Arsenal: 3 transfer ideas even worse than Willian

1. Jesse Lingard

Did I say Smalling was the jester of the transfer circus? Maybe that was being too harsh on him. Because Jesse Lingard is definitely a jester. Not just of the circus though. Of like, everything. He’s just a jester.

The way I like to describe Jesse Lingard is as follows: He’s a creative midfielder without any creative faculties. He isn’t one to create chances, he doesn’t produce goals, he doesn’t dribble particularly well. He really doesn’t do much of anything well. He just plays the position that we need. And that’s that.

Arsenal needs creativity, so the one and only thing that makes sense about the link is that he plays the right position. That’s as far as it goes. He doesn’t do any of the actual work required to earn the title of a creative midfielder. It’s remarkable, really, how a guy who has had just one good season can still attract attention.

It’s going to be hard to outdo a link to Lingard. Like, really hard. Willian is free, Kurzawa is actually a good player, Smalling plays defense, but Lingard? Lingard is just… Lingard.