Arsenal: Desperation for Riyad Mahrez still desirable

Riyad Mahrez, it has been reported, would welcome a move to Arsenal or Spurs. While it may seem like desperation, wanting Mahrez would be nonetheless desirable and beneficial for the Gunners.

The futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are becoming increasingly clear. As time steams ahead and no progress is made, with now a little eight months remaining on their current contracts, it seems as though both will be leaving Arsenal this season, either in the January transfer window, or on a free at the end of the season. Either way, replacements will have to be found.

Last season, Sanchez and Ozil had a direct involvement in 51 Premier League goals – Sanchez had 24 goals and 10 assists; Ozil had eight goals and nine assists. Such production is not easily replaced.

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Moreover, their impact on the team, and their influence on games, is not merely measured by the number of goals and assists that they contribute. Although that is their primary aim, as attacking players, they bring more to the table than just goal scoring and goal creating. Ozil sets the tempo of the Arsenal passing, often dropping deeper into midfield, dictating play, sliding passes into the more advanced players; Sanchez is an instigator, a risk-taker, a catalyst. He will create space for others by simply being present, such is the relentless threat that he poses. That impression is as equally difficult to replace.

But if they leave, that is what Arsenal must do. The £47 million addition of Alexandre Lacazette does provide them with a genuine goal-getter. He is a ruthless finisher, a true poacher, with a knack for scoring goals. But he is not the same creative threat that Sanchez and Ozil are. He cannot, frequently, at least, create goals out of nothing. He requires service.

That service would usually come from Sanchez or Ozil. But with them gone, he could well be starved. A dip into the murky waters of the transfer window, then, is vital. It is something that Arsene Wenger does not like to do. But even he, in his hesitance to spend, must concede that help is needed.

Thankfully, help may be on its way, even if it looks a little desperate. Riyad Mahrez is reportedly interested in a move to either Arsenal or Spurs. He publicly stated that he would like to leave Leicester City in the summer, and while that never came to pass, it is safe to assume that he still holds the same desire to leave.

He may not be the established, renowned, European name that Ozil and Sanchez are. But that does not make him a viable option to explore. He has experience of the Premier League, has proven that he can flourish in English football, and offers those individual moments of brilliance that Arsenal would be lacking without Ozil and Sanchez.

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Mahrez may seem like a desperate attempt to find someone, anyone, who could adequately replicate the attacking threat that Ozil and Sanchez pose. But sometimes desperation leads to a viable solution, and, in this case, I believe that to be true.

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