With the January transfer window on the horizon, plenty of sides are beginning their planning for the chaos that will bring as well as the opportunity to strengthen for the rest of the season. For Arsenal, this could be a pivotal moment of their campaign, allowing them to add to the squad in a potential title push.
There are a few areas that could be addressed, with the right-wing being a particular issue due to the lack of options beyond Bukayo Saka. The midfield was also an area Mikel Arteta looked to strengthen, making a late move for Douglas Luiz that didn't quite pay off on deadline day.
There's also the potential to strengthen in defence, however the prospect of January is very different to the summer as the need to strengthen mid-season only inflates transfer fees and the desperation for moves could result in poor decisions. It's led to the Gunners missing out in the past, perhaps for short-term pain in the pursuit of long-term success.
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"We had a clear plan of what we can do but then it has to be doable," Arteta said last January on a lack of signings. "Edu and his team have done a great job. We are very clear we only want the best people and the best players at this club. When we are in a rush and the reasons to get a player on board are not the right ones we didn’t do it.”
That could be a similar theme going into the winter once again this year, with the Gunners boss only looking to strengthen with the right players at the right price, with some transfer targets waiting for a move until the summer. One of those could be Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka.
The 23-year-old has been linked with a switch to the Emirates Stadium, impressing in Germany and able to play on the left of the defence with a stronger left foot. That is an important point for a system such as Arteta's with the left-footed defender able to create better passing angles than a right-footed defender playing on that side.
It could allow Ndicka to join and play as a perfect partner to William Saliba, who has held the right centre-back role as his own since returning to the club. However, the summer may be more appropriate to make a move for the defender as Fabrizio Romano reports in his CaughtOffside column that he has a "good chance" of leaving Frankfurt as a free transfer when his contract expires next summer.
It could be a move that would see the Gunners land an absolute bargain for a player of his quality and potential in that position.
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