What Arsenal really need this Summer; Five is the magic number.

By Daniel Cowan
In Arsenal
Apr 16th, 2014
4 Comments

Welcome to another Guest Wednesday. This week I welcome tweeter extraordinaire, part time stalker and full time Gooner, @FonkyChris (Follow ) who talks us through what he thinks Arsenal need this summer.

The question: How many new signings do Arsenal need this summer?

Some would say 6 or 7, and others would argue that 2 or 3 are needed. After all, we don’t want any more than that, surely? We don’t want to end up like those failures up the road.

Yet, like most Arsenal fans, I’m looking forward to the fruitful summer transfer window opening up and seeing what new talent graces our wondrous English Premier League.

Obviously this is a little disappointing trail of thought, considering it’s still only April. Which also projects that Arsenal’s season in the league has come to a premature close, after such early promise. Although challenging for the title maybe over, we still have a chase on our hands to clinch forth place. Nevertheless, it’s going to be hard to ignore the re-surface of the ‘In the Know’ accounts, to frenzy the fans into wanting the cream of world footballs finest, to the Emirates. Before we go into that, we should first look at what we have.

At the moment, Arsenal as a team look like a tired disbanded bunch, fresh out of Idea’s. However, wouldn’t any team without their five most influential players?

Imagine Chelsea minus Terry, Ramirez, Luiz, Oscar and Hazard.

Liverpool without Skertl, Henderson, Gerrard, Suarez and Coutinho.

Manchester City missing Kompany, Fernandinho, Toure, Silva and Aguero. You get the picture.

Taking our injuries out of the equation, we have a fearsome starting eleven.

Arsenal's XI if all were fit

Fearsome XI When All Fit

But it’s a good squad that we need, I hear you screaming… Well the bench prospects look pretty top notch too.

Fabianski, Vermaelen, Monreal, Arteta, Flamini, Diaby, Rosicky, Cazorla, Gnabry, Sanogo.

And that’s not taking into account some of the stunning youth players that we may see promoted into the first team, next campaign.

So whom does Arsenal really need?

From that starting eleven, you’d probably (obviously) look at Oliver Giroud and want him replaced (or demoted to the bench) for a top class striker. The likes of Cavani, Falcao and Costa are the top names touted around currently.

Personally I would love to see Karim Benzema come in and become the player everyone thought he would be. For me, he is the complete striker we need. Still relatively young at 26 years old. Quick, Agile, excellent clinical finisher, skillful, great in the air and probably the most important thing of all… Has a wonderful working relationship (on and off the pitch) with Mesut Özil.

Karim Benzema

The Complete Striker For Arsenal?

The only stumbling block would be Real Madrid selling him, but I am confident that If Real fail to win anything this year, then we could see them dipping into the transfer market for a new marquee striker (hopefully Luis Suarez).
It’s the transfer market domino effect that is inevitably going to happen and as we saw with the transfer of Mesut, anything can happen.

Will we also finally see a big man playing in the Pivot, alongside Aaron Ramsey or Jack Wilshere?

Lars Bender is one of the top names touted around at present. I can’t lie, I would love to see a dominant physical midfielder in the pivot role. Where would this leave Arteta, Flamini and the returning Coquelin?

Well, I’m sure most of you are saying ‘Who bloody cares?!’  Will we see a new Defensive Midfielder at the club? That is the question.

Finally I’m going to look at the possible exits.

In Fabianski, we have seen the best back up goalkeeper in the Premiership. He is inevitably going to leave but I honestly fear that he is going to jump from one bench straight on to another bench elsewhere. Is this a case of Arsene looking out for the player over the clubs interests? I think you can all agree that seeing him leave is a big shame.

So who will come in to replace our number 2?

I’d expect a season long loan of someone of Viviano’s reputation. Nothing much to see here I’m afraid.

In Bacary Sagna, we have a possible player of the year here and it’s quite shocking that he is being allowed to walk out of our club, considering how brilliant he has been for us. Even through the dark periods of the season. I could actually write a whole blog on him alone.

So does he need replacing? I pray (and I’m sure you are too) that the powers that be offer him what ever it is he wants to stay.

In Thomas Vermaelen, this maybe an optimistic view from me, but I don’t think he’s leaving us. I love the fact he’s stayed on the bench and not uttered a word against us, the team selection or the mentality (unlike our friend Santi). I hope that Thomas stay and fights for the armband and the cause.

If either Bacary or Thomas leave then there is no doubt in my mind someone will definitely come in. Either way, I would like to see Micah Richards come in regardless. He has a few months left on his contract at Manchester City. He can play both Right back and centre back and word on the street is that he is a Gooner.

Micah Richards

Worth a punt?

Yes, he’s been out of the first team at the Etihad for a while with injuries but he has also been stuck behind their player of the year (and best Right back in the league) Zabaletta. I have no doubt that he would be a great addition to the Arsenal team, and for those who are pessimistic about his worth. Remember he is still only 25 years of age.

Lastly, we should definitely strengthen the left wing position. Although we all love our resident smiley German who currently inhabits that spot, his effectiveness there has been more of a weakness to the team than a threat.

