Arsenal: Marcus McGuane puts Joe Willock use in question

Arsenal’s midfield is suspect in more ways than one, so with all of the attention being paid to Marcus McGuane, is Joe Willock really the answer?

Arsenal’s midfield is lacking in some key areas: depth, strength, defensive qualities and more. It’s what has led to such intense scrutiny of Granit Xhaka, who is not a defensive midfielder, yet is being forced to masquerade as one in tandem with his other responsibilities.

They lack in depth not so much in quantity, but quality. There are plenty of bodies there to play the roles, but not enough talent spread throughout those bodies.

As such, the likelihood of Arsene Wenger upping his deep midfield stock is quite slim. He isn’t one to upgrade a position just for the sake of upgrading. He first has to see that it can’t be filled with the means he already has.

Part of those “means” include the use of youngsters. The long-lost resource that can’t seem to push a steady supply-line of Premier League-relevant talent to the top flight.

Given the unlikelihood of Wenger bringing in a new player or two, our best bet may be to look towards the youth of the heart of that midfield, which includes two very promising young players – Joe Willock and Marcus McGuane.

It has been Willock who has been given the lion share of the opportunities. He has taken over in the secondary competitions as a go-to midfielder and has shown some positive qualities. He looks similar to Mohamed Elneny, only seven years younger and therefore with so much more upside.

But it is McGuane that is still corralling the lion share of the transfer attention. The English/Irish midfielder is tied to Juventus and Napoli, both of whom have been linked with him before, and he has been tied to top-tier Premier League clubs like Manchester United in the past too.

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Clearly the young midfielder has some boast-worthy talents. He is a regular in the Arsenal U23 set-up and has even displayed a penchant for heroics. But his true value comes in his ability to play the role that the Gunners lack at the senior club – the deep-lying enforcer. The fact that he can push up and contribute to the attack is just icing on the cake.

Willock has been solid with his time and there is plenty to be excited about with him. But the fact that we have players like him already in the senior team makes me wonder why McGuane isn’t given more time. Willock has made 11 appearances for the club, including six starts, across friendlies, the Europa League and the League Cup.

McGuane, meanwhile, has made just two substitute appearances in the Europa League for a grand total of 12 minutes.

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There is a lot of talent between these two midfielders. I just don’t get why, given the split of talent, the time split isn’t more equal. And apparently plenty of other clubs are willing to offer McGuane more than he is being given in North London. Presumably because he deserves more.