Arsenal: Hector Herrera transfer might be a bit of a stretch

Arsenal are starting to shop for Aaron Ramsey replacements, apparently, but Hector Herrera is not looking like the right kind of candidate.

Arsenal are doing the right thing, if the Aaron Ramsey drama holds up – they are preemptively searching for replacements. I’d hate to see them scrambling to find someone suitable, like they ended up doing last January with Alexis on the table.

Some of the names that are coming up are sensible. I still think Piotr Zielinski is a bit of a wild card, and therefore a risk, but he’s the right kind of risk to take. The payoff could be massive and, at worst, we get a quality creative option.

I also like the internal options. Perhaps letting Ainsley Maitland-Niles develop into the role, or even Matteo Guendouzi if he keeps progressing.

But Hector Herrera is not someone who strikes my fancy as a realistic option. The 28-year-old Mexican midfielder has his qualities. He absolutely does. But none of those qualities, other than being a hard worker, coincide with what we’d be losing in Ramsey.

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More than that, the things we would be gaining in Herrera are already had in ample quantities with other midfielders such as those mentioned above – Guendouzi, Maitland-Niles and obviously Lucas Torreira.

He doesn’t produce offensively, plain and simple. At least not to the Ramsey level. In his time at FC Porto, and he has been there since 2013, he has slotted home 27 goals. That’s a respectable tally for five years, as it averages out to about five goals a year.

But Ramsey scores five goals on an off year. His on years are beyond what Herrera has come close to doing, and the deficit in competitive level between England and Portugal probably doesn’t need to be covered in too much depth.

The one way I could see a use in Herrera is if he is coming in to be an option, rather than a solution. He does boast better and more consistent production than someone like Mohamed Elneny, but he could just as easily block off a youngster. Then again, he would assumedly carry with him the flexibility of not needing to be an every day player.

It’s a stretch. All of this is. I guess what we have to ask ourselves is do we trust the brain trust making these decisions, and frankly, I do. But… it really is a stretch isn’t it? I mean, this is Aaron Ramsey we’re talking about.