Arsenal: 8 summer transfers to target from relegation candidates

Arsenal still have 14 matches left to play as they compete in their own mini-league separate from the majority of the division.

At this stage of the campaign the Premier League usually breaks up. This time we have two sides competing for the title, one team stuck in third-place purgatory, some wrestling for top four, a few stuck in mid-table mediocrity, and others battling to avoid the drop.

Mikel Arteta’s side are firmly in the top four group along with Manchester United, Tottenham, West Ham and Wolves, although the focus on this occasion will look further down the table.

Some supporters won’t care one jot about what happens below their team in the table. Others simply can’t get enough.

8 summer transfer targets for Arsenal from the sides in threat of being relegated from the Premier League this season

For those interested in the lower reaches, this season is set to cough up a relegation scrap that will keep viewers glued to their screens until the bitter end. As it stands there are about six teams in with the chance of being demoted to the second tier, with Newcastle just about looking out of the woods.

Eddie Howe’s side sit in 14th, four points clear of the drop, and while they’re not a certainty to be safe, their form looks like being enough to steer them clear.

What does this mean for Arsenal? Well, any relegation to the Championship screams transfer potential. It’s an opportunity to cherry pick the best of the rest as clubs find themselves in need of selling as well as players seeking their own immediate returns to top-flight football.

Of the six sides in contention to go down, there are eight players who might be of interest to Arsenal in the eventuality of said side bidding farewell to the Premier League. Nobody has actually been relegated yet, but it’s worth taking a look anyway.

Spoiler: there are no Norwich players included. Shock.

1. Emmanuel Dennis – Watford

Brought in for £3.6m from Club Brugge last summer, if we’re looking for anything positive that Watford have done this season – apart from walloping Manchester United 4-1 – then it’s the signing of Emmanuel Dennis.

The 24-year-old’s debut season in English football has gone impressively well, especially considering how impressively atrocious Watford have been.

Dennis has grabbed himself nine goals and five assists in the league this season, showcasing versatility having been fielded across the front line by his 12 different managers this year, as well as excellent technique with the ball at feet.

He’s someone who has been fun to watch. Clever instincts in and around the box have seen him clock up the number of goals he has, which is even more impressive considering how often he is tasked with drifting into wide areas.

Quick, nimble, and an unbelievable jumper in the air for someone who is only 5’8″ (he’s 97 percentile across Europe for aerials won), given Arsenal are likely to need two strikers in the summer, he’s worth taking a look at to bolster the squad.

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2. Ismaila Sarr – Watford

When Watford were relegated from the Premier League two years ago, them somehow keeping hold of Ismaila Sarr surprised most of Europe. He was their shining light as they went straight back down from the top tier, and he stuck with him through their Championship campaign.

That season in the second tier he scored 13 goals and set up ten more in 40 league outings, carrying that over into the current season where he’s scored five goals and assisted another in 16 appearances for the struggling Hornets.

He’s too good for Watford, and far too good for the Championship.

One of the areas not considered high priority in the summer is a pacey wide player who can operate either side. But, this is a hugely important position to secure with Arteta not having anyone he can trust to cover for Bukayo Saka. If Arsenal secure Champions League football and Nicolas Pepe moves on then they’ll desperately need to fill that position, and Sarr fits the bill.

A tactically astute pace merchant of a wide player with goal threat? Sarr might not be fully there tactically, but he’s got the rest.

Out of contract in 2024, if Watford do go down, which is highly likely, then the AFCON winner has to be looked at as an option.

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3. Maxwel Cornet – Burnley

Will he have a relegation clause inserted into his deal? Quite possibly.

Mawell Cornet has already scored three times as many goals (6) in 13 Premier League starts as he did in 36 Ligue 1 matches for Lyon last season. He’s found the transition over from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to Lancashire remarkably straightforward.

What the Ivorian has shown this season is a willingness to play. Not shackled by Burnley’s distinct style, Cornet has demonstrated a freedom to his game where take-ons, dribbles and shots at goal come naturally to him.

Is he Arsenal quality? Probably not, in truth.

But if the Clarets do go down there is every chance that Cornet will be available for a decent enough price given that Burnley must have bent over slightly to secure a player that was never considered within their reach.

If he keeps on finding the back of the net in a team that doesn’t score, he could be worth a closer look.

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4. Wout Weghorst – Burnley

Everything about the transfer strategy that Arsenal have laid leads them about as far away from Wout Weghorst as imaginable. He would be a most peculiar signing.

Would he be an effective one, though?

Since he first broke into the team Arsenal have not been extracting enough value from Kieran Tierney. The Scot is the best crosser of a ball in the whole squad, and boasts one of the best deliveries from full-back in the whole division. But it mostly goes to waste.

