Arsenal: Emil Forsberg as practical as a second manager

Arsenal are being persistently linked to another creative attacker that isn’t a winger. Emil Forsberg is great, but he makes no sense whatsoever.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before – Arsenal are linked with a No. 10 type midfielder. It seems to happen perpetually. No matter how many No. 10 types the Gunners have, and they presently have about six or seven spread across the pitch, they will always be linked to more.

There was a time when Emil Forsberg seemed like the best idea ever. The Gunners had Mesut Ozil all alone in the No. 10 role and he needed a foil to help him do the creative duties. This was on the back of Forsberg’s 19 assist season at RB Leipzig so, naturally, the reasoning was sound.

Nowadays things are different. Seeing Forsberg linked again makes me wonder just how much creative attacking is too much. Because Arsenal certainly have too much already. It would be like hearing that the Gunners are actually going to hire Mikel Arteta also, and let both managers work together. It’s impractical.

When they landed Henrikh Mkhitaryan, all second-guessing was set aside. This was the Ozil foil, this was what Forsberg would have been if Leipzig had decided to part ways with him. They didn’t, both parties moved on, end of story.

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Only it wasn’t. Because every single person that has ever been linked to the Gunners is now going to have a “fresh slate” with a new manager.

Here’s the thing with Forsberg – somebody would be sitting. Between him and Ozil and Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey, someone is sitting. And no one in that quad of players deserves to be sat because they are all fantastic options.

Now, perhaps you could say that Forsberg would provide added security and there is enough playing time to spread across four competitions. And that may be valid, but there is still a clear hierarchy that would leave some players further down the totem pole than they deserve.

Forsberg doesn’t make sense on the pitch and financially he doesn’t either. Early estimations have him costing about £45m, which is all of Arsenal’s supposed funds.

Which means that either he would be the crowning gem of the transfer window – at a position that is overloaded already, or someone would have to be sold to accommodate his arrival. And given his skill set, it would have to be Ozil or Mkhitaryan being sold to allow Forsberg justification for making the move.

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It’s senseless. Everything about it. That money could be used in so many better ways and it will be. Bring on the next rumor.

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