Arsenal: No Fabinho, no problem

Arsenal made a late swoop for Fabinho, but it was’t enough, as Liverpool continued their spending spree. But that’s okay. We didn’t need him anyway.

Liverpool are well on their way to rejoining the Premier League elite… in terms of money spent in pursuit of some form of silverware. They landed Fabinho, a long time Arsenal “dream” target for all of £39m, kicking off the transfer window before the transfer window even opened.

For many, this hits the gut pretty hard, as Fabinho was seen as a primary solution to a primary problem – the midfield situation. It’s hard to argue with that, as he boasted all of the primary characteristics that the Gunners needed, assuming they wanted a deep-sitting, defensive midfielder with the pivot role down pat.

Which they did.

But now that he is off the books, we have to start looking at others like him, which is where the opportunity starts to open up. Because it was going to take some creativity to solve the four major issues that the Gunners had in this transfer window, and dropping that much money on one solution would have put them massively behind the eight-ball.

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Not that I would have been complaining, though.

So let’s talk names similar to Fabinho. Because right now, the two that the Gunners are linked to far more heavily than they were the Monaco man are viable options that could fill the need just as well.

The first is Dennis Praet, who everyone should be falling in love with immediately as the next best option. While he doesn’t have the goal production numbers of Fabinho, he also isn’t playing for one of the best teams in a Nerf league. He’s playing for a mid-table Italian team.

There’s plenty of reason to believe that with his talents, which are quite similar to Fabinho, that he can put up some solid goal scoring numbers. After all, Granit Xhaka had never put up eight assists until he had the weapons with which to do so, as he did this year.

If not Praet, Jean Michael Seri is an extremely viable option as well, albeit second best to the Belgian Praet. His mobility and athleticism make him a fantastic addition to a midfield like Arsenal’s, with so many questions.

Next: 3 Players Who It's Now Or Never For

The point is, Fabinho would have been great, but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking he was the only option. Far from it.

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Arsenal: No Fabinho, no problem – there are others

By Josh Sippie | May 29, 2018

Arsenal made a late swoop for Fabinho, but it was’t enough, as Liverpool continued their spending spree. But that’s okay. We didn’t need him anyway.

More from Pain in the Arsenal