Arsenal: A positive summer, despite financial doomsday

Unai Emery is conducting his summer business at Arsenal under a financial doomsday. And yet, despite the restrictions, this could still be an extremely positive window for the club.

The Europa League final was a tough pill to swallow. A win there would have moved Arsenal into the Champions League and provided the perfect foundation for the Unai Emery project to build off. But the ineptitude of the performance, allied with the late-season capitulation in the league, only served to prove that the current squad does not have what it takes to compete at the highest level. Substantial business, therefore, is required.

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Sadly, however, everyone knows that Arsenal are financially constraint. The Emery rebuild will be done on a shoestring. As such, it wouldn’t be surprising to see players leave to increase the transfer budget. The departures of David Ospina, Aaron Ramsey, Denis Suarez, Petr Cech, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Danny Welbeck have already reduced the wage bill by £410,000 per week, just a bit more than what a slacking Mesut Ozil earns, and more are set to come.

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It would not be surprising to see the likes of Ozil leave, along with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac, all of which would further bring down the wage bill. And then there is the dilemma of the centre-forwards. Can Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette play together? If they cannot, selling one would substantially boost the transfer kitty; if they can, tying them down to new contracts becomes the key priority of the summer.

But they are the sales. What about the potential incomings?

Well, it seems as though the main position of worry is the wing. Arsenal have attempted to bring in a quality player that can play out wide. Yannick Carrasco was the first to make the rounds, but that seems to be a dead end now, as does Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser. More recently, the name on everybody’s lips has been Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha. A £40 million offer has been made, but it falls well short of Palace’s £80 million valuation.

It is quite evident that Arsenal are in the market for a winger and either Zaha or Carrasco could be the answer to the problem. Carrasco would be the cheaper of the two, but Emery may be tempted to favor the Premier League proven Zaha over him. A move for Zaha may require the sale of Aubameyang or Lacazette, however, which would certainly not go down particularly well with large portions of the fan base.

Moving back through the team, the defence is another focal point of this transfer window. It is no secret that Arsenal’s defending cost them points last season. It has to be dealt with in this window. There are promising reports making their way through the rumour mill, with the likes of Joachim Andersen, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano and Samuel Umtiti all being linked with a potential north London move. With Sokratis and Laurent Koscielny the two starters and three unproven back-ups, a quality centre-back is a huge need this summer.

Another interesting prospect is Kieran Tierney, who would naturally take the role of left-back. Celtic value Tierney at £25 million, but Arsenal have only offered up to £18 million at this point and seem adamant that they can sign him for less than £20 million, possibly with the prospect of including Carl Jenkinson to sweeten the deal. He would be a significant improvement at a problem position and would represent excellent value if a deal can be agreed upon.

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All in all, then, the defence could see a major overhaul, with the likes of Saliba and Tierney possibly completing their moves to Arsenal, while the attacking options could also be bolstered through Wilfred Zaha, Yannick Carrasco, or even free agent signing Yacine Brahimi. If all goes well, this summer could yet turn out to be a positive one, despite the financial doomsday.

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