LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 15: Arsene Wenger of Arsenal looks on prior to the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal and AC Milan at Emirates Stadium on March 15, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Arsenal have a number of positions that are in desperate need of bolstering in this upcoming summer transfer window. Here are the top 5 that should be addressed first.
The Arsenal squad has many holes. If they are to ever compete for a title, as the board, the owner and the manager have protested is their aim, then those many holes must be filled, primarily through the transfer window, starting this summer. There is much work to be done.
So, here are the top five positions of need for this summer transfer window.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 01: Leroy Sane of Manchester City is challenged by Hector Bellerin during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on March 1, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
5. Right Back
This is a position of need. I have not ranked right back as high as some others on this list because of the presence of Hector Bellerin, who is a young, lively, and at the least talented defender. But that does not mean that it does not need reinforcing.
Principally, there is no depth behind Bellerin. When he was unavailable for selection in recent weeks, Arsene Wenger turned to Ainsley Maitland-Niles, a natural midfielder who has spent most of the season at left back, and Calum Chambers to fill in in his stead. Not exactly the most inspiring reserves. And also not exactly the fiercest of competition to motivate Bellerin to maintain his level of performance.
Bringing in a player to challenge and support Bellerin seems like a no-brainer. Sead Kolasinac’s introduction has improved Nacho Monreal this season, for instance, and the same motivational effect could certainly help Bellerin. I would rank this higher, but it is a reserve/competing position, and such is the depth of the needs elsewhere, I cannot push it up the list any further,
Arsenal squad has many holes. If they are to ever compete for a title, as the board, the owner and the manager have protested is their aim, then those many holes must be filled, primarily through the transfer window, starting this summer. There is much work to be done.</p>
<h2><a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pain-in-the-arsenal-podcast/id1314514440?mt=2%22>Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast right here</a></h2>
<p>So, here are the top five positions of need for this summer transfer window.</p>
<div id="attachment_72164" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-72164" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F03%2F926002998-arsenal-v-manchester-city-premier-league.jpg-850x560.jpg" alt="Arsenal, Hector Bellerin" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 01: Leroy Sane of Manchester City is challenged by Hector Bellerin during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on March 1, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>5. Right Back</h3>
<p>This is a position of need. I have not ranked right back as high as some others on this list because of the presence of <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://paininthearsenal.com/?s=hector+bellerin%22>Hector Bellerin</a>, who is a young, lively, and at the least talented defender. But that does not mean that it does not need reinforcing.</p>
<p>Principally, there is no depth behind Bellerin. When he was unavailable for selection in recent weeks, Arsene Wenger turned to Ainsley Maitland-Niles, a natural midfielder who has spent most of the season at left back, and Calum Chambers to fill in in his stead. Not exactly the most inspiring reserves. And also not exactly the fiercest of competition to motivate Bellerin to maintain his level of performance.</p>
<p>Bringing in a player to challenge and support Bellerin seems like a no-brainer. Sead Kolasinac’s introduction has improved Nacho Monreal this season, for instance, and the same motivational effect could certainly help Bellerin. I would rank this higher, but it is a reserve/competing position, and such is the depth of the needs elsewhere, I cannot push it up the list any further,</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/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 4. Goalkeeper </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-72952" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F03%2F859092924-slovenia-v-scotland-fifa-2018-world-cup-qualifier.jpg-850x560.jpg" alt="Arsenal, Jan Oblak" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA – OCTOBER 08: Goalkeeper Jan Oblak of Slovenia in action during the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier match between Slovenia and Scotland at stadium Stozice on October 08, 2017 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>4. Goalkeeper</h3>
<p>The departure of Wojciech Szczesny last summer is extremely detrimental to the future of the Arsenal goalkeeper position. He signed with Juventus to eventually succeed Gianluigi Buffon. With Arsenal in a very similar position to the Old Lady with <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://paininthearsenal.com/?s=petr+cech%22>Petr Cech</a>, and it seemed as though Szczesny, had he wanted to stay, would have the perfect successor.</p>
<p>But Szczesny is no more and David Ospina has proven that he lacks the quality, especially from aerial situations and set pieces, to ever be the established number one. As such, a replacement in the transfer window must be found.</p>
