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Why Arsene Wenger is not looking to buy a Defensive Midfielder for Arsenal
By Josh Sippie
You really have to think outside of the box to try to get into Arsene Wenger’s head. Even once you think you are, you are probably miles away. In the quietness surrounding Arsenal’s defensive midfield situation, Wenger’s logic suddenly became clear.
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Wenger has made it incredibly clear that anyone that he signs for Arsenal has to be perfect for the club and that sometimes, that perfection simply cannot be found, as players are not always readily available.
The only sure-fire way to get exactly what you want is to build it yourself. After all, why settle for anything less that your exact want?
Arsene Wenger paid a lot of money to bring Krystian Bielik to Arsenal. He had two bids rejected before unloading just under three million pounds for the Polish wonderkid, so you have to imagine that Wenger saw the world in this youngster and believed that he could become that perfect product.
By that token, all Arsene Wenger has to do is survive until Bielik is ready. But seeing as how he is only 17 years old, it is going to be at least 3 years before he is even mentioned in the first team conversation, even with him supposedly miles ahead of anyone else his age.
So how do we prolong life in the holding portion of the midfield until then without external signings? Well, Francis Coquelin is a fantastic start. The tenacious Frenchman has a promising future at the club that is already underway. Just 23 year old, the only knock on the Coq is his lack of offensive potential but it looks like Wenger is willing to sacrifice offense in this position in return for solid defense.
Mikel Arteta recently signed a new contract with Arsenal as well, giving him another year to serve as a squad rotation player behind the Coq. The wiley veteran is by no means ready to fill in every game should the Coq go down, but the injury tightrope is gladly accepting our cautious footsteps.
Then their is Isaac Hayden. At 20 years of age, Hayden is on loan at Hull City, just one step below the Premier League. He figures to enter the first team picture when his loan move is up at Hull City, which conveniently coincides with when Arteta should be moving on.
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There is good news and bad news in the hypothetical scenario. The good news is that in three to four years, Arsenal is going to have a seasoned Coq, a hulking Hayden and a bomb Bielik to man the holding midfield positions. That is a surplus we would kill for right now.
Which leads me into the bad portion of this hypothetical scenario: That Arsene Wenger will not be purchasing a holding midfielder. Not only for the above reasons, but because Grzegorz Krychowiak has declared his intention to stay at Sevilla as opposed to moving to Arsenal and Southampton are blocking advances for Victor Wanyama. Lars Bender is the only real option.
Of course, I have no window into Arsene Wenger’s mind, but given his track record and his faith in his own actions, it seems like a perfectly reasonable tactic for the Frenchman to employ. As early as next year we could see a young Hayden and who knows how good the Coq will be by then.
Next: Olivier Giroud the permanent goat?