Bukayo Saka needs competition. (Photo by Will Palmer/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Providing competition/cover for Bukayo Saka
I addressed the need to provide competition—or at least cover—for Saka in this article, so I won’t go into it in as much detail here. The point is that Arsenal rely heavily on Saka and there really isn’t another player in the squad that can provide what he does in any sort of meaningful way. With Champions League football next season, Arsenal would be wise to find somebody that can fill in for Saka without a significant drop in quality so that Arteta is better able to rotate the squad without negative effects. This is true without even considering the possibility of a Saka injury (touch wood!).
I expect Arsenal to sign a young, left-footed right winger that could compete with Saka for a price ideally under £50m if they spend big in other areas, or more if they find the perfect fit. This would hopefully be to attract a player that can fill in for Saka when needed, pressure Saka to continue to perform at his best and would be willing to sign a contract when he isn’t guaranteed regular starts.
Three targets that I identified in the previously-mentioned article are Moussa Diaby, Samuel Chukwueze and Michael Olise. Bayer Leverkusen would certainly expect more than £50m for Diaby and Crystal Palace will likely ask for more than this amount for Olise, so Chukwuese may be the most reasonable transfer target given these parameters. However, we could see Arsenal opting for one of the more expensive options if they find a target they really like and prefer spending big in this area alongside only one big-money midfielder.
If a transfer for a player of this profile falls through, Arsenal may look to purchase a player more of the Leandro Trossard mould—a veteran who can be purchased for a lower investment and make an immediate impact. One player that immediately comes to mind is Marco Asensio, whose contract expires this summer and has recently been linked to Arsenal. That being said, it’s hard to see why he would prefer Arsenal to Madrid given that he may struggle to find more game time for the Gunners than Los Blancos, but a big Madrid signing could push him out, similar to the Gabriel Jesus transfer last summer.
Expect Arsenal to go for a young right-winger to compete with Saka this summer, even if it isn’t one of the players I mentioned here.
Continued on the next slide…
The Times</a>, Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar will have up to £200m to spend in this summer window. While we can speculate on who exactly this £200m will be spent on (and I will try), the last few summer windows have shown Arsenal’s willingness to change targets when they miss out on players or their valuations get too high.</p>
<p>In that sense, we should expect the unexpected in the upcoming transfer window. At the same time, however, we can identify the areas of need at the club and speculate on how Arsenal will attempt to fill these needs.</p>
<h2>Arsenal 2023 summer transfer window preview: Incomings</h2>
<p>Here is what you need to know and what to look for in Arsenal’s 2023 summer transfer window in terms of incomings.</p>
<div id="attachment_134336" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-134336" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1066,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1253643515.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1066" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1253643515.jpeg 1600w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1253643515-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1253643515-1536x1023.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Declan Rice is Arsenal’s priority midfield target this summer.</p>
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<h2><strong>Addressing the midfield</strong></h2>
<p>Even with the Jorginho transfer in January, central midfield remains Arsenal’s biggest area of need heading into the summer. This is exasperated by <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1658498403653877760">recent news</a> that Granit Xhaka is expected to leave the club. Despite what you think of Xhaka’s quality, his importance to the squad over the past few seasons in terms of playing time is not up for debate. If he leaves, he will have to be replaced by a player (or players) that eats up a lot of minutes and improves the level of the squad.</p>
<p>If there was a midfielder that I would bet on Arsenal signing this summer, it would be<a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/28/5-midfielders-arsenal-could-sign-in-2023/5/"> Declan Rice</a>. While this signing would either require Rice to play in a more advanced role than what he’s used to or Arteta to tactically switch to something closer to a double pivot in the midfield, it’s quite easy to see why Arsenal are prioritising signing the West Ham midfielder this summer. That being said, there will be other teams in for Rice and his transfer to Arsenal is far from a sure thing.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Photo says it all. Thank you so much for the love & support this season. We appreciate all of you❤️⚒️ <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://twitter.com/WestHam?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>@WestHam <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://t.co/ZkOZXlbmPf">pic.twitter.com/ZkOZXlbmPf
<p>— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://twitter.com/_DeclanRice/status/1660363617080950784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>May 21, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div>
<p>Even if Arsenal are able to secure the Rice transfer, it does not mean that they won’t be looking at other midfield options as well. The Moises Caicedo <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/transfer-news/moises-caicedo-transfer-arsenal-brighton-26061198">rumours have not gone away</a>, and while I’m not convinced that Arsenal would be willing to spend upwards of £150m on two midfielders this summer, you can’t rule it out. Assuming Xhaka leaves, this would give Arsenal a strong midfield six of Rice, Caicedo, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Jorginho and Fabio Viera, with Smith Rowe potentially getting midfield minutes as well. If this were the case, it would be quite hard to complain about a lack of midfield depth, and a player like Jorginho might even struggle to get enough minutes barring injuries. That’s what you call a good problem.</p>
<p>If Arsenal are weary of spending so much on two midfielders, they may look to sign a Sambi Lokonga type—a young midfielder that they can sign before their valuation skyrockets and somebody that they can potentially mould into something special. Obviously, Arteta and company would be hoping that this signing would have a more positive impact than Lokonga has, but they may try to go down this route if a player like Caicedo becomes too expensive.</p>
