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Arsenal are in the midst of an intriguing summer of transfer business as they look to fine-tune a Premier League-winning squad. Mikel Arteta will want to take the next step up in becoming European champions, and PSG have shown there is a gap to be bridged.
It is not easy to fine-tune a title-winning squad, though. On one hand, a manager needs to be ruthless and improve any areas where he feels he can get even a 1% improvement, but on the other, he must be careful not to upset the balance of the team, which is an undervalued factor.
Arsenal chase midfield strength
According to David Ornstein, the Gunners are now stepping up their search for midfielders as they look to get even stronger in the middle of the park.
“Arsenal, a lot of people you speak to around the club, actually feel that despite previously looking at players like Sandro Tonali for this summer, that Bruno Guimarães is a better fit and complements Declan Rice in a way some feel Tonali wouldn’t," he said on The Athletic FC podcast.
“Guimarães won’t be the only option Arsenal are looking at in midfield. We’ve seen reports of Ayyoub Bouaddi, it’s not even clear if he will leave Lille. It just goes to show Arsenal are looking at the #6, #8 area & they are surveying the options in the market.”
Arsenal and their ruthless midfield approach
Arsenal have a very solid midfield. Beyond Declan Rice, you look at Martin Zubimendi as a solid option, while Mikel Merino will come in to provide a very different option to those two following his injury.
But Arteta will have looked at the PSG midfield during the Champions League and understood very clearly where his side is lacking.
PSG have a world-beating midfield, armed with Vitinha and Joao Neves, and that is a tandem very few are going to replicate in world football. But if Arsenal want to climb to the very top of the mountain, they are going to have to try.
Rice is one of the best holding midfielders in the world, but he needs help, and while Zubimendi and Merino can certainly contribute, Arsenal are short of another world-beating pivot to be able to go toe-to-toe with PSG in midfield.
Arsenal are already dominating the Premier League, so when you look at the next step they want to take, it's no surprise to see them looking to address the midfield, given what they are up against with PSG and likely Bayern Munich, who are the other standout European side at this stage.
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