So many transfer targets for Arsenal – they won’t do it all

Arsenal, like so many other teams with perennially high expectations, has been linked to tons of interesting players from across Europe as the summer transfer window kicks off properly. Names like Albert Sambi Lokonga, Joaquin Correa, Yves Bissouma, Donny van de Beek, Ben White, Alexander Isak and Andre Onana all reverberate with other more familiar names of transfer windows past like Nabil Fekir or Wilfried Zaha, Houssem Aouar and Julian Brandt.

For the Gunners, it is difficult to know who might fit best in the immediate and long term alongside the players we have on the squad; yet it is players like the above mentioned that will help to define what Arsenal are in the years to come as well. Important decisions must be made and money simply cannot be wasted by Edu or Mikel Arteta.

Some people are souring on the young boss already, asking what he’s done among other various bits. He has won twice as many trophies as Unai Emery, whom I believe was given a raw deal when patience was due him. In any case, the current boss must be allowed to get players that he desires in order to build his team the way he foresees it.

Should he have shown no real progress after this occurs, then perhaps the boot is in order. It is easy to be reactionary, yet revolutions require time and patience, consistency and subtle, gradual alterations. For this ‘Arsenal Revolution’, the Gunners need new breath within the halls of the Emirates.

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So many transfer targets for Arsenal but they won’t do it all in the summer transfer window despite exciting links

A name like Nabel Fekir would’ve been nice when he was departing Lyon. Instead of England, he went to Spain. His talent has diminished little and surely his creative vision could help to spark a more fluid pace from midfield on. He and Houssem Aouar are not clones, despite the Lyon connection, yet either of their acquisitions would be special for the Gunners; they would add skill and vision.

Donny van de Beek is a personal favorite of mine, and after how little he was used with Manchester United after he was purchased from Ajax, it would be marvelous if Arsenal could collect him at cut rate, despite the very faint links. He is offensive minded as are the last two names I mentioned, yet with Martin Odegaard unlikely to return to north London, and other midfield names moving out, he could very well offer a slightly cheaper, very much youthful new partner for either Fekir or Aouar.

Bissouma would be a very solid defensive choice, while Lokonga could be a younger alternative who might be able to grow under and alongside Thomas Partey behind the attack for many, many years to come. Should Arteta and Arsenal find solutions to the advanced middle of the pitch through Aouar, Brandt et al, someone like Lokonga adds depth and youth.

While Ben White would be another great innovation from Brighton along with Bissouma, Arsenal can also expect William Saliba back from his loan next season, ready and able to contribute as a still youthful option. White’s addition, set to be at the expense of Dinos, would be a big step towards improvement.

Andre Onana of Ajax and formerly Barcelona has all the talent in the world if he can only stay competing. With his sporting suspension reduced, his next season appears reasonable to expect big things from; yet his transfer number appears low still and totally reasonable for the Gunners. They should be giving Bernd Leno this level of competition at this price regardless of anything.

Possible. Inevitable. Transfer Business.

I will go out on the proverbial limb and say that Arsenal will go as young as they can while sprinkling in some older names where possible. I do not see any Wilfried Zaha nonsense, but someone of the Fekir or Aouar ilk – another playmaker like Maddison albeit a contrasting profile? – with the likely arrivals of Lokonga and Ben White appear inevitable.

This combination would accommodate Arsenal where it needs help, and should names like Ainsley Maitland-Niles or Hector Bellerin leave, then a right-back – Max Aarons is the preference – may need to be looked for as well.

It will all depend on how transfers out go, how the Kroenke coin purse looks and how much, feasibly, can be done in one window. Arsenal have been linked with a mountain of players so far and it is completely inconceivable that they will acquire all they’re after. Some positions will have to be sat on until a later date.

I think that the Gunners will get some good pieces though, and I think that we will see marked improvement fromm this year to next, as we thought we’d see from last year to today.

Only time will tell. And while there are so many choice of players to imagine us getting, it is always even more fun when the shock surprises occur and throw you into having to imagine a new way for the team to piece together.