Chelsea are believed to be closing on a deal to sign Timo Werner at present, but what does that mean for Arsenal?
The Blues are reported to be close to a deal to sign the RB Leipzig striker, with the Guardian quoting a £53 Million fee, and would be a huge boost to the squad of Chelsea’s.
Chelsea were banned from making any signings last summer, and they went into this term with a new manager and two first-choice striker’s with limited experience in Michy Batshuayi and Tammy Abraham. Olivier Giroud was mostly overlooked until injuries came into it.
Their current squad, with the added signing of Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, who agreed a deal in February to join the club, as well as Werner will see Arsenal fall further behind in the race for the top four.
Our club has already struggled this term, although much of the credit for that will fall on manager Unai Emery’s head, with largely the same squad thoroughly impressing under new boss Mikel Arteta.
Chelsea’s deal however will likely see they join the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City in the battle for the title next season, which will potentially leave just one Champions League place open, with Manchester United, Wolves, Leicester and Tottenham all in contention to challenge for that place.
The Red Devils are also expected to make some big moves in the coming window, with Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho strongly linked, and the days of seeing Arsenal competing at the top of the table is looking further and further away.
While our rivals are strengthening their side, ours is reported to be worried about losing their best players, as opposed to strengthening those key areas.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is linked with the exit door in the coming window, with only one year remaining on his current deal, and his departure for me, would seal our demise for some time.
Without Aubz going into the new season, I will be writing the new 2020-21 campaign off. Even if we could secure a replacement, there is no realistic target that is going to come into the team and have the same impact that he has, and I’m struggling to believe that we will have the finances to bring in a decent replacement following the Coronavirus pandemic.
If Chelsea get this deal over the line, I would be tempted to force Aubameyang to stay UNTIL a decent replacement is found, but without any likely to be within our budget, we will need him to have any chance of finishing in the Champions League places next season.
Am I wrong to think that Chelsea’s deal will have such ramifications on our squad? Will we be forced to sell Aubameyang because of our own financial situation or will we have the option to consider our coming season without him?
Patrick
