Arsenal: Best possible starting XI with Nicolas Pepe

Arsenal are on the brink of announcing the gangbuster signing of Nicolas Pepe, so here is a look a the best possible starting XI with him in it.

Arsenal have done the impossible and look to be lining up the £72m deal of the century for Nicolas Pepe, to be paid in installments over five years. What this means for the rest of the transfer window is yet to be seen, and the deal hasn’t even been officially announced yet, even though David Ornstein is the next best thing.

Still, let’s start talking about how best to lineup this starting XI with his pending arrival. Because, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s not an easy thing to do, figuring out how to align with all this talent in one attack.

We know that Unai Emery prefers a back four, and wingbacks, at this point, make little sense anyway. So let’s just skip over the fiasco at defense, put it down as a back four, and move into the midfield and attack, because that’s what we’re all here to see.

It’s not an easy thing to finagle if we’re trying to keep a sturdy midfield that includes Dani Ceballos, as well as an attack that has two strikers and wingers. In fact, it’s nearly impossible.

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The most likely, and currently the best way until we see otherwise, is to utilize the 4-2-3-1, also known as the Wenger special. This wouldn’t allow Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette to start together though, unless we move Aubameyang, the Golden Boot winner, out to the left wing opposite Nicolas Pepe. Which is a dicey ask, since he is the Golden Boot winner.

Still, getting Dani Ceballos into his preferred No. 10 role is a big time priority, and the 4-2-3-1 is the only formation that facilitates that.

The other option, though, is to go with a 4-4-2, starting both our elite strikers up top, Pepe on one end and Dani Ceballos on the left side, where he also has some experience. Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira can then man the two base midfield positions.

Of course, none of these options involve Mesut Ozil either, and there’s really no way to incorporate him without making severe dents to the already severely-dented defensive capabilities. But if that’s the biggest drawback, then we’re doing okay.

There’s no easy way to answer this, but that’s not a bad thing. The best formation hasn’t presented itself yet, and that’s okay. We have so much attacking talent and so many different ways to use it.