Thursday, March 28, 2024

Debate: How Many More Signings Do Arsenal Need To Win The Title?

Arsenal have been close to mounting a serious title challenge over the last couple of seasons but it has always appeared that we’ve lacked depth in certain positions. 

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The signings of Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez have provided a shift in Arsenal’s transfer policy and now with far much more readily available cash for transfers, the Gunners are in a far stronger position.

The arrival of Petr Cech from rivals Chelsea shows a new, more powerful Arsenal who can go and compete for some of the best players around, and with this a couple of players are still needed for Arsenal to really push on.

The goalkeeper position is now sorted, we’ve just signed a world-class stopper at the peak of his powers, whilst Wojciech Szczesny will probably be back-up, with David Ospina departing. Some pundits have suggested we must sign another centre-half, however I feel we are well stocked in this area. Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker are a strong combination, and with Calum Chambers and Gabriel coming through the ranks we have enough depth in this area of the pitch. Gabriel is only 24 and once he’s learnt the language he could develop into a top class defender, alongside Chambers who has all the attributes to become a master of his trade.

If I were Arsene Wenger there would now be only two areas in which I’d look to strengthen. Francis Coquelin was inspirational in the second half of last season and merits being Arsenal’s no.1 player anchoring the midfield. With Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini as back-ups though, another CDM is a desperate requirement. The new player must be able to challenge Coquelin for a starting spot, but by no means do we need to break the bank for a player in this position, as Coquelin did such sterling job last campaign.

The type of player that everyone knows Arsenal need is a striker. Olivier Giroud is a great squad player, but will never be a starter for a title-winning team. Meanwhile, Walcott and Welbeck are genuine goal threats but it still remains to be seen whether they can both sufficiently play the lone striker role. Many names have been suggested in the press, but in reality there really is quite a lack of options in the market right now. Karim Benzema would be a great signing but I don’t see Real Madrid selling him. A realistic name is that of Alexandre Lacazette. He has a great goal record, pace to burn and is rumoured to have been scouted by Arsenal for a very long time.

Ultimately, for Arsenal to really push on and challenge, a quality striker and central defensive midfielder (CDM) are needed to bolster the squads backbone. The team is almost completed and has a great blend of youth and experience. Some deadwood may have to depart first, but hopefully a bit more money can be freed up to enable Wenger to really go for two quality players up-front and in CDM.

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