Arsenal: Thomas Lemar transfer would be like beating a dead horse

Arsenal have many needs that must be addressed this summer, but overloading with Thomas Lemar piles more talent into a full cup.

When you start to talk about what Arsenal need this summer, everyone will start in a different place. Some will tell you we need a defender, some a defensive midfielder, some a winger, some a keeper. But it is always going to be one of those four things.

Personally, I don’t think we need a defender just yet, another midfielder would be nice, we certainly need to reassess our keeper situation and winger? Abso-freaking-lutely. We need nothing more than a wide man with pace and enthusiasm to stay our wide.

I emphasize stay out wide, because the current Arsenal attack is characterized by one key trait – the refusal to stay out wide.

Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alex Iwobi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – all have played as wide attackers, none of them are wingers. Even Reiss Nelson is reported as more comfortable playing centrally.

There are so many attackers that want to play centrally that Arsene Wenger literally has to stick the extras out wide and let them do their own thing.

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Aubameyang gave us a taste of what life with a true, speedy winger was like, but even he was more keen on getting inside and scoring. That’s what he is, after all, he’s a striker.

So you want to talk about Thomas Lemar? Not a chance. Lemar is not a speed merchant. He is not a touchline-hugger. He is someone who would prefer to play centrally, primarily creates by cutting inside and on’t play for that corner flag.

When we signed Mkhitaryan, the need for Lemar disappeared. Yes, he still has tremendous potential, but wasting however much money Monaco want for him on a player that plays the same game as a handful of other Gunners is stupid overkill.

Look for true wingers. Look for Leon Bailey, who would be cheaper. Look for Ousmane Dembele, a pipe dream perhaps. Look for these guys that hug the touchline, run for the corner flag and stretch the defense. No more of this narrow attack. We have so many people capable of populating that strategy.

We need a Plan B. We need speed, and as Aubameyang showed us, it can work fantastically. It will work even better if we get a natural winger like the many that are available.

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Arsenal have no true wingers on their books. No one that plays the way they need. They should ideally be after two such players, to give themselves the opportunity to have on each side. If they were to sign Thomas Lemar, they would still be two true wingers short of that quota.

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