The idea of signing both Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice seems like a dream come true for Arsenal. The pair are probably the most exciting deep central midfielders outside of the top four. However, the double deal, which appears at least on the surface to be rather fanciful, arguably creates something of a problem for the Gunners which at first glance isn’t obvious.
Arsenal need to make sure that the address the biggest issue regarding the league table that ultimately cost them at the business end of the title race. 42 goals conceded with one game left is simply far too many.
Mikel Arteta lost crucial defensive options from his side and as a result, the options they filled in were not up to the level required for a team chasing a title, or in the case of Kieran Tierney did not suit the system that the Spaniard had implemented. Both Rice and Caicedo would help significantly with this, but are we overlooking an issue it creates?
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What that issue is can be seen easier when looking at the pair in comparison to Granit Xhaka. football.london understands that the Swiss international is set to move to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for a fee in the region of £13m.
Xhaka has been a key part of Mikel Arteta’s title-challenging Arsenal side this season and his goals and assists have been crucial in picking up some big points. In total Xhaka scored five goals, seven across all competitions, and added a further seven assists to his contribution tally.
The total is nearly double that of the goals and assists in the combined 72 games that Caicedo and Rice have played this season. The West Ham stalwart has had his best goalscoring season ever with four in the league, but Caicedo only bagged one.
Both have their benefits and defensively behind Martin Odegaard would surely help keep out plenty of goals for Arsenal is paired together. However, there is no denying that perhaps goals from midfield outside of the Norwegian would be affected.
Look to title rivals Manchester City. Both Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva have scored big goals come the end of the campaign with the German’s strike against Everton to open the scoring and Silva’s double to flatten Real Madrid in the Champions League have been huge.
Although Arsenal have scored goals, would Xhaka’s position be affected negatively somewhat by the introduction of Rice and Caicedo? Yes, to a degree.
However, football.london understands that Arsenal interest in midfield extends beyond the deeper positions and into the creative roles of the middle third too. Arteta wants both depth a variety, so adding another creative midfielder who could occupy the left eight too might be the solution to this problem.
What’s clear from this discussion is that whilst signing two top players might appear without their drawbacks, deep a little deeper and some issues become clear. Thankfully, it appears Arsenal are on the case and aware with plans to address this.
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