Arsenal transfers raise the floor – but not the ceiling

As far as incomings go, Arsenal managed to get six exciting and necessary signings over the line during the summer transfer window. Edu has rightly been called to account for his handlings but when it comes to getting deals completed, he’s filled that remit well this summer.

Richard Garlick will have helped along the way, no doubt, and the end result is a sextet all falling between the ages of 21 and 23. Their rough combined total is a club record £150m.

Despite what Gary Neville might waffle, the strategy over the course of this window was crystal clear. Vinai Venkatesham addressed Arsenal staff in the wake of deadline day stating that ‘our strategy is to fill our squad with some of Europe’s most exciting young talent’.

They’ve done that.

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Arsenal complete an exciting haul of six transfer for £150m that raise the floor of the team – but does it raise the ceiling enough for short-term success?

Nuno Tavares, Aaron Ramsdale and Albert Sambi Lokonga add depth in positions previously light. Two of those may be starting regularly under Mikel Arteta this season, even with a fully fit squad.

Ben White comes in as a direct David Luiz replacement in the heart of defence and priority target Martin Odegaard will assume his role in the No. 10 spot to add richly needed creativity and centrality. As for the final of the six, Takehiro Tomiyasu, given how the season has begun his place at right-back feels as close to nailed on as can be. This before kicking a Premier League football.

Bringing in young players with some, but not a lot, of experience on modest wages with development potential and the right attitude constitutes an entirely different approach. Flooding the squad with players embarking on their last ‘big’ moves who were considered to provide the short-term fix to a long-term problem has been banished.

It’s so, so long overdue. Gazing at the Premier League’s landscape, there is no hope of a top four berth this term. Impossible. How and when Arsenal will be able to be challenging for a Champions League spot again was the key question: not this season and likely not the one after, either.

Investing in a youthful side that can grow in unison, learn side by side and ideally peak together was the approach. With the caveat of not knowing whether this talent ID will prove successful yet, first impressions are positive.

The floor of this squad has been raised; Nuno Tavares over Sead Kolasinac; Aaron Ramsdale over Alex Runarsson; and Sambi over Elneny. Some, but not nearly all, of the deadwood has been moved on and this is a key step in the right direction.

Has the ceiling been raised, though? Do these deals lean to imperative success on the horizon? This is the grey zone.

Continued…

Arsenal Didn’t Sign Enough Talent for the Now

The front four is the same, with the exception of a now fully fit Martin Odegaard whose mind is fixed on Arsenal and Arsenal alone. His £30m acquisition is a bargain. Unquestionably so. And of all the additions made this summer he possesses the highest ceiling.

There are few limits to what he can become. ‘Can’, being he crucial word.

Already a huge talent, for this very moment in time he is still the same player who finished last season in north London. He will improve. He just isn’t improved, yet.

Midfield is the same, too. How strong Arsenal’s performances can be still seem to hinge on which version of Granit Xhaka turns up and whether Thomas Partey’s legs are in one piece. The ceiling of this entire team is so contingent on the strength of the starting midfield. It has remained untouched.

The three-game stretch where Sambi and Partey can be an option post-international break is an opportunity to reverse that.

White effectively arrives as Luiz dipped in the fountain of youth. With one display under his belt that did not cover him in glory, the glimpses of his real ability are best extracted from his performances of last season and in pre-season. Just having legs and a brain makes him an upgrade on Luiz but it’s another scenario were from an overall perspective you question how improved Arsenal are on the short-term.

This brand of overhaul has been craved for years. No semblance of strategy or long-term planning had been seen in the Emirates’ diamond lounges and at long last, here it is. Given the option of long-termism over the attempted immediate gratification of previous windows, the former is of course preferred.

The question is whether Arsenal swayed too heavily to one side.

A dash of experience and the arrival of someone who would hit the ground running and whose true potential doesn’t run the risk of being unearthed in one, two or maybe three seasons would have helped push Arsenal closer towards the short-term success that is needed to save the jobs of those in charge.

This team has the potential to deliver sooner than their ages would dictate, but they have to gel quickly. Moreover, their efforts to bond as a unit need come under the guidance of a man who for all the world appears to be breaking away.