Arsenal: Surely there is no Stephan Lichtsteiner decision to make

Stephan Lichtsteiner has stated that a decision is yet to be made on his future. From an Arsenal perspective, however, surely there is no decision to make.

In the 2017/18 season, Hector Bellerin played more than 3000 minutes of league football alone. In all competitions, that figure was much closer to 4000 minutes. And of those 4000 minutes, a large proportion were hampered by a series of injuries, primarily to the ankle, meaning that he was playing at 70 or 80% for much of the year.

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Arsenal had to make a change in the 2018 summer. But with little money and plenty of other positions that required substantial spending, the need at right-back had to be satisfied in an economical manner. And so, in came 34-year-old, free-agent full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner on a one-year deal.

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That year is now nearly at its end. And Lichtsteiner’s future, as well as the future of the right-back position with Bellerin nursing an ACL tear and depth still a concern, with or without Lichtsteiner, is again up for debate. Speaking this week to Neue Zurcher Zeitung, during the March international break, Lichtsteiner admitted that a decision is yet to be made:

"“This will need time. The fact that I play at a top club at the age of 35 says enough. There have been talks [with Arsenal]. We have to see if it suits both sides. Arsenal is a big club, I feel very happy. But I want to play regularly with regard to the European Championships. It was okay this year. But if the coach says that he no longer counts on me, I have to worry.”"

Now, I understand if he is yet to make a choice on whether he wants to stay at the Emirates or potentially look for a new club. He will never be the starter under Unai Emery, assuming all goes well with Bellerin’s rehabilitation, and if he wants regular football, he will have to go elsewhere to find it.

But from the club’s perspective, surely there is no decision to be made here. While I agreed with the Lichtsteiner acquisition when it was made and still back the logic of the decision now, the Gunners must hold their hands up and accept that they made the wrong decision is signing him, buying a player that was long past his best and could not deal with the tempo of top-tier Premier League football.

In Bellerin’s stead, Lichtsteiner has proved time and time again that he is not of the required quality for a top-four challenging team, even as a reserve. Ainsley Maitland-Niles and even Carl Jenkinson have performed better than him this season.

The decision on Lichtsteiner’s future, therefore, should not be one that he makes. Arsenal should be quite emphatically stating that no extension will be offered. The fact that there have been ‘talks’, then, is a little concerning. The Lichtsteiner calamity could run on longer than it should.