Ask any Arsenal supporter in the Football Transfer Tavern how they’re feeling at the minute and they’ll claim everything is hunky dory…for now anyway!
Having achieved an impressive victory away at Olympiakos last week to set up a Champions League last 16 tie with Barcelona, the Gunners also made light work of a 0-2 victory away at Aston Villa with Gooners in good spirits leading up to Monday night’s huge top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City.
The game at Emirates Stadium has been billed as a potential title decider but in reality, Leicester City are top of the tree at the moment, not to mention the fact that the loser will still have a huge chance of winning the big prize come May due to the fact this is the tightest league campaign in many years.
That said, if there is to prove a winner on Monday night, either City or Arsenal will have even more belief that they can get the job done come the business end of the season.
Something else that will of course help is any potential new arrivals in the January transfer window which will be upon us in just a few weeks.
Now while we all know about Arsene Wenger’s frugal nature in transfer windows, surely even the wise old Frenchman would be more open to strengthening the ranks this time around with the Gunners’ annual injury crisis having struck again this term.
So far, Arsenal have managed well with the likes of Mathieu Flamini and Joel Campbell stepping up admirably but to gain that vital edge in a tight season, surely signing another one or two players is the way to go.
With that in mind, we’ve devised a list of five potential January signings that Arsenal simply must attempt to buy at some stage or another next month.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players Arsenal must attempt to sign in January.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Back in November, we read in Metro that Borussia Dortmund have already named their asking price for star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabon international is quite simply one of the hottest strikers around right now with 24 goals in all competitions for the Signal Iduna Park outfit and a record such as this speaks for itself.
Now while Dortmund have proved a tough nut to crack in terms of luring away their better players in recent years with the club repeatedly digging their heels over Marco Reus, why shouldn’t Arsenal pay what the club want for Aubameyang – £42 million?
Huge transfer fees in football aren’t going away any time soon and while it’s not Arsenal’s style with this fee only reserved for Mesut Ozil’s arrival so far in Gunners history, landing a player of Aubameyang’s calibre would really give Arsenal a huge leg-up in their attempts to win the Premier League this season.
Another long-term injury for either Theo Walcott or Olivier Giroud could prove disastrous for their chances after all!
Adrien Rabiot
A more recent Arsenal transfer story concerned this man Adrien Rabiot who is of course a long-term target of Arsene Wenger.
A defensive-minded midfielder by trade, the interesting sub plot here is that the young Frenchman has already gone toe-to-toe with Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc claiming he wants more regular first team chances.
Battling in a midfield that also contains Blaise Matuidi, Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti and Benjamin Stambouli right now, regular starts are still proving tough for Rabiot who could more accurately balance Arsenal’s midfield in Francis Coquelin’s absence.
While Aaron Ramsey is back in central midfield at the moment where he wants to be playing, he doesn’t possess the same defensive discipline as Coquelin and in titanic tussles against the likes of Manchester City on Monday night, it’s in these games where the small margins could cost the Gunners.
Isco
We all know Arsene Wenger loves collecting diminutive attacking midfield-type players and another top class one linked with the Gunners at the minute is Real Madrid’s Isco.
Still unhappy at his lack of playing time for Rafael Benitez’s side this term according to The Sun, these frustrations could manifest in a transfer being made next month.
Undoubtedly a top class player who shone for Malaga in the Champions League before earning his big move to the Bernabeu in 2013, the reports from The Sun claim Wenger would be happy to sanction a £28.9 million move for the Spanish international.
While Arsenal’s squad is well stocked with central midfielders when the team is fully fit, we all know this is rarely the case within an entire campaign and with Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere anything but reliable in terms of injuries, perhaps there is room for a player such as Isco after all.
Marcelo Brozovic
The most concrete Arsenal transfer rumour right now seems to concern a player who is still on the books one of the Gunners’ Champions League group stage opponents Dinamo Zagreb.
Now an Inter Milan on loan contrary to the image above, Marcelo Brozovic has been described as poised to be signing at Arsenal in January according to The Telegraph.
Prior to joining the Nerazzurri on loan last January, Arsenal had been linked with Brozovic’s signature but 12 months on, Arsene Wenger could capture the Croatian international after all with Italian reports referencing an £11.9 million bid.
As we all know, Arsene Wenger is far more comfortable with this kind of fee to one such as Aubameyang’s and having moved to sure up his defence with Gabriel Paulista’s signing last January, a defensive midfielder such as Brozovic for just over £10 million is certainly more believable than most other stories.
If signed by the Gunners of course, his Inter Milan loan spell would be terminated with immediate effect.
William Carvalho
A long shot of a January signing but given his calibre and suitability to the Premier League, we think Arsenal should at least be enquiring over the availability and asking price of Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho next month.
The 23-year-old would add another dimension to the Arsenal midfield, standing at 6-and-a-half inches but he can play as well as documented in the Champions League last season.
What’s more, the Portuguese international has already revealed his affection for the Gunners having claimed back in October: “I prefer not to say too much, but there is a club with which I’ve always been fond of: Arsenal. Because of Thierry Henry, a player with whom I have always enjoyed watching.”
In fairness, the same interview included claims from the player whereby he alluded to wanting the win the Portuguese Primeira Liga under Jorge Jesus this term so if Arsenal want to get this one done, they’ll have to do something they’ve ultimately not been good at in transfer windows and be aggressive in their pursuit.
