Arsenal eye cut-price Guido Rodriguez deal to replace Xhaka

Guido Rodriguez is Not What Arsenal Need

Arsenal’s midfield for next season is of exceptional importance. As Mikel Arteta aims to keep his job with a strong start to the coming campaign, he will need to have players who will be there to hit the ground running.

Additions across the team will arrive from UK shores and afar, but in midfield the necessity to have someone that will need little to no bedding in period and can produce a high level of performances from the off is going to be so crucial.

Ruben Neves may not be the most inspiring replacement for Xhaka, but at least he’s primed and ready to come into a division he knows well. Premier League experience will count for a lot in that regard.

Rodriguez performs well for blocks, tackles, interceptions and aerials won and pretty much nothing else, but whether he’s got the right skillset or not is irrelevant if he is going to require weeks and months to find top form.

That isn’t to say, of course, that there aren’t players who can arrive from different leagues and take to English football and their new manager’s ways like a duck to water. Bruno Fernandes is a prime example but central midfield can be unforgiving. It can work but it most certainly can fail, too.

At 27 years old and with one La Liga season under his belt having moved to Betis from South America, it constitutes a lot of risk. Whether these claims, which won’t go away, are to be fully believed or not, Arsenal still need someone in the engine room who will add stability and foundation from the moment they set foot through the door.

For £27m, Rodriguez is not that man. There may well be a risk to take at some stage on talent in that department, but they have to be special.