<p>Expect Arsenal to break their transfer record on a central midfielder this summer, and don’t be shocked if that’s not the only midfield move they make.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Competition for Saka </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-134610" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1706,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1256500152-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1706" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1256500152-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1256500152-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1256500152-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1256500152-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Bukayo Saka needs competition. (Photo by Will Palmer/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)</p>
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<h2><strong>Providing competition/cover for Bukayo Saka</strong></h2>
<p>I addressed the need to provide competition—or at least cover—for Saka <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/04/18/3-wingers-arsenal-should-target-this-summer/">in this article</a>, so I won’t go into it in as much detail here. The point is that Arsenal rely heavily on Saka and there really isn’t another player in the squad that can provide what he does in any sort of meaningful way. With Champions League football next season, Arsenal would be wise to find somebody that can fill in for Saka without a significant drop in quality so that Arteta is better able to rotate the squad without negative effects. This is true without even considering the possibility of a Saka injury (touch wood!).</p>
<p>I expect Arsenal to sign a young, left-footed right winger that could compete with Saka for a price ideally under £50m if they spend big in other areas, or more if they find the perfect fit. This would hopefully be to attract a player that can fill in for Saka when needed, pressure Saka to continue to perform at his best and would be willing to sign a contract when he isn’t guaranteed regular starts.</p>
<p>Three targets that I identified in the <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/04/18/3-wingers-arsenal-should-target-this-summer/">previously-mentioned article</a> are Moussa Diaby, Samuel Chukwueze and Michael Olise. Bayer Leverkusen would certainly expect more than £50m for Diaby and Crystal Palace will likely ask for more than this amount for Olise, so Chukwuese may be the most reasonable transfer target given these parameters. However, we could see Arsenal opting for one of the more expensive options if they find a target they really like and prefer spending big in this area alongside only one big-money midfielder.</p>
<p>If a transfer for a player of this profile falls through, Arsenal may look to purchase a player more of the Leandro Trossard mould—a veteran who can be purchased for a lower investment and make an immediate impact. One player that immediately comes to mind is Marco Asensio, whose contract expires this summer and has recently been linked to Arsenal. That being said, it’s hard to see why he would prefer Arsenal to Madrid given that he may struggle to find more game time for the Gunners than Los Blancos, but a big Madrid signing could push him out, similar to the Gabriel Jesus transfer last summer.</p>
<p>Expect Arsenal to go for a young right-winger to compete with Saka this summer, even if it isn’t one of the players I mentioned here.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Other possibilities </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-134678" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1707,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1474616222-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1474616222-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1474616222-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1474616222-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1474616222-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Arsenal have been linked with Spanish full-back Ivan Fresneda. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2><strong>Other Transfer Possibilities</strong></h2>
<p>While signing at least one central midfielder and right-winger look like the priorities for Arsenal this summer, there are a couple of other moves that could materialise. Most notably, there may be some new defensive players in red next season, especially if players like Kieran Tierney and Rob Holding leave the club.</p>
<p>Tierney’s potential departure has more to do with playing time than anything else. I don’t think that Arsenal would willingly sell Tierney due to his ability, but if he wants a bigger role than what he finds himself in with the emergence of Oleksandr Zinchenko, <a title="3 reasons why Kieran Tierney needs to play more" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/09/tierney-needs-to-play-more-arsenal/" rel="">it would be hard to blame him</a>. To his credit, Tierney hasn’t said anything about wanting to leave the club, and there should be plenty of football to go around next season, but Arsenal may find themselves forced to find a left-back to compete with Zinchenko this summer should Tierney leave.</p>
<p>Whether or not Arsenal can sell Holding this summer, it seems likely that they’ll look to sign a right-footed centre-back this summer to compete with William Saliba. We all saw the drop in quality when Saliba went down with an injury this season, and even if it isn’t Holding’s fault, it’s hard to see how he helps a team with title aspirations. Look for Arsenal to try to sign a right-footed version of Jakub Kiwior—a young defender who has shown his talent, but won’t command a massive transfer fee or wages to bring him in.</p>
<p>Of course, there is always the possibility of Arsenal finding a young player that they feel like is worth the investment, whether or not there is an immediate fit for the player within the squad. We’ve seen this with a signing like Marquinhos last summer, and also arguably Lokonga and Nuno Tavares (although I would argue that these players were given bigger roles than they initially deserved). One such player that Arsenal have been linked to is Ivan Fresneda, who is a similar profile of player to Zinchenko but from the right side and much less experienced.</p>
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<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="tQMccvmLg3"><p><a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/arsenal-2023-summer-transfer-window-preview-incomings/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/3-reasons-saka-form/">3 reasons for Bukayo Saka’s drop in form</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>There is likely a better fit for Fresneda at this stage in his career than Arsenal, but don’t be too surprised if Arsenal sign a relatively-unknown teenager this summer for the future.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
