Arsenal missed out on the opportunity to sign players during the January window which could have helped them on their path to try and qualify for the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta was asked in his pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Wolves whether his squad was too light after a lack of winter incomings. The Spaniard gave a guarantee that the club would bring players in ahead of the following season and described the Arsenal hierarchy as being ‘extremely supportive' of his vision.
“We have players on loan that we are developing as well to understand where they can be and how much of a contribution they can have in the squad and obviously we are going to have to sign players in the summer, that’s without a question of a doubt,” said Arteta
“That’s something that we discuss here internally, with Edu personally all the time, with the team.
“You have to raise those ideas and the vision you have towards the owners, which are completely in line and they have been extremely supportive with us.”
Already theories as to who these players Arsenal will “obviously” try to sign this summer are circulating amongst the fan base, but The Arsenal Way has given our take on what could be to come.
Firstly, is the goalkeeper. An easy place to start considering that the Gunners already have a deal in place to sign New England Revolution's Matt Turner. football.london understands that a £4.5m agreement with the MLS side has been reached which could increase to £7.5m should certain bonuses activate.
Turner will replace the outgoing Bernd Leno who has been expected to depart for some time after he was displaced in the side by Aaron Ramsdale. The USMNT stopper will provide more characteristics Arteta has desired in a keeper and The Arsenal Way’s statistical dive detailed these traits and can be found here.
Secondly is a central midfielder. Arsenal tried to sign Arthur Melo from Juventus in January however, despite Edu’s best efforts, the Brazilian remained with the Italian side. The Gunners deemed the return of Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey from the African Cup of Nations sufficient for the remainder of the season.
The Gunners have been linked with a move for Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans. The Belgian international has just one year remaining on his contract come June. The Foxes will not want to lose Tielemans for free and therefore will entertain offers.
According to Het Nieuwsblad via Sport Witness, as little as €40m (£35m) would be enough to convince the Premier League side to sell and Arsenal will be monitoring the situation very closely.
Finally, is the striker position. A whole host of forwards have been linked in recent months. Dusan Vlahovic ended up moving to Juventus despite interest from the Gunners. In his wake, several names have surfaced as alternatives including Alexander Isak, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jonathan David, Victor Osimhen and Patrik Schick.
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gone and Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah’s contracts up at the end of the season, Arsenal will arguably need to bring in two forwards to supplement Folarin Balogun.
From a personal perspective, the contrasting styles of David and Schick could prove to be the best method for Arteta to cover plenty of characteristics whilst adding a guarantee of goals to the team.
2021 saw six signings and the most spent by the club in a single window. 2022 could be set to entertain Arsenal fans even more with the prospect of some big buys in the pipeline.
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