Arsenal: James Rodriguez Could Be Final Killing Edge

Arsenal has not needed anything other than a defender and striker all summer. But now we can talk about James Rodriguez’s prospects.

All summer I’ve been avoiding any sort of talk about any player that wasn’t a striker (or couldn’t be converted to a striker), or a defender. Arsenal had nothing to do with any sort of luxury player when Wenger was clearly struggling to find answers at these two crucial positions.

Now that they have been solved, and with a mere three days left in the window, we can start talking about flourishes to close out the transfer window.

With how many links Arsenal has had with wide midfielders, I figured it couldn’t hurt to entertain the idea of landing one and, using Watford as my evidence, it wouldn’t be so bad to strongly consider one either.

Arsenal’s wings are stocked with mostly long-time Arsenal men. But Wenger has put so much faith in Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain that he has loaned out Joel Campbell and plans to loan out Serge Gnabry. As we saw against Watford, that left Arsenal with a whopping zero wide attacking options on the bench.

And, unless Chris Willock can break through, that doesn’t look to change. Unless of course Lucas Perez is supposed to be a winger, but that seems unlikely. That is rather unnerving coming from a team that once seemed to stacked at the wings and, while it is incredibly unlikely, we might as well give some thought to some potential solutions.

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I never thought I would support a gang-buster signing not at the crucial two positions, but why not James Rodrigez? Some random ‘in the knows’ are that he will come to Arsenal and while I don’t put too much credence in their ‘knowledge’, it is hard to ignore how Arsenal has been linked to him all summer.

Arsenal did not have a wide presence against Watford and that was because their two wingers, Walcott and the Ox, were outdone by the Ozil-Alexis express. Walcott had some decent contributions, but I wouldn’t call it a revitalizing effort.

Arsenal needs not only speed out wide, but a presence. They need someone who can pull play over to them and it doesn’t look like our English duo possesses that ability.

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – JUNE 17: James Rodriguez /

James does. James is a world class presence that can innovate with the best of them and the thought of having his pace and creativity alongside Ozil and Alexis begs to be drooled over. This is a ruthless game and whoever wins the EPL this year is going to have to be ruthless. I don’t consider cute chip shots when you’re up 3-0 to be ruthless, but that’s what we got with Walcott and the Ox when better options were available.

Real Madrid seem to be open to the prospect of selling either Isco or James and, while Isco in North London has long been a dream of mine, it looks like James is actually the more realistic option. He only played 13 minutes in Real Madrid’s opener, as neither he nor Isco could secure a start and Isco was even subbed in before him. That can’t be appeasing a man of James’ qualities

Of course, price is the other question. Wenger has already spent a massive £100m and it’s hard to imagine James being sold for anything less than £50m.

So while it’s fun to think about, The odds that Wenger will be cold-hearted to his English duo and sign a proven, obvious replacement is slim to none. Still, we can dream a little.

Next: Arsenal's Top 10 Prospects

I am thrilled with the win. At least the first half of it. But with the tight competition this year, we have to always be looking for ways to upgrade and, as it stands, Wenger has no alternatives on the wings. Who would have thought that this would be their only potential weakness as the window draws to a close?

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