Trying to get a cross onto Lacazette’s head is near impossible, and it’s the same for almost the entire squad. There is no effective Plan B option for Arsenal, and there hasn’t been since the days of Olivier Giroud in his pomp.

Weghort is 6’7″ tall, is a pressing machine (98th percentile for pressures and successful pressures), and has a surprisingly delicate touch in tight spaces. He also notched 25 goals last year and has eight this term. As a backup, could Arsenal do worse?

This, of course, ignoring that he just signed for Burnley and turns 30 years old in August. But, y’know, other than that…

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5. Dominic Calvert-Lewin – Everton

Everton might actually go down. One of the few teams never to have been relegated from the Premier League, a club of their size, with the hundreds of millions of pounds they’ve p*ssed down the toilet, on the eve of building a new stadium and having just appointed a legend of the division, may actually be bidding farewell.

For the way they’ve been run and the cash they’ve blown, they might just deserve it. And Frank Lampard taking them there would be hilarious, too.

Which means it’d be transfer time for the rest of the Premier League.

The standout name in their squad is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, someone it is well documented is high on Arsenal’s list of striker targets for the coming summer. Everton are said to be wanting around £60m for him, and if they do go down you can be sure he’ll be pushing for an exit. He’s an England international, after all.

The likes of Richarlison and Anthony Gordon will be eyed up too, but for Arsenal there is one man and one man only they’ll be setting their sights on, irrespective of where the Toffees end up.

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6. Kalvin Phillips – Leeds

Subject of a failed £55m bid from West Ham on deadline day, Leeds made it abundantly clear that their academy star was going nowhere in the January window. They desperately need him in order to stave off relegation.

Of course, if he was actually available for selection, they likely wouldn’t have found themselves in this position. Losing only three of the 12 matches he’s been available for, Leeds have lost eight of the 11 since he suffered his most recent hamstring injury.

A regular England international, the holding midfielder has one of the finest long passes in the division together with easily one of the best five engines the Premier League has to offer. His boundless energy was a key component in the Three Lions reaching the final of the Euros, and that tenacity in the middle of the park would suit Arsenal.

Contracted until 2024, he’s unlikely to garner figures near the £50m range if his side do get relegated, and Arsenal have been credited with an interest in the past.

Does he quite suit the system? Moving to a 4-3-3 shape in recent months, Arsenal might want more of a No. 8 as opposed to a holding midfielder, with those spots filled up by Thomas Partey and Sambi Lokonga.

Still, a hugely talented midfielder.

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7. Raphinha – Leeds

Raphinha is a Champions League footballer. Leeds signed some dreadful players during Marcelo Bielsa’s reign, but all credit goes to scouting department for unearthing an absolute gem from Rennes.

Just like his teammate Phillips, Raphinha was also subject of a £50m bid from West Ham over the winter period, an offer that was also flatly refused by the Elland Road outfit.

As with a lot of the players in this list, it isn’t known whether or not relegation clauses are inserted into their deals, so how much the 25-year-old could be available for is guesswork. However, given his current contract expires in 2024 and there are few signs of him extending his stay in Yorkshire, it’s expected that the previously rejected fee won’t be turned down a second time.

Watching Nicolas Pepe’s impact unfold at Arsenal in comparison to Raphinha’s hasn’t been especially comforting. Signed for a measly £16.8m, the Brazilian has been outstanding for The Whites since his arrival 16 months ago, netting 15 goals and registering 11 assists in 56 outings.

His technical excellence is what stands out. Supreme dribbling ability is complemented with a ferocious left foot, quality he’s transferred onto the international stage where he’s now a regular in the Brazil setup.

Half of Europe will want a forward of his capability, and as a replacement for Pepe, he wouldn’t be unwelcome at Arsenal.

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8. Ivan Toney – Brentford

There is a large contingent of Arsenal fans who believe Ivan Toney is the answer to the striker dilemma at the club. He isn’t.

Coming up from the Championship last season where he recorded the most goals scored in a single campaign with 31 (until Mitrovic broke it this season), he followed up that up with four goal involvements in his opening six Premier League matches, which included a dominating performance over Arsenal on the opening day.

Much like Brentford since, Toney’s form has dipped.

In the last 14 matches the Bees have won only two games, plunging them into serious threat of an immediate return to the second tier despite their impressive early start. There is no denying that Toney improves his side tremendously, and him being absent with injury of late hasn’t helped, but as a solution to Arsenal’s situation he just does not have the requisite quality.

Dropping deep to facilitate play, demonstrating a neat amount of vision and weight of pass from between the lines, his excellent aerial ability is also something Arsenal could utilise. But is it enough?

There will be murmurs even if the Bees don’t go down – an increasingly unlikely outcome – but for the elite level striker Arsenal need, Toney just isn’t it.