of their last 4 Premier League games.

The Gunners are still 11 points behind the current leaders Leicester City and this has brought the future of the longest serving manager of Premier League in question. But, leaving all the criticism aside, Arsene Wenger proudly announced that he has no plans to step down as manager of the Club and will continue his services in the next season too.

He said: “I have no doubt because I am committed and when I do something I do it 100%. I am always committed to give my best as long as I am at the club. I don’t worry too much about the rest, what other people say.

“All the rest is judgments, opinions …In my job, you focus on what is important which is to perform. I believe in life it is very important you focus on what you are appointed for and I am appointed to perform and do the best for my club. That’s all I focus on. My future is my future.”

Arsenal have not won a major trophy since 2004 and the supporters are heating up and firing at Arsene Wenger for that. If Wenger intends to bring the title back to Emirates, then certainly he needs to bring some fire at the club which can ignite the Guns of London to give a tough competition from the start to end. With some aging players running out of contract, the team will have more room to bring the quality players in the squad. Laurent Koscielny is a tough fighter but the team will be needing another centre back as the German defender Per Mertesacker is blamed for being too slow to match the pace of the opponent’s players. Francis Coquelin has done a pretty good job but still he needs to learn a lot.

Here we are listing 3 players, which Arsenal should go for in this summer’s transfer window.

1. Benedikt Howedes-

Considered as a defensive all-rounder, this German can be deployed in any defensive areas. With just one year left on his Schalke’s contract, Arsenal should go for this solid defender this summer. His signing can form a strong defensive wall at Arsenal’s backline with Laurent Koscielny. This 28-year-old defender possesses great strength and is known for his well-timed sliding tackles. His high jumping abilities can be utilized by Arsenal during set-pieces. Famous for his no-nonsense defending this German have won an average of 56% of duels he takes on. A player like him will surely benefit Arsene Wenger’s side, the side which is famous for losing its shape in the second phase of the season.

 

 

2. Henrikh Mkhitaryan-

The player is in an exceptional form this season at Dortmund netting 9 goals and having 10 assists so far in the Bundesliga. The Armenian international was constantly linked with Liverpool and Tottenham during his days at Shakhtar Donetsk. This creative midfielder won’t be short of offers if he decides to leave his club and with his contract due to expire in the summer of 2017, Arsene Wenger should surely try to get this 27-year-old in his squad.

Attacking Midfielder by nature, he can also play as a second striker. He can tear apart the opponent’s defence and can create great goal scoring opportunities for the players like Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud. He has been praised for his great dribbling, accurate passing and his moment on the ball. Having a great vision, this Armenian is capable of taking long shots very often in the games. With the players like Flamini, Arteta and Rosicky running out of contract and not expected to be given new ones, this player can surely match the magic of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.

 

3. Granit Xhaka-

Maybe he is the player Arsenal desperately needs. Called as ‘Young Schweinsteiger’ by his Swiss coach, this young man can team up with Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin and this duo can prove to be a serious threat in terms of creating chances and supplying dead balls in the attack. With Aging players running out of contract and some players from the team have their own love story with constant injuries, this player can become an engine in the all favorite midfield of Arsenal.

An average of 81.3 passes per game is better only by Bayern Munich’s Xabi Alonso (91.7) and Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan (85.6). This player has a great ability to deliver long diagonal passes and at this very young age, this player is yet to replace his national team skipper Gokhan Inler in his national side. He may not be the quickest player on the pitch but he knows how to struggle for the ball and how to win it back and can be a worthy signing.