In Sight: The Key Positions Arsenal Must Address This Summer

Frenetic days are ahead with the start of the new Premier League season now just a couple months away, with a special kind of rush reserved for Arsenal fans around the globe ahead of a highly-anticipated transfer window.

The enthusiasm extends itself right through to the Gunners technical director Edu Gaspar, himself admitting his own excitement in the face of what he predicts to be “a busy summer,” as stated to ESPN Brasil back in April of this year.

Despite being pipped to a top-four spot by local rivals Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the 2021/22 season, Arsenal will have continental football in the form of the Europa League to quench their thirst for midweek action, as they aim to go one better next season and regain Champions League status.

As Mikel Arteta and co. begin to rub their hands together at the prospect of new faces coming through the door at the Emirates Stadium, we take a look at the positions the Spanish boss will be looking to fill in his next chapter in the capital.

Centre Forward

Gabriel Jesus is hot on Arsenal's agenda

After a well-documented falling out with the now-gone Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the failed pursuit of former Fiorentina target-man Dušan Vlahović and imminent Alexandre Lacazette departure, it comes as a surprise to nobody that Arsenal are looking to add, at the very least, one new striker to the ranks.

The name that dominates the back pages thus far is that of Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus, meanwhile it’s looking increasingly likely that Eddie Nketiah will stay to back the Brazilian forward up, but given the stylistic similarities between the two forwards, could the Gunners have their sights set on a different profile?

As mentioned before, the Premier League giants had already gone through great lengths to lure Vlahović in, whereas reported interest in the likes of Tammy Abraham, Darwin Núñez and Serie A duo Victor Osimhen and Gianluca Scamacca aligns Arsenal’s preference with a mobile striker who can engage a defence physically.

Left Central Midfielder

Youri Tielemans has been heavily linked with a move to the Gunners

One of Arsenal’s key focuses this summer will have to be finding a way to make themselves more competitive in the middle of the park, this summer, and there are two viable avenues in which they can do so through the left-interior channel.

Headlining the race to fill the vacancy is Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans - a playmaker who, at the same time, may just be an upgrade on Granit Xhaka going forwards, just as he is going backwards.

The Belgian, entering the final year of his contract, not only tops his Swiss counterpart with 1.9 tackles made per game to Xhaka’s 1.4, but the 25-year-old’s six goals and four assists from the centre of midfield adds even greater potency to Arsenal’s craft. 

Whether that moves the needle far enough for the Gunners is another matter, but there’s definitely an argument to be made in favour of a technically-gifted pivot of midfield interiors, not too dissimilar to Man City’s recipe for success, in a bid to rectify Arsenal’s joint-worst win ratio from a losing position in 21/22.

Wide Forward

The former Arsenal attacker has a score to settle at the club

The numbers put up by Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe and co. are admirable as they are welcome, but Arteta and his men still require more from other sectors of the field if they’re to compete with many of the league’s high scorers.

Going hand-in-hand with the arrival of a new striker or two, a new wide forward sets Arsenal up to be sharper in attack and deflects a portion of play that often sees itself gravitate, rather predictably, towards the right flank, via Martin Ødegaard and Saka.

Rumours of a Serge Gnabry return refuse to go away as Bayern Munich struggle to convince the Germany international to extend his current contract, set to expire in a year’s time, representing a marvellous opportunity for the Gunners to add some star-power to an oft-blunt front-line.

Left Back

Aaron Hickey is a versatile defender who intrigues Arteta

There can be very few complaints revolving around Arsenal’s first-choice full-back options but the back-up certainly leaves plenty to be desired, in the wake of an end-of-season run that saw the North Londoners lose five of their last ten league games.

Concerns at the back are sourced from Kieran Tierney’s fitness, or lack thereof, after the Scotsman’s failure to appear more than 30 times in the Premier League for a third consecutive season, due to injuries.

His deputy, Nuno Tavares, showed clear insecurities in his first taste of English football, associating the Portuguese wing-back with a potential loan move ahead of the new season.

In his place, Arsenal are rumoured to be considering a swoop for Scottish defender Aaron Hickey, as well as Ukraine international Olexandr Zinchenko. Sassuolo’s Mert Müldur is another name who’s no stranger to a link with ‘the Red & Whites,’ serving up a unique cluster of, mostly, ambidextrous full-backs who are just as comfortable operating wide as they are in-field.