LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 01: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta looks on ahead of the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at London Stadium on May 1, 2022 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 01: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta looks on ahead of the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at London Stadium on May 1, 2022 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)

Arsenal News

4 positions Arsenal must strengthen during the summer transfer window

by James Cormack
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While Arsenal’s 2021/22 campaign ended in disappointment, the signs of progress from Mikel Arteta’s young Gunners were too distinct to overlook.

Despite the criticisms of many, the club’s business last summer, in which they signed Aaron Ramsdale, Benjamin White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, undoubtedly hastened the club’s arduous rebuilding process.

Following back-to-back eighth-place finishes in the Premier League, Arsenal rose to fifth last season and were in a prime position to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since Arsene Wenger left town.

Immaturity, inexperience, injuries and Antonio Conte cost them in the end, and their stuttering end to the campaign highlighted the need for a big summer in the red half of north London.

Arteta has shown that he has a system in place which is capable of returning Arsenal to the promised land, but qualitative improvements at several key positions are necessary if the Gunners are to evolve into a scintillating but, more crucially, consistent beast under the promising Spanish boss.

With their competitors, including the eternal rivals down the road, poised to get stronger this summer, it’s pivotal that Teta’s young Gunners aren’t left behind. They’ve got to go big, too.

4 positions Arsenal must strengthen during the summer transfer window

In this piece we’ll detail the four positions Arsenal must strengthen this summer and, at a later date, we’ll provide a list of targets at each position.

1. Full-back

Cedric Soares made 21 Premier League appearances for Arsenal last season, including 16 starts. (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)

The Gunners tried their utmost to bolster both of their full-back positions last summer as Nuno Tavares was signed from Benfica to provide cover for Kieran Tierney, while Takehiro Tomiyasu was drafted in from Bologna to perform a specialist tactical function for Arteta.

Arsenal played their best football with both Tierney and Tomiyasu in the XI, but injuries meant that the pair were only able to start a combined 42 matches in the Premier League last season. Tavares and Cedric Soares were, regretfully, similarly prominent.

While Nuno showed promise as an exuberant attacking full-back, his sheer rawness and defensive naivety meant he was pretty unreliable. Cedric, meanwhile, is pretty sub-par in all phases and a far cry from the rugged genius of Tomiyasu.

Thus, there’s no doubting that Arsenal need reinforcements at full-back this summer, but it’s hard to envisage the club signing both a left-back and right-back. A player capable of performing both roles would be ideal, but such profiles are incredibly rare.

Continued on the next slide…

Next: #2 position Arsenal must strengthen

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