Arsenal and Kingsley Coman: Now that’s a proper winger

Arsenal are being linked with a £44 million move for Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman. The Frenchman would be the perfect signing. He is a proper winger. Unfortunately, I would be surprised if anything ever came of the rumours.

There weren’t many positions that Arsenal couldn’t afford to invest in entering the summer. While every fan and analyst and pundit had their own priorities for the club regarding which positions needed to be focused on, few were arguing that there was only one or two specific needs. The Gunners had much work to do in a vast array of areas of the team.

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And so, they got to it. Shortly after June turned to July and the footballing world’s gaze was still firmly planted on Russia and seeing whether football could catch a flight home or not, Ivan Gazidis was busy introducing his fifth signing, a young midfielder by the name of Matteo Guendouzi for a reported £7 million.

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The five signings have directly addressed all of the most pressing needs of the squad: goalkeeper, centre-half, reserve right-back, defensive midfield, and adding more young talent. That is efficient work. And now, with a little over three weeks remaining of the transfer window, there is only one real troubling issue that needs to be addressed: a real, proper, traditional winger.

While neither were of the elite quality that most fans wanted, after the departures of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott in the past year, there is a clear lack of direct, intentional, pacy width in this squad. The current players that are capable of playing out wide are either adapted strikers who have the physical and athletic qualities for the position but are perhaps being misused or central attacking midfielders who like to drift around the pitch, rather than staying in the wide channel.

Good news, then, that Arsenal are being linked with a £44 million move for Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman. The Frenchman, who suffered an injury-stricken season and missed out on the World Cup winning squad, as a result, has fallen behind both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery at the Allianz and, according to reports, could be convinced to further his career elsewhere.

If there is any chance of signing Coman, Arsenal should not hesitate. He is a special talent who directly addresses a position of need. Exceptional with the ball at his feet, boasting a rare turn of speed, explosive acceleration and lovely technique and touch when dribbling, he is an extremely difficult man to defend against, especially when out wide in one-on-one situations.

That is the type of player that Unai Emery does not currently have at his disposal. There is no player in the squad that has both the quality and willingness to pick up the ball and drive at the opposing defender. They are all ball-playing, creative attackers or channel-stretching strikers who want through-passes played in front of them, not to their feet. Coman is exactly what Arsenal need.

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Will this ever actually happen? I sincerely doubt it. I doubt that he would want to leave. I doubt that Bayern would want to sell. I doubt that Arsenal have the money to afford the wages and transfer fee. But this is the type of player that should be targeted. Coman is a proper winger, and that is just perfect.