What is needed is a natural winger who ACTUALLY wants to play there.

The likes of DiMaria would balance us out nicely but perhaps we could see a new German out there in Julian Draxler. Lukas Podolski heading back in the other direction.

So that is five.

A goalkeeper, a right/centre back, a defensive midfielder, a left winger and a striker.

A perfect number. No more, no less. No ins and no outs. Then and only then (avoiding catastrophic injury blows) can we realistically push for a REALISTIC and STRONG title bid, along with good cup campaigns.

So Mr Wenger, as I’ve said before, dither again and it’s curtains for you. That being said, if we do not obtain fourth spot then this completely changes everything.

What do you guys think? Do you agree with Chris? What positions need strengthening and who should we be looking at? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Thanks for reading guys and helping me support my fellow Gooner bloggers! Please comment on this post, subscribe by email, share with friends and follow me on twitter (@thedanielcowan). Please check out the official NLIR Facebook page http://facebook.com/northlondonisredblog for news, views, freebies and more. 

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About "" - 509 Posts

I am a South London born Gooner now living in Leigh-On-Sea, Essex. I'm a husband, daddy, podcaster, trainer enthusiast and aspiring author. My work is my passion and for that I will always be grateful. Here is where I write my thoughts and views on Arsenal Football Club, the greatest team the world has ever seen.

4 Responses to “What Arsenal really need this Summer; Five is the magic number.”

  1. CJB says:

    We need a LB aswell monreal ain’t up to scratch and Gibbs is too injury prone ..I’m really hoping Swansea get relegated and we pick up Bony on the cheap

  2. G says:

    Great choices, but will he listen, I fear not, watch him make a move for loic remy,

  3. Ray says:

    Agree with much of what’s been said. But my magic number is 8 (relax, not all will start)

    First, the ones I agree with:

    With Fabianski leaving this season and Vivianno the only backup, I think a backup keeper is needed. Perhaps Wenger will pull one of his old time favourites and give his youth keeper, Martinez, a shot.

    I fear that Sagna will leave and Richards would be my preferred replacement. However, even if we manage to hold onto our fantastic RB, a replacement is needed (if Sagna stays, 2 if he leaves – backup) with hopes that Jenkinson will be loaned out for a season to gain some much needed experience.

    A defensive minded midfielder is sorely needed. Not because Arteta and Flamini can’t perform any more, but it is hard to argue that either is retaining their form of previous seasons. Also, looking at their age, a talented understudy like Bender would surely fit.

    As much as I love Podolski, his scoring ability and his natural inclination to play on the left wing, I feel he has too many let downs to be in Arsenal’s starting 11. His defensive attitude is wanting, at best. His inconsistent goal scoring leaves him peripheral most of the time. His inability to play 90 minutes more than once between transfer windows is shocking. Draxler, Griezmann or Di Maria would all be wonderful improvements on the left with the German foot of Thor’s Hammer providing excellent backup with enough experience to help the younger players find their way in a league much more physically demanding than any my wishlist additions have played in before.

    Finally, Giroud is not the man to lead Arsenal FC. A target of much abuse in recent months (some deserved, some not)the Frenchman does not provide the type of Stiker Arsenal need. With the creativity of Ramsey, Özil, Wilshere and Cazorla in midfield, Arsenal need a release striker. Someone who is quick, strong and who can beat defensive lines. Giroud is simply too slow and unstable on his feet. That being said, I do not wish to see him leave the Emirates this summer as he does have strengths valuable to the team. His hold-up play is fantastic, he does have strong heading abilities, and he truely seems to love the team. Remember, he’s scored 20 goals this season in all competitions, already 3 more than last season (where noone beat him with the stick hes getting now) with yet games in hand. Benzema would be welcome, though I prefer Jackson Martinez and hope for Diego Costa. That being said, I am afraid that the (likely) arrival of Drmic from the Bundesliga will see Giroud remain Arsenal’s starting striker with the new boy providing backup when our HFB gets knackered.

    Now for my additions:

    With only 3 realistic CB on Arsenal’s roster, an addition here is a MUST. A young player like Ginter would be a great addition. Young, tall, agile and a German speaker, he would fit nicely as Mertesacker’s understudy. Unfortunately, I do believe that Vermaelen will not be happy playing second string to the BFG and Koscielny. Hence, a replacement must be found. That’s 2 CBs.

    Inconsistent, albeit not down to effort, I feel that Monreal is not good enough for this Arsenal team. At the same time Gibbs does not look as if he has progressed over the past two seasons. I would like to see Wenger bring in a LB that can reignite Gibbs’ desire to improve while providing backup in a position that really needs it.

    So, 8 new players (1 backup GK, 1 starting RB should Sagna leave, 2 CBs, 1 LB, 1 CDM, 1 LW and 1 Striker) would be on my wishlist for a truly world class Arsenal FC.

  4. Chakabelli says:

    I personally don’t see Wenger buying more than 3 players in d summer. If we get a top striker and a pacey winger alongside a physical DM like Bender we shd be okay. Or he gets a CB in d summer and add a pacey winger to d list in January. Most importantly we need to sort out our injury issues and backroom deficiencies or else all these additions will end up being for nothing

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