Why I think Arsenal should be prioritising a midfielder this summer
Arsenal are not far behind rivals Manchester City at the moment and when it comes to talent, we have plenty of it, but the past two seasons we’ve still manged to fall short. Although we are starting to look like a real dominant side and one of the sides to beat, there’s still a lot that can be done to boost our chances of finally winning the title next season, and knocking City off their perch. One of those things is bringing in another midfielder.
Arsenal already have some great options but a central defensive midfielder and, although we have a pretty good player in Thomas Partey, when he’s at his best, and even when fit he’s hardly been consistent. For me, if we could bring in the right player in the middle of the pitch to lock down that midfield position and give us a bit more stability in the middle, we go from being title contenders to winning it.
Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard have cemented their positions in the starting line up and last season they managed to create a bond and partnership where they knew what the other was going to do before they did it. Both tapping into their creative sides and making football look easy. They worked together to create spaces and chances for themselves and their teammates and still managed to stay solid defensively when needed. But they were missing someone who was completely defensive minded and could be that security at the back to give them more freedom and just worry about getting the ball forward.
When you saw Rice play in the Euro’s next to United’s Mainoo, it makes one realise how much he needs to be paired with that type of player and how stable our team would look with a great CDM. One name that springs to mind for me is Bruno Guimaraes, he Brazilian midfielder who has been incredible since joining Newcastle United. Guimaraes is the perfect type of player we should be targeting and although it wouldn’t be easy, he would automatically transform our midfield and stop the gaps that we saw last season.
Guimaraes can dribble through his opponent’s midfield and defence and create chances for those around him, all while staying solid in the middle and reading the game defensively so his partnered midfielders can have more space and freedom to create things. I know it would be hard and Newcastle won’t want to let him go, but he would be perfect for Arsenal this summer, if not him someone just like him needs to come in.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
LATEST ACCORDING TO ROMANO…… “I know Arsenal fans are keen for an update on Riccardo Calafiori, but there are no substantial changes to the situation yet. Arsenal and Bologna remain in contact but there’s no agreement over the €50m fee,” Romano wrote.
“The issue is that Bologna want guaranteed money while Arsenal’s proposal includes add-ons structure to get to €50m potential fee. Despite what has been suggested elsewhere, there’s no ‘issue’ with Basel: they will receive 50% of the deal, that’s it. Bologna want €50m fixed exactly because they have to give over €20m to Basel, this is the point.”
WHICH SHOULD WE BELIEVE NOW?
There still is an issue with Basel that 50% is a lot of money and it makes the selling club Bologna want to make demands in the structure of the deal they wouldn’t otherwise. We saw this with Zaha at Palace (United had a 40% sell-on) when the sell-ons get that large it massively impacts negotiations as the selling club can’t accept the fact the sell-on has nothing to do with the buying club.
Guimaraes’ contract at Newcastle will only expire in 2028, so his price tag could be more than £100m
After watching Partey’s training session with other Gunners on Arsenal’s YouTube channel, I think he’ll stay to compete with Jorginho for the CDM role
And then 10 games into the new season Partey gets Injured again and our league chances take a hit and we start pointing fingers again. Relying on Partey and Jorginho again will be suicidal trust me.
I believe Arsenal are still searching for a new CDM, hence the news about Joao Neves from Fabrizio Romano and David Ornstein
But Arsenal might be looking for the more affordable one like Zubimendi, instead of a high-profile CDM like Guimaraes
Neves is going to PSG, gotanidea.
I heard PSG are currently leading in the race for Neves’ signature, but another club could overtake them as Chelsea did when they stole Mudryk from Arsenal
and Zudimendi made very clear statements he is staying, and likely to only move within Spain to the Barca dream
but as you say even if we keep Partey relying on him and Jorginho only is suicide, so need to bring in another
hence this Guimeasres thread
Partey is always dependent on if someone comes in with a decent offer. If Saudi gets serious and he’s willing he goes. Otherwise, there are not many clubs who will both give us a fee where it’s better than just keeping him for a year and matching his wage demands where it’s better for him than staying a year.
We won’t offer him a new contract and it just depends now on who is willing to come in for him. We saw this with Cedric in January. He had no future we were willing to sell but the offers were so low the club said we’d rather have him be defender number 8 at that point as it doesn’t benefit us to sell low.
