2. Everton Ribeiro
Everton Ribeiro, like Dede, plays for Cruzeiro in the Liga do Brasil. However, the Brazilian U-20 international is almost the exact opposite of Dede, who is a full international. Ribeiro is 5 ft 9 in, and plays as a creative midfielder or a winger. He is also a very pacey and skillful player, and has just come off the back of a superb season, having been widely regarded as one of the Liga do Brasil’s standout performers.
Some of you may argue that Arsenal don’t need another creative midfielder; after all, we already have Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Tomas Rosicky who play in advanced roles, not to mention the potential of players such as Jack Wilshere and youngster Gedion Zelalem to play in advanced creative roles. However, if Arsenal were to consider signing Ribeiro, it would almost certainly be as a winger. Some may say that, due to the signing of Alexis Sanchez, Arsene Wenger won’t be interested in another winger. However, Wenger has already hinted that he may be planning on playing Alexis as a striker. With speculation over the future of Lukas Podolski, and players such as Serge Gnabry and Ryo Miyaichi far from the finished article, Arsenal could well do with another winger.
Everton Ribeiro would not be ‘just another winger’, however. Ribeiro would bring something different; he is far more pacey than Lukas Podolski, and possesses more natural skill than Theo Walcott; he is a better crosser of the ball than Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and has more of an eye for goal than Serge Gnabry. Overall, the signing of Everton Ribeiro would provide an extra dimension to the Arsenal squad, and help give the Gunners the squad depth that they really need to sustain a genuine title challenge.