Arsenal: New Left Back Should Be On Shopping List

Having strengthened positions of need in the most recent transfer window, is it time for Arsenal to look at a left back come the summer of 2017?

Between June and August every year the transfer rumor mill is non-stop. Yet even with the recent closing of the transfer market, speculation is still rife on what the top clubs require in future windows. While signings of Xhaka, Mustafi and Perez rounded off a particularly successful transfer window for Arsenal, it may be time to turn our attention to a new left back in a year’s time.

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Such a statement may put me in the firing line of some fans due to the stellar performances of Monreal in the past 18 months, but hear me out.

Monreal is now on the wrong side of 30. Despite having played some of the best football of his life last season, his prime looks to be behind him.

Unlike center back or goalkeeper, the full back position is extremely physically demanding. As full backs get older, they seem to suffer physically as they are often up against young pacy wingers. Many full backs excel tactically as they develop (think Gary Neville for example), but in general it is a position that doesn’t see many prolonged careers.

This season in particular, Monreal has looked less physically and tactically assured. The Spaniard has recently been shredded for pace by the likes of Aurier and Amrabat. While this may be down to early season rustiness, forgive me for saying that he is unlikely to be good enough for Arsenal in two years from now.

The left back situation would look a lot brighter if we had a young promising left back in our ranks. Someone who could take over from Monreal in the coming years (ideally the left sided version of Bellerin). Then the need for new left back would not be so pressing and I would not bother with this discussion. However, currently our back up is the undoubtedly talented yet frustratingly inconsistent Kieran Gibbs.

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Gibbs has been unable to wrestle the left back spot from Monreal for two seasons now and it looks unlikely that he will sign a new deal without assurances of first team football. Rumors even surfaced this summer that Wenger was looking to replace Gibbs with a younger more vibrant full back. For the upcoming season we may look well stocked at left back, but a world class signing in this position would put many fans at ease.

Ricardo Rodriguez would be ideal but the young prospect Ben Chilwell from Leicester City also looks like a solid option. If Arsenal were to skip such a transfer need next summer, I can predict a hoard of angry fans demanding a better left back this time next season. It may be premature to say but along with a right winger, I think the signing of a new left back is of utter importance to Arsenal in 2017.

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What do you think Gooners? Should Arsenal pursue a new left back next summer or are Gibbs and Monreal still good enough for the future of this club?