Arsenal: The top two solutions to each of Mikel Arteta’s 3 targeted positions

Mikel Arteta has supposedly picked out the three positions Arsenal need this summer, so here are the three best players at each of those positions.

Arsenal’s summer can’t begin to take form until we know how the Premier League table shapes up, but according to reports, Mikel Arteta has three positions that need to be targeted regardless of where the club finishes.

Apparently, those three positions are centerback, holding midfielder, and the slightly ambiguous “attacker.” The former two we know good and well, and we are well aware that it doesn’t matter where we finish, we still need to fix those positions. But the lattermost, the “attacker,” is less clear. It might mean striker, which is dependent on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, or it might mean attacking midfielder.

But we will cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let’s get into the top two solutions at each targeted position of need. We start at centerback.

Centerback

Seeing as how Arsenal are already getting William Saliba when he finally joins us from loan, and given that Calum Chambers will probably be back and healthy by the time next season actually starts, one good centerback should tide us over. That will give David Luiz another year to be our veteran leader at the position, with two highly qualified understudies, plus whoever we end up signing.

These top two candidates should come as no surprise to anyone, and neither one is Chris Smalling. The first is Dayot Upamecano, whose price could drive the Gunners away. The second is Jonathan Tah, who should be our top priority even if Upamecano can be won over simply because he’s going to end up being cheaper and he’s also much more proven than Upamecano.

In the end, though, either one of these guys would be a massive win for this club and it would shape up this defense for years to come. For the first time in a decade, we could have complete and total confidence in this backline. And oh how nice that would be.

Moving on to the holding midfield.