Arsenal: 4 vital transfers to facilitate final window spending

Strikers – Alexandre Lacazette & Eddie Nketiah

In the modern age, transfers are almost more important than results. Fans flock to the papers and social media baying for the arrival of a statement signing, one that allows them to one-up their rivals and get the internal gratification that comes with large transfer fees.

Not only do they feel good, they’re also seen as a reflection of the player’s ability. Arsene Wenger’s famous Rob Holding comments spring to mind.

But marquee or ‘big’ signings do more than tickle the tastebuds; they provide a boost for the supporters and a lift in and around the training ground. Players aren’t ignorant to what takes place in football and they know if a Mesut Ozil-esque big-money acquisition is made that the club who employs them is serious, and they need to be too. Competition and intensity rise.

Should Odegaard’s signing be completed as expected, he will arrive as someone familiar to the club, players and staff. In some ways it’s a ‘safe’ option. That which does not imply it’s the wrong one to make.

For the talisman arrival, nowhere would suit that better than at centre-forward. It wasn’t a position that was felt to be as important, but form and transfer activity, or lack thereof, elsewhere in the squad has altered that landscape.

However, whoever comes in can’t do so without two players being moved on. Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette have to be sold or else this move is stopped in its tracks. Lacazette more so than Nketiah, but until that comes to fruition there will be no new centre-forward.

Get these moves over the line (quickly) and a striker with presence, potential and experience and the club can lean more towards what would be deemed a successful window.

Odegaard may arrive as the facilitator in the squad, but Laca and Eddie could rival him for that title for different reasons.

Continued…