Arsenal: The position of need everyone is overlooking

Arsenal have plenty of positions of need that they must try and address this summer. But there is one that is largely being overlooked: right-back.

Entering the summer, it was clear that Arsenal had several different positions that required significant investment — and in some cases, major surgery, to the extent that the rubbish had to be rid of before any foundations could be rebuilt.

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Much has been said of the club’s need to address the centre-back, left-back, central midfield and wing positions. They are, in most people’s eyes, the most pressing needs of the team and should be the focus of Unai Emery and his measly £40-45 million budget. But there is another that I would like to highlight that might be being overlooked a little.

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To start the season, Arsenal could very easily have no fit natural right-backs available. Hector Bellerin is the presumed starter. He is dealing with an ACL tear and, as was reported earlier in the summer, is expected to be eased back into the team slowly, meaning that he will likely miss the first few weeks of the season. His direct back-up, Stephan Lichtsteiner, departed with the expiration of his contract, while Carl Jenkinson is also expected to be sold.

The only other option is the squad is Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who filled in admirably for Bellerin in the latter stages of last season. However, his defensive instincts are questionable and he performed much better in a right wing-back role. He is also a central midfielder by trade and is reportedly hoping to compete for a starting spot in the midfield. Relying on him to be Bellerin’s reserve to both start the season and then support him throughout the campaign would be foolish.

If Maitland-Niles was to commit fully to the right-back position, I guess this is not the most concerning aspect of the squad. But if he still feels like he wants to try his chops in midfield, he needs to commit his time to it, not stagnate sitting behind Bellerin.

And if that is the case, suddenly, as like last summer when Arsenal signed Lichtsteiner, the right-back options are running a little thin. For a team that has the finances to splash throughout the squad, it is not a major issue. Investment can be shelled out, right? But that is not where the Gunners currently are. They have other problems, more pressing problems, and not a lot of money to try and solve them.

It is not as if right-back is the biggest need of the team that must be solved this summer, but it could go untouched with the focus shifted towards other positions, and if it is, it may leave Emery underhanded, both at the start of the year and throughout it. Bellerin’s injury record is hardly the best, for instance.

Arsenal do not need to throw millions and millions at the position. They could just do with another body to beef up the numbers. We will see if they can find one.