Arsenal & Mikel Arteta’s next transfer window step

With the singing of centre back Ben White to partner with Gabriel Magalhaes in front of the goalkeeper, Arsenal and Mikel Arteta have continued to tweak and add to the roster that looks different from either Arsene Wenger or Unai Emery’s club by just degrees. With Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares also purchased by the club, the Gunners have spent a good amount of money, while players are still only trickling out of the squad.

Granit Xhaka will now certainly not be leaving, as the club announced he’d be staying now instead of leaving for Roma. The same likely will not be said about too many other names, such as possibly Alexandre Lacazette, Lucas Torreira, the want away Willian Borges, Reiss Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock and even Hector Bellerin. Yet should all these moves be made, who will be brought in as August greets us all?

From what I have been able to tell, and I am not alone in this observation, the club is going very young when and where it can; might it continue to look to solve its problems through its own and other teams’ youth?

Might the club, after stocking up on younger players, look for a real, veteran name to really provide a stamp on the club and on this summer business? What are the plans for the rest of this summer exactly? Let us explore the questions.

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Arsenal and the rest of this summer window: Not done, but probably not too busy purchasing either….Unless?

It is not explicitly understood how much Arsenal have to spend this summer, as it never is. The Kroenke family, who I’ve famously torched (alongside all of the Gooners in existence) keeps this fact close to their vest until spending needs to be done.

Yet much of this spending so far has come with only minor sales accomplished to furnish the purchases, meaning that no matter how the coin purse looks like now, the inevitable transfers away from north London will mean more money to spend on either depth or great, impactful players.

While Laca is likely to go for the most on the market, it would be a shame to lose a player with such skill; it could be worthwhile to keep him for another year to see if his productivity improves. Losing him would mean either a greater workload for the younger strikers like Eddie Nketiah or Folarin Balogun, or that another transfer would have to be engineered to accommodate the initial move.

The other aforementioned names however, with Bellerin being most obvious, could generate a pretty penny for buying more players; Willock and Maitland-Niles too, although less proven than Bellerin, are young, versatile midfielders who have such massive ceilings above them.

While Bellerin seems destined to leave the Gunners one way or another, the other two don’t need to leave necessarily. Having Willock and Maitland-Niles back in the fold, properly incorporated of course, might be, “like a new signing”, to quote the legendary Wenger.

By selling each player, enough money might be raised to purchase a really sensational offensive midfielder to give Arsenal’s attack a real edge and creative authority this season. It is a complicated dance: keeping, selling and buying players. If it were as easy as on FIFA, like so many assume, less jobs would be in constant rotation than currently are across the global.

Which of the number ten’s might Arsenal end up with, should they endeavor for one as one of their final moves?

Number Tens and the Summer Transfer Window: An Arsenal Story

Who will be chosen and purchased? Martin Odegaard? James Maddison? Aaron Ramsey? Houssem Aouar? Isco? Bernardo Silva? Julian Brandt? It is difficult to say of course, and only conjecture exists at this point; Aouar or Maddison would be supreme, as would Bernardo Silva and Julian Brandt, although the latter two don’t have a prayer. Good old Ramsey would be the least expensive initial outlay, and its not as though Ramsey is without ability. He is still a viable force, just simply not in Turin.

Odegaard, only 22 years old, should he be able to find his way back to north London from Madrid, would be simply marvelous. He was getting better as the season wore on last year and will fit in smoothly with the teammates he’s already gotten to know over the course of the second half of last season.

Silva meanwhile, is someone I truly love to watch, yet Arsenal can’t afford the player. Should they be able to, the Portuguese international can play out wide and in the middle of the pitch; he would be a dream for Arteta to have again after his time at City with Pep Guardiola and the entire gang.

I think the 23-year-old Aouar or Maddison are players to shoot for. One is all we need, and both have a lot of ability, as well as still untapped potential. Aouar with eight goals and four assists adds more talent and playmaking ability immediately, while the 24-year-old Maddison, with 11 goals and ten assists across all competitions last season, is a proven Premier League commodity who is both tough and wonderfully skilled. It is impossible to go wrong with either by my estimation, save for injuries of course.

Arteta, should he find himself lucky, might only need to sell a few of the less prominent players to get himself nearer a number that his club could pull out of pocket to finish whatever deal can be agreed to. Should this come to fruition, the Gunners might just have touched up their team enough to really give their purely English season all they’ve got.