Arsenal: Emil Forsberg may be overkill, but there’s a place for him

Arsenal have scattered surpluses at a couple different positions, one of which is in the creation department. That said. Emil Forsberg has a place.

Naturally, all the Arsenal transfer rumors are linking them to players they don’t actually need on the surface. Leftbacks, strikers and creative midfielders are dominating the headlines, with very few deep midfielders, defenders or rightbacks entering into the equation.

Emil Forsberg is another creative attacking midfielder. He is a No. 10 just like Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and, supposedly, Jack Wilshere now too.

And Forsberg is yet again being linked to the Gunners. A move over the summer was blocked by RB Leipzig, but this was when Forsberg was seen as an Ozil or Alexis replacement. Now that Ozil has stayed put and Alexis has been replaced, Forsberg would have to find a different capacity of use.

It may look like just added depth. The Swedish international would be in direct competition with Ozil and Mkhitaryan for what appears to be two positions in that starting 4-3-3, but we also have to consider that the formation often morphs into a 4-2-3-1, leaving Jack Wilshere in the central No. 10 role and Ozil and Mkhitaryan flanking him.

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Meaning that, should Wilshere leave, or should an extra punch be desired beyond what he offers, Forsberg could be seen as a replacement for Wilshere, to fit into that No. 10 and complete a trident of utter creative brilliance.

If ever there was a time to test the question of if there can be too much creativity, this would be the midfield to do it with. Because with these three, the Gunners would have the best in the world, and two of the remaining top 10-15 or so.

That said, Forsberg is not a deep-lying midfielder or playmaker and I would hope that any addition of him would not come accompanied with a desire to shoehorn him into a role he doesn’t play. That’s the benefit of having Wilshere there. Wilshere drops back, plays deep, and plays it well.

That said, a base two of Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka would more than satiate my misgivings, as they have proven to be adequate in their capacity of pushing play forward, though an added option or two there wouldn’t be the worst idea.

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If nothing else, Forsberg and Ozil and Mkhitaryan can all find plenty of playing time to suit their fancy, assuming the Gunners can stay competitive in all the competitions they want to stay competitive in.