For the bulk of their 2013/14 campaign, Wenger chose to field two central midfielders just behind Mesut Özil to account for the lack of a true defensive minded player in the middle of the park.
This caused us numerous problems. When Flamini and Arteta played together, we became too cautious, and when Ramsey featured alongside one of the two, he was forced to sprint back from advanced positions all too often.
Arsenal are crying out for a world-class defensive midfielder – someone who can single-handedly protect our back four and help to orchestrate our attacks from our own half. This would allow us to push Ramsey up alongside Özil, giving us the manpower required to maintain possession in the opposition’s half.
One player of this ilk recently linked with Arsenal is Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira – a 27-year-old German known for his outstanding aerial ability and devastating long shots. But who else could Wenger turn to in order to strengthen the foundation of his midfield? Here are the five players I’d like to see him look at.
1. Javi Martínez
Although he recently stated he was happy at Bayern Munich – Özil did too before he moved to Arsenal. A move could still be on the cards – and what a move it would be!
Javi Martínez is one of the best defensive midfielders in world football. The 25-year-old is known for his methodical passing and strong tackling, as well as his exceptional ability in aerial duels. Not only is he comfortable playing in the middle of the park, but he can fill in at centre back too.
What I like most about the Spaniard is his discipline. He will sit where he’s told and avoid bombing forward when the game gets heated. But don’t be fooled into thinking Javi’s a simple “lump the ball away from danger” bag of muscle. He’s smart, and he knows that when he wins the ball back he has to hold onto possession and pass the ball to a teammate – not just knock it long.
Playing Martínez as our deep-lying midfielder would give the rest of our team the ability to push forward without worrying about having to sprint back to plug a leaky defence. His strength and composure would also help us to lock teams in their own half, with the Spaniard being able to sweep up attempted clearances and then start off another attack.
He’s easily my favoured option for the position, but he’d command a hefty fee of £25-35 million to sign.
Use the page numbers below to navigate through the other suggested targets.