Arsenal: Marouane Fellaini stonewall mirrors Jack Wilshere exit

Arsenal have missed out on Marouane Fellaini because they couldn’t give him what he wanted, but that is something that bodes well for everyone.

Arsenal’s midfield needs some rearranging, that much is certain. There were plenty of experiments made last season regarding who went where, and how many midfielders they could employ (somewhere between two and all of them).

What we ended up with was essentially what we started with – Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey, coupled with whoever else happened to be healthy and somewhat viable.

But if we want the midfield to truly latch on and do what they are capable of doing, that third spot needed to be filled, and it now is, with Lucas Torreira.

It’s what happens behind these three that will determine so much, though. The Gunners need to have viable options that can fill into multiple roles and they only have two right now – Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Mohamed Elneny.

Hence Marouane Fellaini.

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I get why he wasn’t a popular link. He’s not a popular guy in the first place, so the idea of him coming to Arsenal was never going to be that sexy of a move.

Still, the sense behind it was excellent – you get a guy who can fill in in a pinch, provide aerial dominance and defensive support and not cost much.

According to the report in the Times regarding his new two-year deal with Manchester United, Fellaini met with Sven Mislintat and was disenchanted by the meeting. This coming alongside the news that Fellaini wanted playing time assurances, which seems to go hand-in-hand with why he would have rejected a move to Arsenal – because they couldn’t give him what he wanted.

The magic behind the Fellaini move was in using him as a depth option. If he wanted more than that, then there was no reason to go after him, because our midfield is better than that.

This appears to be the same hiccup that faced Jack Wilshere – the inability to guarantee playing time. And honestly, I love that the team is taking a hard line. They know who they want in the midfield – Ramsey, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles, Torreira – and they are sticking with these guys, rather than dipping their fingers into all these options and promising what they could never deliver.

Next: Arsenal Complete 2017/18 Player Ratings

This is suddenly a team with a vision, and that vision is really taking shape in the midfield. Now we just have to lock down Ramsey and announce Torreira and the world will be perfect.

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