Arsenal: Who’s replacing who in the midfield shake-up?

Arsenal have a lot of moving pieces in the midfield, so let’s take a moment to reset and look at all of these moves and what to expect.

Arsenal’s midfield was thinning drastically as the season wore down, and with more moves coming to fruition, and more yet to come, it makes sense that there is a bit of confusion regarding how the team will line-up and who is being brought in to replace who.

While we can’t say for sure until we know how Unai Emery will line up and, for that matter, who else will be brought in or sold, we can start to look at similarities and figure out who is replacing who.

Obviously the two main exits are Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla. The former was a regular contributor this past year and the latter was a beloved member for years.

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Thus far, no official moves have been announced, but Lucas Torreira is as close to official as you can be without being official. I mean, the Sampdoria president and Torreira’s agent both announced it, more or less.

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What we were looking for going into this window was essentially a replica for what we had, with a few key additions. For all the weaknesses the Gunners had, the midfield was not one of them. Granit Xhaka is a staple, Aaron Ramsey is a staple (he’s going to stay, damnit).

Behind them, we have a reliable Mohamed Elneny.

This made shopping pretty easy. We needed a ball winner, a pivot option, and probably an extra body without an specific qualities.

Conveniently, Torreira takes the ball-winner spot as well as being a pivot option. Which is a double win for the Gunners, ideally replacing both Wilshere and Cazorla in one fell swoop. Meaning that their is now tremendous flexibility in terms of how the rest of the midfield is fleshed out.

Case and point: Ever Banega and Marouane Fellaini are both being rumored, and they couldn’t be much more different in terms of qualities as a midfielder. Fellaini brings the presence that no other midfielder we have offers, while Banega could fill in as another pivot option. Versatility looks to be the name of the game, and we have to love it.

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Of course, if Aaron Ramsey leaves, this is all thrown out the window and we have to start thinking much bigger picture. So let’s just hold our breath until he signs that deal.