Arsenal Injuries to Mathieu Debuchy, Mikel Arteta to Force Arsene Wenger’s Transfer Hand?

Mikel Arteta (according to BBC Sport) and Mathieu Debuchy are officially out for three months each after surgeries. Kieran Gibbs (who I didn’t even know was injured) is returning to training, but Danny Welbeck is out still with “some pain” (Arsene Wenger’s words on Arsenal.com).

All these injuries leave Arsenal exactly where they were prior to these injuries, just of a more dire nature. We’re now even shorter on defense and shorter on deeper lying midfielders.

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So what are our options?

Arteta and Debuchy won’t see the pitch again until the tail end of the season, if at all, so for all intents and purposes, we should assume that their position is vacated, leaving us needing to fill the holes they left as well as the ones Arsene Wenger has had since summer and even before.

It’s absolutely crunch time to get a defender or two and another midfielder or two. If the plan was already to get one of each, it may be necessary to grab another. With Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey back, one midfielder may well be plenty, but it has to be a midfielder of equal or greater quality than Arteta (Ilkay Gundogan!).

Morgan Schneiderlin may be the answer, and if a deal is truly in place to bring him to the Emirates this summer, than that’s well and good, but the summer is a long way away (and I still want Gundogan!).

However, a centre back and now even a versatile, all-purpose defender have to be our number one priority (as it always should have been). Calum Chambers and Hector Bellerin can both play right back and Chambers can slot in at centre back, but that leaves us just as thin and susceptible to devastation via injury as we have been all year, a problem that Wenger promised to fix.

That 20 million pound transfer budget isn’t enough now. Wenger may have said that no injuries will push him to make signings quicker than he normally would, but I truly hope he doesn’t believe that. We need cover, now more than ever with the injuries.

Manchester City is going to be a huge test. Ramsey and Ozil are back at the perfect time, with Walcott getting more acclimated as well, but our defense is still left gasping for air after nearly every game.

It’s time to make a move, Wenger!

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