As another disappointing, trophyless season goes past Arsenal fans will be wanting major changes over the summer break. One of the major problems that Arsenal fans have with Arsene Wenger is his lack of big spending and big signings, so if he does make some big signings this summer it will probably be one of these names, in no particular order…
Eden Hazard- Hazard is said to be one of the brightest talents in Europe and has been attracting a lot of attention recently. He’s had a great season with Lille and is being monitored by several major clubs. As a result of the high amount of interest in him he would probably be expensive and take a significant chunk out of Wenger’s transfer budget. He’s known for his creativeness, flair and ability to keep possession. He has pace and technical ability so would fit into Arsenal but he has a questionable work rate which is unlikely to go down well with the fans. He’s been compared to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Mamadou Sakho- Sakho is exactly what Arsenal are dying for at the back. He’s a leader, at the age of 21 he captains PSG, one of France’s leading clubs, he’s hard-working, tireless and a terrific tackler. He plays as a centre back but can double up as a left-back if he needs to. He is captain of the France U21s and has been compared to Lilian Thuram. Perfect for Arsenal?
Goalkeepers- I’ve put goalkeepers into one category because I don’t think Wenger will buy one due to Szczesny’s emergence into the first team. However if Wenger does buy one it will probably be Diego Lopez, the Atletico Madrid ‘keeper who has fallen out of favour because of David De Gea’s emergence into the first team.
Kevin Gameiro- Gameiro has been a revelation in Ligue 1 this season, having scored 20 goals in 31 appearances he is turning into quite a prolific striker. He’s a fast and energetic player good dribbling abilities. He can play as a deep lying striker which is just what Van Persie needs, or all by himself up front.
Christopher Samba- The Congolese central defender has been Blackburn’s rock at the back this season and he has been consistently turning out good performances. He is exactly what Arsenal need- a consistent centre-back that can be relied on. He is also a great leader and is the Blackburn captain. Would be a great buy.
Aly Cissokho- If it is true that Clichy is not signing a new contract and could be leaving this summer, Cissokho would be the perfect replacement for him. The Olympique Lyonnais man signed for OL for 15 million euros in 2009. He’s a sprightly left back with good speed and stamina and as he is an attacking full-back he would fit into Arsenal’s style of play.
Per Mertesacker- The Werder Bremen central defender is an absolute giant measuring in at just over two metres in height. He scores lots of goals from set pieces due to his aerial dominance and has been heavily linked with Arsenal in recent years . Despite his height he’s a very clean tackler and picks up very few bookings. With Bremen he has scored 12 goals in 142 appearances and is a regular german international.
Gary Cahill- Fans have been crying out for a good, strong English lad at the back and this man ticks all the boxes. The Bolton defender has a lot of admirers and would be quite a coup if Arsenal manager to get their hands on him. Would probably cost in the region of £15 million.
Jan Verthonghen- The left footed Belgian centre back is highly sought after. Although he is naturally a centre back he can also play as a defensive midfielder. The Ajax defender also has an alarmingly high strike rate, with Ajax he has scored 22 goals in 112 games, which is around 1 goal every 5 games, that’s better than Chamakh and Bendtner! Varying sources say that the price of Verthonghen will range from £10 mil to £17 mil.
Phil Jagielka- the Everton centre-back is probably the most likely transfer on the list. He is an important member of the current Everton squad, which elevates his price a lot due to his importance at the club. He’s also very versatile with the ability to play very well in central midfield and can even play as a goalkeeper! In the ’08-’09 season, he was voted as the Everton player of the season.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain- The 17 year old Southampton winger has immediately drawn comparisons with Theo Walcott, both wingers from Southampton, both young, both fast with good technical ability, he is the second youngest to ever play for Southampton, behind Walcott of course and hopefully both will be at Arsenal nextseason. He has emerged into the first team at Southampton this season and been a revelation in League 1, consistently turning in good performances.. He is an England U17 and U21 international. This season (his debut season) he has made 35 appearances and scored 9 goals and he has been name in the PFA league 1 team of the year for the 2010-11 season. He was linked with Arsenal in January.
Felipe Melo- The 27 year old Juventus holding midfielder has been linked with Arsenal heavily recently and according to some sources he came close to a deal with Arsenal last summer. He is a regular Brazil international with 22 caps and 2 goals to his name. He has been at 8 clubs in 8 years so his loyalty is questionnable. He was bought by Juventus for 25 million euros in 2009, so he’s not exactly cheap, but he hasn’t really settled at the italian club which could reduce his price. However, he does have discipline issues which would need to be addressed if he came to Arsenal.
Karim Benzema- The 23 year old French striker, moved to Madrid in a large and well publicised transfer in the summer of 2009, worth around 40 million euros. He’s known for his technical ability, his powerful style of play and the vast goalscoring ability that he possesses. He is a fully fledged French international and has earned 35 caps and scored 12 goals. However, due to Madrid’s huge intake of quality players, Benzema has found it hard to get playing time as he is up against the likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Emmanuel Adebayor, two world-class strikers- this makes his transfer a lot more likely because he will get a lot for playing time at Arsenal, who will hopefully also be in the Champions’ League next season.
Romelu Lukaku- The 18 year old Belgian striker due to his powerful and athletic style of play, while at the same time being a clinical finisher. He has been heavily linked with major clubs and turns out regularly for Anderlecht; since 2009 he has made 66 appearances and scored 31 goals. He is also a senior Belgium international, representing them on 9 occasions and scoring 2 goals.
Fernando Gago- The Argentinian midfielder would definitely be a very welcomed signing at the Emirates, due to his experience, technical ability and the fact that he has proven himself unlike a lot of Wenger’s signings. He joined Madrid in 2006 for £17.75 million but has since fallen out of favour,similar to Benzema, sue to Madrid’s large intake of quality players such as Sami Khedira. He is a regular international has has 30 senior caps to his name and at the age of 25 he still has a lot of playing time ahead of him and is probably yet to enjoy his best years.
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