Pain in the Arsenal
Fansided

Arsenal: 2 standby midfield transfers in Premier League

By Ross Kennerley

WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MAY 09: Yves Bissouma of Brighton and Hove Albion battles for possession with Ruben Neves of Wolverhampton Wanderers during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion at Molineux on May 09, 2021 in Wolverhampton, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Tim Keeton - Pool/Getty Images)
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MAY 09: Yves Bissouma of Brighton and Hove Albion battles for possession with Ruben Neves of Wolverhampton Wanderers during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion at Molineux on May 09, 2021 in Wolverhampton, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Tim Keeton - Pool/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
Arsenal, Ruben Neves
Arsenal: 2 standby midfield transfers in Premier League that Mikel Arteta could target if other signings don’t arrive in summer window. (Photo by Tim Keeton – Pool/Getty Images) /

Restlessness begins to kick in as Arsenal leave the tunnel in west London and take the to the Brentford Community Stadium. Mohamed Elneny walks out with his midfield partners Emile Smith Rowe and the ghost of Granit Xhaka. Thomas Partey is injured. The away end groans.

Supporters may be beginning to dread such an eventuality. As the transfer window ticks on without any central midfield additions ready for an immediate impact, perhaps the aforementioned horror story could come to fruition.

It won’t, though. Surely not.

Granted it’s just over three weeks until the opening day of the Premier League season, but Arsenal still have time to get their business concluded even if the signings would do well to arrive in time to have a chance of taking on Thomas Frank’s side.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Arsenal: 2 standby midfield transfers in Premier League that Mikel Arteta could target if other signings don’t arrive in summer window

Albert Sambi Lokonga is an excellent addition, full of upside and potential with all the bells and whistles, much like Nuno Tavares, who will come in and do a job behind Kieran Tierney that he has actually been trained to do for more than a few days.

More is certainly needed and central midfield (that elusive Partey partner) is the most significant of all. It has to be right. This isn’t one Arsenal can fluff up.

Ahead of flying out to Florida, the club haven’t got especially far. Manuel Locatelli, from all that we’re being led to believe, is a waiting game. Arsenal have told Sassuolo they’ll pay what is demanded and can do no more aside from hope Juventus can’t stump up the cash and that Locatelli is willing to move to England over staying in Serie A, which he doesn’t appear to be.

What happens if Arsenal fail in this pursuit? It would seem a lot of effort has been put into this chase. The club are left to see what Juventus end up achieving, by which point more time could pass without any midfield reinforcements.

The importance of bringing players in early is so that they can be integrated into the group and begin absorbing the manager’s ideas, as well as getting up to speed with the Premier League.

Unless that is, if they are already Premier League footballers.

Arsenal can’t enter anything with an arrogant mindset but they have two targets that they’ve been linked with all summer that have since gone cold. They may very well be the backup options at hand.

Continued…

Home/Arsenal News