You mentioned a defensive midfielder than talk about Bruno who is a box to box midfielder. Arteta doesn’t want what Bruno offers at 6 at 6. I think Rice playing 8 proved that. We need a specialist 6 who can dictate tempo, excels in tight spaces and good on the half turn. The ideal scenario is City get demoted to league two and we buy Rodri but thats just a pipe dream. I wasnt sure on Zumbendi but after the Euros i will gladly admit i was wrong. Other player who could play this role for us are Kimmich, Forfane and Ugarte. If we want a destroyed i would go all out for Kamara or Tchouameni
My compliments, good shout with your suggestions. We may also have a certain academy player that could be a third choice number 6 from the bench in Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Players that will improve a lot this year include Viera ( who believe it or not, created the most assist to a “goal scoring chance”, which is different from assisted goals, due to the assisted player hit the back net or counted as just a “goal scoring chance” when he misses, which is not Vieras fault).
Also watch out for Myles Lewis Skelly the defensive Midfielder as I just mentioned as a third choice number 6 sub, because we still need someone world class and disciplined to stay anchor. Also watch out for Nwaneri to improve as a third choice number 8 sub.
We have to have some faith in these youngsters like we did with Odeguaard and Saka.
if limited to one acquisition this window it would be Guimaraes
it is not as simple as saying #6 and #8 these days, it is more about formation and system, and in-possession vs out-of-possession shape
ironically Arsenal were superb against the PL elite last season, a lot of that was down to out-of-possession shape – particularly the box press of Odegaard/Havertz infront of Jorginho/Rice
however Arsenal struggled to on occassion to break down lower opposition that deployed the ultra low XI behind the ball block, rarely looking to play through our midfield more nicking a goal on the counter – in is this situation a traditional disciplined Defensive Midfield is barely needed and an additional Attacking Midfield may have more value – and that is where a Guimaraes comes in
like Rice he is a genuine goal threat both scoring himself and creating for others, but at the same time reads the game so well (like Rice) to be in the right place at the right time for a tackle or interception
another option for low block busting, either finding the pass or powering his way through the pack
a more powerful and PL proven Merino
yes will be expensive, but this years transfer market is not the crazy money of last year, the rules now matter so spending is restrained, there may not be any £100m transfers this summer so at £70m to £80m feels like a game changing investment for Arsenal
I wonder if Eze would be a good option as well – more of an odegaard-like attacking midfielder than guimares, but I think he could work that left cm role well for us in most games vs low block teams. I think he’s quite decent at winning the ball back, but it would depend on how dedicated he would be to playing to the system. I could see him acting as something like Silva at city?
Agree on guimares – just gives the feeling he’s always in control of situations, seems tactically very intelligent, is definitely willing to put a foot in but also scores goals and opens teams up.
Also the Riccardo Calafiori situation is shameful on Arsenal’s side. Fabrizio Romano has stated the truth. What is going on? 🥺 It seems Arsenal ‘themelves’ are sabotaging our chances of winning the EPL for the coming season. This is disturbing.
The sensationalism as always..
🤦♂️
Sean Williams, if you are in the market to buy something expensive, would you pay the asking price straight away, or would you haggle ?
Arsenal look a bit slow in the transfer market thus far. And talking about a defensive midfielder, Amadou Onana is a proven guy to replace Thomas Party. And from the look of things the guy is heading towards Auston Villa.
We go for Perdro Neto before Lovipool or Tothenham grap him. Gunners 4 Life.
It’s a typical Arsenal transfer window plenty of talk and leave it till the last min to buy someone nothing changes!
last window it wasn’t, Rice, Havertz and Timber all in and on the plane to US pre-season
this window is an anomaly for Edu/Arteta, and regrettably could see us under done for season opening
points dropped in first 5 games just as important as points dropped in last 5 games
Relax familia, your brand new toys will arrive. I’m sure the recruitment team are hard at work to get deals over the line.
Let the lads enjoy some rest !!!! 95%of the players we have been linked with played in an international football tournament and you want to drag them straight back into training ?
I have a feeling Arteta will use Timber in the. Number 6 role, with the acquisition of Calafiori.