This season, in fact, Arsenal did not receive too many expectations from experts. But in the end, coach Mikel Arteta’s teachers and students made a big surprise when they became the leading candidate for the Premier League championship, leading the rankings for more than 8 months. However, entering the decisive phase, the Gunners fell unfortunately.
The defeat at the hands of Manchester City or the division of points with Liverpool are both acceptable results, but it is clear that Arsenal have “shot themselves in the foot” when they lost points to West Ham United and Southampton. And until the disastrous showdown against Brighton at the weekend, it can be affirmed that the Gunners had no hope of raising the Premier League trophy.
It is easy to see, the poor squad depth is the main reason leading to the downfall of Arsenal. Therefore, coach Mikel Arteta has planned for an “epic” transfer window next summer. More specifically, the report from the Mirror said that the Spanish strategist want to radically upgrade the Gunners squad with a total of 5 quality contracts.
Arteta wants a bunch more rookies.
In particular, Arteta’s number one target is Declan Rice, the star that has been targeted by Arsenal during the past transfer windows. After a long wait, many sources claim that the Gunners are ready to “break the safe” to bring the British star to Emirates. It is expected that in order to convince West Ham to ‘release people’, the Emirates Stadium team will have to spend about 90 million pounds.
Besides Rice, Arteta also wants to have the service of another midfielder. But obviously, after spending money on the former Chelsea star, it is difficult for the Gunners to detonate another blockbuster for Moises Caicedo or Alexis Mac Allister. Instead, cheaper signings such as Romeo Lavia or Amadou Onana will most likely be the options targeted by Arsenal.
Arteta wants another midfielder besides Rice.
At the same time, Arteta also wants to bring in a quality midfielder to back up William Saliba. In recent times, the Gunners are being strongly linked with young stars such as Goncalo Inacio, Josip Sutalo and Marc Guehi. These are names that are highly appreciated by professionals, and are expected to have the opportunity to thrive at the hands of a good young strategist like Arteta.
Also in defence, Arteta wants to recruit a quality right-back. There’s no denying Ben White has done his job in the position, but a star of Joao Cancelo’s caliber would certainly be a major upgrade over the England defender. Media claim that Arteta is looking to reunite with the Portuguese defender, but the £60m fee demanded by Manchester City could be a major obstacle.
Arteta wants to reunite with Cancelo.
And finally, a winger is also on Arteta’s target list, because it is clear that the Gunners are lacking a quality plan to backup Bukayo Saka on the right wing. Currently, they are said to have plans to recruit Wilfried Zaha on a free transfer.
Huynh Phong | 13:17 May 16, 2023
