Arsenal: Riyad Mahrez offers crucially missing expertise

Arsenal are yet again linked to a move involving Riyad Mahrez. If he does come to the Emirates, he brings in expertise we don’t have.

Here we go again Gooners! Just like we were last year, Arsenal are again linked to Riyad Mahrez. We all know how popular Mahrez was last year as he was one of the key players for a Leicester City squad that shockingly won the title. Last season Mahrez lit up the BPL scoring 16 goals in league competition and scoring one in the EFL Cup.

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However, this past season for Mahrez was one to absolutely forget. Throughout all competitions, he only scored a whopping ten goals. Not to forget that four of them occurred in the Champions League, meaning only six came in the BPL (no goals in the FA or EFL Cup). There can be a plethora of conclusions for the downfall of Mahrez.

You can say that collectively as a team, Leicester just had a poor season. At one point, Leicester were fighting to stay above the relegation zone. They succeeded but it came with a major consequence: the sacking of Ranieri. Leicester performed better with Shakespeare as the manager, but it did not alter the fact that the team played poor.

Another reason could be the N’Golo Kante effect. Kante left Leicester for Chelsea last summer, leading Chelsea to a title and leaving Leicester in the dust.

The last thing I could say about Mahrez is that he could be a one hit wonder. Drop the mic Sanjesh, but it could be true depending on his performance next season. He had a fantastic 2015/2016 season which had many hyping him up, but he obviously fell in 2016/2017.

But news has broken out that Mahrez wants out of Leicester, according to numerous reports. According to goal.com, Monaco have backed out of the Mahrez race, leaving Arsenal the favorites to land the forward. 

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This could be good news for Arsenal. The loss of Champions League play may not attract many high profile players, but that is not the case for Mahrez. Arsenal can offer him European competition in the form of the Europa League. Hey, that is better than nothing right?

Mahrez also offers the expertise we do not see at Arsenal. In the 3-4-3 system, there are not wingers, but forwards that are utilized. Mahrez is not a striker, but he can fit behind the striker as one of the two attacking options. The only real problem is that he will have to be behind Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, assuming they both agree on new contracts.

But think about it. The Gunners have wingers such as Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Joel Campbell (if he stays after returning from loan), but Mahrez is already a better option than all of them. Walcott has been impressive this season, but the 3-4-3 does not offer much for him. Iwobi and Reine-Adelaide are still growing and Campbell is expected to leave when he returns.

Next: Arsenal 2016/17 team of the season

So let me pose you one final question: Would you rather add Riyad Mahrez to your lineup or keep what we have and not improve the quality of our roster?