Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal: 3 key squad areas to address in transfer window

By Ross Kennerley

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - JANUARY 09: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal arrives at the stadium prior to the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Nottingham Forest and Arsenal at City Ground on January 09, 2022 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - JANUARY 09: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal arrives at the stadium prior to the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Nottingham Forest and Arsenal at City Ground on January 09, 2022 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Cedric
Arsenal’s German-born Portuguese defender Cedric Soares is seen wearing a white kit to support the No More Red outreach and anti-knife crime initiative during the English FA Cup third round football match between Nottingham Forest and Arsenal. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images) /

3. What is Deadwood & What Isn’t Deadwood

The most recent example of poor player analysis is Cedric. Arsenal have a club willing to sign the 30-year-old on a loan with a permanent option included, a deal the Gunners are reluctant to sanction for fear of weakening their position.

Cedric is deadwood. Him leaving would not weaken the squad, especially now there is no FA Cup football for the remainder of the campaign.

A failure to acknowledge when to sell players has been the Achilles heel of may years of transfer activity. Arsenal appear to have cracked only one half of the job of player transactions.

Therefore it is reassuring to see the club being open to offers for Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers. Yet, in the case of the latter, there are no offers while Atletico Madrid are in need of replacing Kieran Trippier and are willing to act. While both are not at the level required for Arsenal, the club shouldn’t be sitting on their hands waiting for one and not accepting the other.

The drop off from the 14 or so regular features in the Premier League to those below is still vast.

dark. Next. 4 negatives from FA Cup defeat

But there isn’t much differentiating those in the second tier of the squad. It’s mostly average muddled with more average. The lesser of two evils, if you like. Move on what you can so long as it isn’t cutting of your nose to spite your face. Can Arsenal survive without one of Chambers or Cedric? They can, and the truth is it doesn’t really matter which one, so move on who there is offers for.

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