With the transfer window open and Arsenal confident of strengthening their side before the end of this summer market, there are still yet to be plenty of deals done. A quiet start to this buying and selling period has not inspired much confidence or excitement from supporters so far, but with how the club has handled their moves in previous summers and their subsequent rise to established title challengers there is no need for panic just yet.
The club are keen to reinforce in multiple areas and will be aided by the expected outgoings which sporting director Edu will also oversee with newly promoted managing director Richard Garlick supporting. With such mystery about where the window will go for Arsenal, it has left the door open for plenty of speculation.
With that in mind, football.london have been talked with a ‘sell, sign, avoid’ challenge looking at a couple of players in each category. I set myself the personal challenge of going somewhat left field with each area too.
Sell
There is a whole host of candidates for who Arsenal might and should sell this summer from Eddie Nketiah to Charlie Patino, but picking players not necessarily being spoken about as potential exits therefore becomes tricky. So much so that both my picks have almost certainly been mentioned – but they are perhaps the most debatable.
The first is Fabio Vieira who has failed to establish himself in the squad in his two seasons at the club with injuries hampering his availability. However, what he has shown is that Premier League football is certainly a challenge for some to adapt to and this is what after just two years means the ruthlessness that Mikel Arteta has shown should fall on the Portuguese player and reported interest from former side Porto should probably be entertained.
The second is the most tricky but Emile Smith Rowe, in a similar role to Vieira of course, is the second. A tough one to say goodbye to especially should he leave for another Premier League side, but with Vieira and Smith Rowe out it could open the door to a talented attacking midfielder and much better competitor to Martin Odegaard but more on that later.
Sign
Arsenal have needs in many areas but the player who has most impressed me at the Euros has quickly risen to one of my keenest targets: Marc Guehi. Despite England’s underwhelming displays in their opening two matches, Guehi has been the most consistently impressive across both games. Should the likes of Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko leave this summer, getting more defensive reinforcement will be key at this level and the Crystal Palace man would be perfect to compete with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Getting back to the attacking midfield, my pick to bring in quality competition is RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo. Despite not starting currently for Spain, he continues to be one of the best-attacking midfielders in the Bundesliga and could leave the German side this summer, a switch to Arsenal and the versatility he brings at just 26 years of age could be perfect.
Considering the size of a club like Arsenal there are always plenty of links to players who inevitably never end up arriving in north London. That does, however, make it easier to pick players who I would be leaning toward avoiding and the first is Amadou Onana.
The Everton midfielder is a good player and has drawn the eye of plenty of big clubs but for me is not stylistically suited to what Mikel Arteta wants from his midfield. Whilst a great tackler, progressively I want more from a marquee midfield signing and I’d be more inclined to look to a top box-to-box player and move Rice into the six position.
The other player who I am not keen on Arsenal moving for during this window is Victor Osimhen. I have discussed in detail why the Nigerian international is simply not worth the extortionate amount of money that Napoli would be looking to get and despite his qualities, there are safer options to move for and, of course, Kai Havertz simply is not ousted when looking at the data.