<p>That does not mean that Cech himself needs to be replaced. While he is 35 years of age, he could certainly continue as the starting goalkeeper for another season without becoming a liability. But a future needs to be secured because, at this current time, it is not in the squad. Jan Oblak has been rumoured. Could that become a reality?</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/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 3. Winger </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-72780" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F03%2F923843984-barcelona-v-girona-la-liga.jpg-850x560.jpg" alt="Arsenal, Ousmane Dembele" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 24: Ousmane Dembele of FC Barcelona reacts during the La Liga match between Barcelona and Girona at Camp Nou on February 24, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>3. Winger</h3>
<p>The attack is undoubtedly the strength of this team. With the club transfer record having been broken twice in the last six months on Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it is easy to see, both in terms of personnel and production, that goals are not necessarily the problem.</p>
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<p>However, if there is one position that is a little depleted in the attacking area of the pitch, then it is on the sidelines: There is no natural, traditional, chalk-on-his-boots, ankle-snapping, leg-breaking winger in this squad. There are a lot of creative, inside-drifting, ball-playing wide midfielders, Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan being the leading names in that department, but there is no old-fashioned winger. That will be an issue.</p>
<p>When the Arsenal attack is stifled, it is often because of two issues. They play the ball through the lines slowly, meaning that the opposition are not moved out of their defensive shape, and they play with a lack of width, resulting in a narrow, cramped pitch that easily defended. A natural winger would certainly help the latter of those issues.</p>
<p>How many players in the current squad could pick up the ball on the halfway line and skip past a defender in a one-on-one situation? How many players in the current squad could drive the by-line and whip in a wicked, swinging cross? How many players in the current squad have the patience and the will to stand out on the wing, waiting for the ball, often resigned to the peripheries of the game? Yes, a winger is needed.</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/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 2. Centre-Half </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-72831" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F03%2F932519204-arsenal-v-ac-milan-uefa-europa-league-round-of-16-second-leg.jpg-850x560.jpg" alt="Arsenal, Shkodran Mustafi" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 15: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal clears the ball from Patrick Cutrone of AC Milan during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal and AC Milan at Emirates Stadium on March 15, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>2. Centre-Half</h3>
<p>While Arsenal’s system certainly does not help centre-halves — there is a desperate lack of protection from the midfield; possession is treasured without a high pressing scheme, meaning that the centre-backs have vast spaces to cover that can be exploited by accurate clearances; the full backs are afforded the freedom to bomb forward at every opportunity –, that does not mean that it is not worth investing in them, especially with the lacking quality in the current squad.</p>
<p>Laurent Koscielny is on the decline. Per Mertesacker is retiring. Shkodran Mustafi is not reserved and considerate enough to command a defence. Calum Chambers and Rob Holding are perhaps not ready for an entrenched starting role. As a result, help must come through the transfer window.</p>
<p>The ideal position for next season would be for Koscielny to slip into a reserve, support role, Mustafi to be joined by a leading, commanding, domineering defender who has both the quality and character to marshall a painfully vulnerable unit, and for Holding and Chambers to continue their development. An addition, in some form, is an absolutely necessity.</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/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 1. Defensive Midfield </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-72851" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F03%2F932517212-arsenal-v-ac-milan-uefa-europa-league-round-of-16-second-leg.jpg-850x560.jpg" alt="Arsenal, Granit Xhaka" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 15: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal keeps the ball from Riccardo Montolivo of AC Milan during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal and AC Milan at Emirates Stadium on March 15, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>1. Defensive Midfield</h3>
<p>There is not a position in the current team that causes me as much grief and concern as defensive midfield. Unfortunately, that has been said for over a decade. Not since the departures of Gilberto Silva and Patrick Vieira have Arsenal had a commanding and secure midfield pair to aptly protect and screen the defence.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p>And this season, like almost all the ones that have preceded it, nothing has changed. In fact, it’s arguable that Arsenal are now worse at the defensive midfield position than they were a year ago thanks to the January departure of Francis Coquelin. That is all without even mentioning the haplessness of<a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/03/19/arsenal-top-5-summer-positions-need/"https://paininthearsenal.com/?s=granit+xhaka%22> Granit Xhaka </a>at the heart of it all.</p>
<p>The Swiss international has proven time and time again that he is simply not good enough to anchor a midfield that requires stability and protection at the base of it. His lack of athleticism, inconsistent passing, and lapse reading of the game comprise a player who neither provides the defensive help or attacking instigation to play the position with any semblance of efficacy.</p>
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