Arsenal: Center Half Must Be Priority, Not Striker

Arsenal fans are yearning for Arsene Wenger to splash the cash on a brand-spanking, flashy center forward. However, center half is much more in need of investment, and I have exactly the right player in mind.

The world of modern day football focuses on the flashy skills, the flicks and tricks, the intricate, forward play of the plethora of wonderful attacking players around the world. While goals are important – in fact, they are utterly essential – without a defensive base to build upon, a back four, a keeper and a midfield shield to stop goals rather than score them, all of the attacking talent is futile, wasted in a doomed pursuit of success.

Many Arsenal fans have fallen for such a fallacy. They are desperate for a striker, a player who will guarantee 20 plus goals a season and could well fire the team to the title. While investment is certainly needed at the position, there is another need in the squad that should be much more of a priority. That position is center half.

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Like the striker position, Arsenal do have some quality, though the level of those players already in the squad is highly debated. Like upfront, Arsene Wenger has already made investment in the area and both investments are rather underwhelming, young prospects for the future. And perhaps most worryingly, both still need significantly more spending attributed to their weaknesses and as time passes by, that is becoming more and more unlikely.

However, center half must be the priority this summer and there is one name who I would particularly love to see in Arsenal shirt come September.

With Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker, the two long standing stalwarts anchoring Arsenal’s back four, both now passing 30, the future of the position is somewhat concerning. Calum Chambers is yet to develop into the prospect that many thought of him, Gabriel Paulista is inconsistent at best and never looks truly comfortable with English football and Wenger has just brought in Rob Holding from Bolton who, in all honesty, very few have an idea of what type of player he will become.

Moreover, while Koscielny still looks as though he is at the peak of his powers, Mertesacker was clearly tailing off towards the back end of the year and his lack of pace was becoming more and more of a detriment to the team. Arsenal, therefore need, not only a future solution but also someone who can come in and play at a high standard straight away. That man is Raphael Varane.

Unhappy and unsettled at Real Madrid, Varane has seen his first team duties diminish with Pepe and Sergio Ramos dominating game time. Now at 23, he is reportedly looking for a new team where he can enjoy regular playing time. Arsenal can certainly provide him that and he can offer everything that the Gunners need. Strong and imposing in the air, Varane compliments Koscielny’s game wonderfully. Both possess great pace, are comfortable on the ball and Varane still has the best part of a decade before him.

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While Varane would be expensive and may be difficult to prize away from Madrid, he certainly solves all of the center half problems that Arsenal have. It seems like a no-brainer to me, and he certainly should be prioritized over any striker prospect that may be on the lips of fans.

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