Arsenal: Dipping into Arda Turan past a neat stop-gap

Turkey manager Mircea Lucescu confirmed that Arsenal made an offer for Arda Turan and were close to signing him. Dipping back in again for the Turk would present a neat stop-gap.

As the possibility of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil leaving Arsenal in the summer grew, Arsene Wenger began to make hay on potential replacements for the pair. Although the club-record addition of Alexandre Lacazette early in the summer somewhat steadied the attacking forces in the squad should either leave, he alone would not be sufficient to replace what would have been lost.

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When players of Ozil’s and Sanchez’s quality depart, it is extremely difficult to find a single individual capable of taking their role. Sometimes, it better serves the team to buy two or three players to replace just one, using aspects of each to come together and replicate the missing influence.

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And while neither Ozil nor Sanchez exited in the summer, and Wenger was never committed to signing a replacement, by those that he targetted, it is reasonable to conclude that he also thought that one individual would not enough to maintain the same attacking potency of his team.

One of the players that Wenger reportedly targetted was unwanted, or, at least, unused, Barcelona man Arda Turan. There were several reports linking him with a move to North London, with the prospect of regular, first-team football being a particularly appealing one to someone who had played just 2060 minutes of La Liga football in the past two years, which, for Turan, was nearly 300 minutes less than he played in his last season for Atletico Madrid.

The reports, though, were never verified, and as deadline day came and went without as much as a whisper, it was assumed that the interest was never all that strong. But, in recent days, Turkey manager Mircea Lucescu revealed that there was an offer from the Gunners, and that Turan was close to making the switch:

"“I spoke to Valverde, Arsenal made Arda an offer. Arda was on the verge of joining Arsenal this summer but it did not go through. Galatasaray wanted him but it did not happen, same with Monaco. Arda is going through a tough time.”"

That is a past link that I think Wenger would be wise in exploring. Even though Sanchez and Ozil stayed for another season beyond last summer, at least one, if not both, will leave the club this season, whether it be in the January transfer window or next summer. Replacements will have to be found. Now, Turan is far from a capable option on his own. But he is an experienced and accomplished stop-gap, that would help aid the process of dealing with such significant losses.

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Turan is a Turkish international with 100 caps, in his third season with Barcelona, having featured heavily for four years before that with Atletico Madrid, and is an extremely solid performer on the European stage. He is not the flashy name. He does not have the high profile. He is not the best player that Arsenal could sign. But as a stop-gap replacement, there are few better available.