Arsenal: Leroy Sane or his equivalent must happen

Arsenal are somewhat ambitiously linked with a move for Leroy Sane. I have little to no faith that this will actually happen, but he, or his equivalent, is the type of player that this team requires.

Leroy Sane is not having a happy time. He was surprisingly omitted from Germany’s World Cup squad, has only been afforded 30 minutes of game time this season at Manchester City, as well as being dropped entirely from the matchday squad prior to the international break against Newcastle United, and has now returned home from duties with Germany.

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It is not yet fully known why he is enduring such a difficult time. There have been suggestions that he has an attitude problem and that both Pep Guardiola and Joachim Low are trying to send him a message with a little tough love. Whatever the case, it’s clear to see that Sane isn’t happy.

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And that has led to a rather ambitious rumour linking him with a move to Arsenal. Yes, me too. It sounds completely ridiculous. That’s because it is completely ridiculous. Not only would it be surprising if Sane wanted to leave City for a north London switch, but I’m not sure that the Gunners would first be able to afford his transfer and wages, then beat out the sure competition for his services, and then finally convince City to sell. Nevertheless, the ‘rumour’ — read: made-up nonsense — exists.

It does, however, highlight a current need in the Arsenal squad that Sane, or a Sane-type player, would directly address. In fact, perhaps other than centre-half or maybe full back, I would suggest that a player of Sane’s ilk is the biggest current need of the squad.

Of the attacking options that Unai Emery presently has available to him, none possess the speed, the quickness, the balance, agility and technical skill to dribble past defenders, whether it be in tighter spaces in and around the penalty, in one-on-ones in wide areas, or on the counter-attack when there are vast channels to drive into.

Sane is one of the most electrifying dribblers in the Premier League, as Arsenal have discovered on a number of occasions in the past. His blistering pace with the ball at his feet is tremendously difficult to defend against as he drives directly and intentionally forwards, not erring side to side, but committing to a line and then darting down it with breathtaking speed.

There is no one in this squad that can dribble anywhere close to the level that Sane can. Alex Iwobi is perhaps the only player with the speed of foot like the German, but he lacks the straight-line speed and the mental attitude to drive at and skip by defenders at pace. In fact, the closest to Sane’s dribbling ability may have been Reiss Nelson, who is now on loan at Hoffenheim.

Arsenal require a player very much like Sane. It won’t be Sane, whatever this made-up rubbish may spout. But he does represent the type of player the club should be targeting in the next few transfer windows.