Following the euphoria surrounding Petr Cech’s switch across London from Chelsea to Arsenal, Gooners in the Football Transfer Tavern are impatiently waiting for news of their next big name arrival this summer.
The news they did receive this week revolved around the fact that club captain Mikel Arteta has now penned a new one-year extension to his deal at Emirates Stadium and although he provides leadership qualities, Arsenal fans are now downbeat with Wenger probably now choosing to avoid signing a new defensive midfielder as a result.
Seemingly every summer, Arsenal are always one or two players away from boasting a squad that is considered complete and with the signing of Cech undoubtedly boosting the Gunners’ chances of lifting the title next term, wouldn’t it be great to see Arsenal really go for it and sign a few more established pros in key areas?
Arsenal and Wenger have always claimed that they’ll only go for outstanding players who can not only improve their squad but not disrupt it at the same time and this tact hasn’t always gone down too well with our resident Gooners.
That said, most Arsenal fans were screaming for Wenger to make a move for Radamel Falcao on last summer’s transfer deadline day so it proves not all fans can play manager so successfully.
Today in the tavern, our landlord has asked our Arsenal contingent what final jigsaw piece-type signings they’d like to see arrive in the remainder of the window as we draw closer and closer to the 2015/16 campaign.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 final jigsaw piece signings for Arsenal to seal this summer.
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Grzegorz Krychowiak
Not a lot is known about Sevilla’s Polish international defensive midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak here in the Football Transfer Tavern but if you pay attention to Spanish football blogs, they’ll rave about the job he’s done for the Andalusian side in recent times.
Arriving at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan from Reims for a modest fee of €4.5 million last summer, Krychowiak was fantastic in the engine room for Sevilla last term, breaking up the play with his 6 ft 1 in frame while allowing others to carry the attacking burden going forward.
The interesting sub plot here is that the Europa League champions have of course just signed Steven N’Zonzi from Stoke City for £7 million and our punters are wondering whether he’s a direct replacement for the possibly soon to depart Krychowiak.
Arsenal of course boast Francis Coquelin who performed excellently last term but with injuries continuing to haunt the Gunners each and every season, Gooners would love Wenger to sign another reliable defensive midfielder in Krychowiak.
Perhaps Wojciech Szczesny could tap him up at international level with Poland?
Karim Benzema
Now what a finishing touch to the Arsenal squad this guy would be.
Karim Benzema is still very much a Real Madrid player with no signs at present that he’ll definitely be on the move this summer.
If the French international is to depart the Bernabeu, it will most probably be right at the end of the transfer window after Real complete some business of their own but Los Blancos’ interest in Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero seems to be nothing but well, interest.
According to today’s Telegraph, Arsene Wenger has repeatedly called Benzema already this summer and if Rafael Benitez perhaps has intentions on playing Cristiano Ronaldo as a centre forward next term, maybe there will be some leeway for Arsenal to make a late swoop in the Mesut Ozil of 2013 mould.
While it may be frustrating for Arsenal fans to hear nothing more regarding their next transfer swoop at the moment, if the Gunners could add Benzema to their signature of Cech right at the end of the window, Chelsea would surely be worried heading into the rest of the campaign.
Morgan Schneiderlin
For the life of them, our Arsenal fans here in the tavern cannot understand why there hasn’t been any concrete transfer interest from the Gunners in Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin so far this summer.
Seemingly a perfect fit for Arsenal, it is only Manchester United who have submitted a bid for the French international so far this summer with the full expectation that the Red Devils will get their hands on the Saints man eventually.
It’s rather frustrating for Arsenal fans that Wenger seems to continually think he can get away with doing a half a job in the transfer market with Petr Cech representing a great start that is not maintained in signing another two indispensables.
Yes, Francis Coquelin would remain a starter in the Arsenal line-up given his fantastic contribution in 2014/15 but if the young Frenchman was to get injured, could the Gunners really rely on the likes of Mikel Arteta or Mathieu Flamini in a crunch Champions League knock-out tie or top four battle?
A move for Schneiderlin would have made total sense, that’s for sure and our Arsenal contingent are questioning why Wenger doesn’t have designs on hijacking United’s pursuit of the player.
Alexandre Lacazette
Wanted by seemingly all of Europe this summer, Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette is undoubtedly a man in demand.
Depending on which media outlet you obtain your transfer rumours from, Lacazette has been rated at anything between £21 million and £35 million this summer and on the face of it, you can see why after he plundered 27 league goals in Ligue 1 last term, claiming the Golden Boot in the process.
The latest from The Express is that Lacazette hasn’t penned a new deal at Stade Gerland and could yet submit a transfer request in an attempt to force a move away from Les Gones.
Liverpool are also intensely linked with a swoop for Lacazette who can be considered something like the French Harry Kane after breaking onto the scene in similar fashion last season.
Arsenal have always fancied French signings and recreating a national team striking battle between Olivier Giroud and Lacazette at club level too is something Gunners fans would like to see come to fruition.
Gonzalo Higuain
Not the most popular choice for an Arsenal switch given the 18 months he has just endured, missing huge opportunities in both the World Cup Final and the recent Copa America Final, Gooners mustn’t forget that Gonzalo Higuain’s goalscoring record is still pretty decent.
Despite his troubles in big games of late, the Argentine international still boasts 35 goals in 69 games for Napoli to date and before that in the most expectant surroundings of Real Madrid, he managed to cope with the pressure while bagging an impeccable 107 goals in 190 La Liga appearances.
Nevertheless, Arsenal ultimately need somebody who can deliver on the big occasions and with Higuain fluffing his lines of late, Gunners fans aren’t as keen to sign him as they were back in 2013 where they oh so nearly landed him.
Add into the equation that Napoli are reportedly asking for a simply ridiculous fee of £67 million for their prized asset and this is why some Arsenal fans think this is a no goer this summer.
Nevertheless, some Arsenal fans pipe up and claim that despite his troubles, he’s still a better striker than Olivier Giroud and would add notable competition to the Gunners’ frontline.
