Arsenal: Christopher Nkunku offers versatility, but is it needed?

Christopher Nkunku is again being named as a key target for Arsenal this summer. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder brings versatility, but is it actually needed?

After failing to secure a loan for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Christopher Nkunku in January, Arsenal choosing to sign the now doomed Denis Suarez instead, reports in the media, this time from the London Evening Standard, are claiming that the club is once more considering a move for the 21-year-old, though on a permanent basis not as a loan.

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The reported fee is £17.2 million with PSG reportedly happy to sell with Nkunku’s contract set to expire in 2020, understanding that receiving some value for a player who will leave for nothing a year later is a smart play — take note Arsenal.

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Nkunku’s primary asset is his versatility. An athletic midfielder akin to Ainsley Maitland-Niles, the Frenchman can play in a number of positions. Primarily a central midfielder or right midfielder, Nkunku also has the ability to play on the left wing, right wing, in all three central midfield positions, and even at full-back in a pinch. A player with such positional flexibility is an extremely important piece of the squad. Think James Milner at Liverpool and Ilkay Gundogan or Bernardo Silva at Manchester City.

I have long highlighted the importance of having versatile depth players in the squad. For a long time, Arsenal’s main weakness was their lack of support in their second XI, with key injuries often derailing their seasons. But this past season, the make-up of the squad has almost been flipped. It may not have had the top-end, elite talent, but the depth has been good, with strong benches named almost every week, other than when injuries or suspensions have ravaged the team.

At almost every position, the squad boasts decent depth. Although the likes of Alex Iwobi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Matteo Guendouzi, Nacho Monreal and Ainsley Maitland-Niles perhaps should not be considered as starting players in a top-four challenging team, but they are versatile, useful pieces of the puzzle if used in a more limited scope.

What is needed this summer is not more depth and versatility in the lower reaches of the squad. Instead, Arsenal should not be looking towards more elite players. They are more expensive and fewer can be added, but that is what will take this team from top-six also-rans to top-four challengers.

This does not make Nkunku a bad signing. For £17 million, signing a talented 21-year-old who Unai Emery obviously thinks a lot of is not to be scoffed at. But if only targets like Nkunku are acquired, individuals who are supporting cast members but not leading stars, that does not really help the squad all that much.

Nkunku would still be a smart signing. But the versatility and depth that he brings is not really what is needed. It must purely be supplementary.