ARSENAL still look a player or three short of having a squad strong enough to win the Premier League.
Despite spending big last summer, Mikel Arteta’s side are currently third in the Premier League, one point behind the current leaders, and reigning champions, Manchester City.
Under Spanish coach Arteta, Arsenal have gone from strength to strength and having finished last season in 2nd place there is now pressure on the team and coaching staff to take the next step and win the title.
The club’s owners put significant investment into the club to support the manager as they signed the likes of Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber, and Kai Havertz for a total of £205million, while David Raya was brought in on a loan deal.
These signings have, unfortunately, had mixed success to this point.
The deal to sign Rice from West Ham for £105m has been an absolute success and the England star looks like he will be a fixture at the Emirates for years to come.
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Timber, who cost £34m from Ajax, is unlucky to have suffered a significant injury on his Premier League debut.
The biggest disappointment has been Havertz who has struggled to adjust after his £65m move from Chelsea.
So, what should Arsenal do when the January window opens?
Looking at the current Arsenal squad we believe that there are three positions where they should consider adding players in January — left-back, central midfield and striker.
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We have used the xGOLD supercomputer – a custom-built tool from Total Football Analysis that helps clubs find interesting players in the market – to find three players who would come in and improve Arsenal significantly in these areas.
Pervis Estupinan, £30m
Left-back, Brighton and Ecuador
Arsenal have the Ukrainian international Oleksandr Zinchenko in this position but Zinchenko has a very specific profile.
He is very much a fullback who plays in an inverted style as he likes to come into the channels or into the central areas.
He has been backed up at times this season by Takehiro Tomiyasu but the Japanese international is more naturally a central defender, or at most a right-back.
We believe that Arsenal are missing a left-back who can provide a more direct attacking profile with the willingness to make runs around the outside to support the attack and to get beyond the ball to stretch the play.
The fact that Estupinan features so prominently should perhaps not come as a surprise given the fact that he was scouted and signed by Brighton, who rarely miss.
But the Ecuadorian left-back seems like the perfect answer at left back for Arsenal.
Estupinan is a left-back who would come in and give more support to the attacking phase with his willingness to make long runs forward and around the outside.
These movements from the fullback position can be important for teams who have to break down deeper defensive blocks, as Arsenal often do.
Having a fullback who stays outside, instead of coming into midfield, and who gives width will automatically make the opposition defend wider.
And this, in turn, will create spaces in the central areas that Arsenal’s attacking players can take advantage of.
Estupinan – who is close to returning from injury – is also very good against the ball and his defensive positioning and anticipation would help Arsenal to defend against moments of transition when they turn the ball over.
Zinchenko is extremely good in possession but there are times where his defensive awareness and positioning can leave Arsenal exposed.
The signing of Estupinan would be a move that would be a clear sign of intent for Arsenal going into the second half of the season.
Khephren Thuram, £35m
Central midfielder, Nice and France
Arsenal should look to sign the 22-year-old French international Khephren Thuram from French title challengers Nice.
Thuram, who is the son of the French international legend Lilian Thuram and the brother of the Inter striker Marcus Thuram, is a robust midfield player who is capable of performing in all phases of the game.
Thuram would complement the style of play and the profile of Declan Rice nicely with his ability to break up opposition attacks.
But he can also to drive forward in possession and break the lines through creative passing.
He is a physical midfield player with a high technical level but over the last 12 to 18 months his game understanding and positioning have improved significantly.
This is why we used Declan Rice as the ideal profile for xGold.
It is interesting to consider what adding a profile like this to play alongside Rice would do for Arsenal.
For Arsenal, Thuram would come into the midfield and provide balance between Rice and the Norwegian international Martin Odegaard.
He would be able to provide ball-carrying in the centre and he is a threat with his passing as he moves forward on the ball and into the final third.
Thuram is press resistant, in that he is difficult to get off the ball when he receives or when he is moving forward in possession, but he is also strong against the ball with a willingness to work and press when the opposition are in possession of the ball.
He is quick and physically strong and when he moves and engages the opposition ball carrier he is difficult to play around.
The signing of Thuram would be significant for Arsenal in that it would strengthen their midfield.
It would also, however, probably result in Arteta having to accept that the experiment with Havertz in midfield has not worked.
Serhou Guirassy, £15m
Striker, Stuttgart and Guinea
Finally, we have one of the hottest strikers in top-flight European football in the Guinean international striker Serhou Guirassy.
The 27-year-old forward has started this season in incredible form and at the time of writing he has scored 15 goals in 9 games in the Bundesliga.
The reason that Guirassy might be a possibility in January is that he is reported to have a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave for just £15m.
We chose Erling Haaland as the ideal xGold profile for this position given his performance as a pure goalscoring and target forward for Manchester City.
One of the strengths of Guirassy’s game is his ability to receive back to goal before either getting turned or looking to connect with teammates who are making runs from deeper positions.
Guirassy is technically extremely strong and he manipulates the ball well to go past opposition defenders.
Having a player like this in the attack would allow Arsenal to be slightly more direct in their attacking play.
We actually believe that the signing of a striker like Guirassy could also see a slight change of system.
In matches where it makes sense to be more attacking, Guirassy could play more centrally and Gabriel Jesus joining the attack from the left side.
But Guirassy also likes to drift wide, to free up space in the middle.
What it means
If Arsenal choose to make no significant signings this coming winter they will be taking a risk in terms of their title challenge.
If they are to continue to push and chase down a team like Manchester City then they need to maximise what they can get out of their squad.
This would mean moving to strengthen key positions, as we have identified, in order to make sure they are capable of playing against a variety of teams and tactical systems.
These three signings could be the difference between winning the title, and being runner-up again.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
