Arsenal: Thinking Ahead – Keeping The Impressive Squad Depth

Much has been made of Arsenal’s incredible squad depth this season, but is there any way it could continue or improve moving forward? Every year there is major turnaround within a Premier League squad and Arsene Wenger should be wary of this and act appropriately.

Arsene Wenger has always had a soft spot for young players. The trend has continued for as long as I can remember and today, Arsenal remain one of the youngest squads in the Premier League, coming in with an average age of 26.6 (5th youngest in the division). In spite of having a young squad, there are important players within the team who will need replacing very soon.

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Per Mertesacker is a prime example. The former German international remains the captain but is out of contract next summer and is yet to play this season due to a serious knee injury. Mertesacker can consider his future from January, as he will be able to discuss pre-contract terms with other clubs. Officials from Werder Bremen and Hannover 96, have already declared an interest in signing the centre-half.

The writing was on the wall for Mertesacker as soon as Arsenal signed £35m compatriot Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia. I don’t believe the departure of Mertesacker would create a personnel dilemma but Arsenal would lose an important emotional leader in the dressing room. Mesut Ozil, Francis Coquelin, Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi are all vocal leaders but Mertesacker is the leader. His inevitable departure will be difficult to overcome – especially off the field.

Regarding personnel, Gabriel Paulista, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers make for both adequate and promising backup centre-back options. Therefore, a new centre-back would not be necessary once Mertesacker is sent packing.

Santi Cazorla’s contract also concludes at the end of this season. He is yet to be offered a new deal but told Cadena SER (via Sky Sports News) that he would gladly sign a new contract. Fellow Pain In The Arsenal contributor Tom Van Oosterhout wrote a splendid article detailing why Arsenal should re-sign the ‘Little Magician’ to a new contract and I completely agree with everything that he had to say.

Nonetheless, a contingency plan should be made just in case Cazorla decides to return to Spain. Saul Niguez and Corentin Tolisso have been mentioned as potential replacements and I would not be immune to signing one of them even if Cazorla decides to stay.

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In his 4-2-3-1 system, Arsene Wenger likes to employ a more creative, box-to-box midfielder (Cazorla, Ramsey, Wilshere) alongside an enforcer (Coquelin, Elneny, Xhaka). Besides the fact that Cazorla’s days in an Arsenal shirt are numbered, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere are infamously injury-prone and therefore, purchasing another box-to-box midfielder would be a wise purchase.

Nacho Monreal is another Spaniard who could soon be ushered out the door. Don’t get me wrong, he has been ‘Mr.Reliable’ over the past few seasons but hasn’t been his usual self this season – bringing Kieran Gibbs back into the conversation at left-back.

There were rumors that Monreal could return to Spain during the summer and Arsenal were coincidentally rejected by Monaco full-back Djibril Sidibe. Sidibe made it clear however that he would like to compete in the Premier League next season, and if Monreal is unable to hold off the resurgent Gibbs, he could find himself replaced by Sidibe come next season.

Next: Arsenal: Olivier Giroud Replacement Hilarious Turn Of Fate

Arsene Wenger has built a squad that will hopefully battle for the Premier League crown come the end of the season. Let’s hope that he can continue to provide competitive squads moving forward as well.