Arsenal are having a mixed season already, the Gunners faced some of the most toughest opponents and feared teams of Europe in the likes of Chelsea, Wolfsburg and Olympique Marseille and came out as winners. But their start to their Premier League campaign has been anything but good. The Emirates Stadium witnessed an unusual sight as Arsenal got beaten by their cross town rivals West Ham. The match also saw the debut of shot stopper Petr Cech who wasn’t at his very best and let two goals past him. We analyze what Arsenal still lack and reinforcements that could make them serious contenders for title race.
Arsenal basically need three major changes a centre back, a defensive midfielder and a striker. As a matter of fact Arsenal legend Thierry Henry mentioned the aforementioned points in an interview
“[Arsenal] need that spine. They need a goalkeeper, they still need a center back, they still need a holding midfielder and, I’m afraid, they need a top, top-quality striker in order to win this league again.”
With Arsenal not making much of the summer transfers, I feel that Wenger has something in store for them. Arsenal currently has Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Gabriel Paulista and Calum Chambers who can occupy the role of a centre back. Koscielny has been tight at the back but a lot of defensive errors leading to penalties and red cards have been made by the Frenchman. Arsenal captain Mertesacker is ageing and has never been this slow. Speaking about Paulista and Chambers, inexperience to sum it all. Both the defenders have bright prospects but now they need to wait to get their chance. So we take a look at players whom Arsenal can realistically sign. Benedikt Howedes and Aymen Abdennour are the two players which have been linked with Arsenal for a while and both the players can provide the necessary cover the Gunners need at the back.
As for the defensive midfielder, Francis Coquelin has been the revelation of the last season for Arsenal and Coquelin would surely like to carry forward from where he left last season. The Frenchman was amazing with his tackles and showed another dimension of his game. But Arsenal would need someone who could get along with him and provide a cover for him when he is out due to injury or suspensions. Also, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky haven’t been in their best forms. After losing out on ex-Southampton player Morgan Schinederlin who joined rivals Manchester United; Arsenal are weighing up a move for Sevilla midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak. The Polish midfielder was influential in Sevilla’s Europa winning campaign and could make a switch to Emirates Stadium. A fee of 22-million euros is demanded by the Spanish club for the services of the holding midfielder.
As for the striking woes, Arsenal need someone world class and could emulate what a Denis Bergkamp or a Thierry Henry brought at Arsenal. It is reported that Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain have been sighted by Arsenal as an upgrade to Oliver Giroud and Danny Welbeck. After a forgettable Copa America, Higuain hasn’t been linked again with the Gunners and Karim Benzema could cough up a fee of around 50 million euros. This surely puts Wenger in a dilemma and something Arsenal need to sort out quickly as there are just twenty final days left for the summer window to shut.