Arteta’s mission to ‘overhaul’ two areas of Arsenal squad completely now revealed

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Mikel Arteta has a grand vision for how he plans to transform two key positions in his Arsenal squad.

Both full-back positions have posed a problem for Arsenal this season. 

Due to injuries, Mikel Arteta has had limited options to work with on both flanks of his defence. The Spanish coach has also made some unorthodox, experimental decisions in his quest to find new solutions in that part of the pitch. For instance, early on in the campaign, he started Thomas Partey at right-back in a couple of matches. 

Injuries to Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu have caused a problem this season, and Ben White has also struggled for fitness at times. First choice left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko has come under fire, and is considered a defensive liability by many. 

Meanwhile, Jakub Kiwior has spent most of his time on the pitch this season at left-back, despite naturally being a centre-back. The Polish defender has often looked uncomfortable with this role. The only other full-back in the first-team squad, Cedric Soares, is a complete outcast, and Arteta is actively trying to move him on in this January transfer window.

Mikel Arteta planning full-back evolution at Arsenal

Arteta now has plans to add to his squad in both full-back positions. Transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has already confirmed that sourcing a full-back is a priority for the north London club this month. 

However, according to FootballTransfers, the manager’s plans are even more extensive than that, as “Arsenal wish to overhaul the full-back positions across the next two transfer windows. Mikel Arteta’s goal is to have four top-class inverted fullbacks in the squad, who will be consistently available for selection.”

At the moment, the Arsenal full-backs play in a very specific way, from a tactical perspective. The right-back in the team, usually White, has a much more orthodox role, and is tasked with pushing forward up the wing and providing support and an overlapping run on the right flank in the final third.

The left-back, however, usually Zinchenko, is asked to play in an inverted fashion. This means that they are given the license to roam infield, into the middle of the park. From there, the left-back can become an auxiliary midfielder of sorts, giving the Gunners an additional playmaker as they seek to build attacking moves.

It would now seem, though, that Arteta is eyeing up a scenario in which both full-backs can come inside and bolster the midfield contingent if required. He has also recognised that injuries have revealed a weakness in his squad as far as his current full-back options are concerned.

Arteta is plotting a major rebuild in this part of the pitch, which could begin with the acquisition of a defender in the current January transfer window.