Arsenal Link With Grzegorz Krychowiak Has Considerable Merit

Arsenal may not be in the market for much of anything, but there is one link that cannot be forgotten just yet. That link is Grzegorz Krychowiak.

Arsenal is going with the quiet summer/quiet January approach to this season. Following up three months of just Petr Cech, Arsenal came into the January window with more links than they knew what to do with. They look to be coming out of it with just Mohamed Elneny.

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That means that Arsene Wenger is so confident in last year’s squad that he saw only two things as necessities: A new keeper and a new versatile midfielder.

Fair enough. But that does not mean that all links should be forgotten. One link in particular still has so much going for it. While Arsene Wenger may tend to stray away from straight defensive midfielders, there may be reason to make an exception for Grzegorz Krychowiak.

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Let’s start by considering how much the Polish bruiser has not refuted the links.

First of all, the initial reason why Krychowiak turned down England was because of the weather. However, he still has an England-based agent firm. We will be generous to the naysayers and say those two cancel each other out.

Next, there was the all-telling interview with FourFourTwo. Krychowiak acknowledged the links to Arsenal but said that he doesn’t worry about those things. That is his agent’s duty. He also admitted that he will go wherever he can better himself. With “15, 20 teams” better than Sevilla, that means that he may seek new employment soon.

With Sevilla turning their season around and climbing into fifth place, that gives Krychowiak the allure of European football come next season. However, Sevilla have dipped as low as ninth this season so nothing is set. Not to mention the fact that the Europa League isn’t exactly on the same level as the Champions League. If Krychowiak is serious about stepping up his game, as he claims to be, then he needs to step up his level of competition as well.

Now that we’ve established that Krychowiak has never outright refuted a move to Arsenal, let’s consider why Arsenal are actually very keen on the guy.

We know that Wenger is not into a sit-back and defend midfielder. Nor is he into slow sit-back and defend midfielders. But there are numerous factors that make Krychowiak different.

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For starters, his work ethic is insatiable. In the same interview with FourFourTwo, Krychowiak pointed out that after winning the Europa League, he was questioned as to why he wasn’t celebrating. “I don’t drink alcohol and I had too much adrenaline. I couldn’t sleep, so I just went for a workout.”

Is Arsene Wenger reading this? Instead of drinking, Krychowiak trains. Wenger could not have built a better model of what he wants at Arsenal. It’s like another Alexis Sanchez only bigger, stronger, slower, less offensively-inclinded, more defensively inclined, more European and less South American. So yeah, they’re pretty similar.

Not only that, but there is the versatility factor. Krychowiak is so defensively inclined that be can play center back and right back as well. With Per Mertesacker slowly disappearing, Arsenal could definitely use some bolstering at the back. No internal solutions are standing out other than Calum Chambers. Versatility may be the biggest key because as we have seen, Wenger does not like players who play just one position.

Even aside from the defensive inclination, Krychowiak is not a bumbling fool when he gets forward. He has scored 12 goals in 142 career appearances and his pass completion has slowly risen to near-90% as well (stats via WhoScored.com).

Arsenal may have nabbed Elneny as midfield help, but he is a big midfielder with offensive upside. He can rotate around the base midfield positions. He offers a little defensive reinforcement as well.

Krychowiak is like a reverse Elneny. He would provide support at the base midfield roles with defensive upside. He can rotate around the back line as well. He offers a little bit of offensive reinforcement.

£30m is not that much to pay for what Arsenal would be getting in return and I do not think it is the price that is holding them back. Once it becomes more clear that Mertesacker is basically done and help is needed, Krychowiak should be seen as a legitimate option.

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Not only that, but Wojciech Szczesny is Krychowiak’s close friend. So there’s that.