Arsenal: Top 5 summer positions of need

3. Winger

The attack is undoubtedly the strength of this team. With the club transfer record having been broken twice in the last six months on Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it is easy to see, both in terms of personnel and production, that goals are not necessarily the problem.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

However, if there is one position that is a little depleted in the attacking area of the pitch, then it is on the sidelines: There is no natural, traditional, chalk-on-his-boots, ankle-snapping, leg-breaking winger in this squad. There are a lot of creative, inside-drifting, ball-playing wide midfielders, Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan being the leading names in that department, but there is no old-fashioned winger. That will be an issue.

When the Arsenal attack is stifled, it is often because of two issues. They play the ball through the lines slowly, meaning that the opposition are not moved out of their defensive shape, and they play with a lack of width, resulting in a narrow, cramped pitch that easily defended. A natural winger would certainly help the latter of those issues.

How many players in the current squad could pick up the ball on the halfway line and skip past a defender in a one-on-one situation? How many players in the current squad could drive the by-line and whip in a wicked, swinging cross? How many players in the current squad have the patience and the will to stand out on the wing, waiting for the ball, often resigned to the peripheries of the game? Yes, a winger is needed.