Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wanted Raphinha in Arsenal but the Brazilian choose Barcelona ahead of Arsenal FC.
Bukayo Saka has done so well for Arsenal, especially in the just concluded 2022/23 season, playing all the matches in Arsenal color. A great lad. However, fatigue and tired legs were so obvious towards the end of that season in Saka performances on the pitch.
William Saliba missed 11 matches towards the end of 2022/23 season due to back injury, and lack of better replacement cost Arsenal EPL title winner. Perhaps if Arteta got it right to introduce Kiwior (who paired well with Gabriel to stabilize Arsenal defense) as replacement for Saliba, instead of Rob Holding, Arsenal and fans worldwide should have been celebrating the EPL title now. And perhaps not…
Thomas Partey injury woes has never been good experience for Arteta and Arsenal all along since he joined Arsenal, but on a good day, Partey has always shown to be a very reliable player in Arsenal midfield alongside Granit Xhaka. Towards the end of the 2022/23 season, Partey dipped in form and Arsenal team suffered for it. Again Arteta’s decision came a bit late before introducing Jorginho, who stabilized Arsenal midfield alongside Granit Xhaka. Gabriel Jesus’ 3 months injury was not felt much, because Eddie Nketia and Trossard were super good replacements for Jesus.
Good that Arteta has identified that Arsenal lacked depth, in terms of our bench. Towards this end, he has made it a priority to overhaul Arsenal midfield, by making West Ham captain and England International Declan Rice as a priority signing in this opening window.
Another player in Arteta’s plan to sign for Arsenal is Brighton and Hove player, the Ecuador International Moises Caicedo. Both Rice and Caicedo are great players and good for Arsenal. My plea is that Arsenal should ensure that Rice becomes an Arsenal player by signing him as a matter of urgency to avoid losing him to EPL rivals. Arsenal should also break the bank by ensuring that Caicedo becomes an Arsenal player this 2023/24 football season. Arteta and Edu must do everything to bring both Rice and Caicedo to Arsenal.
Bukayo Saka also needs someone to compete with him in Arsenal. I believe that Samuel Chukwueze will provide that worthy competition for Saka in Arsenal, over Raphinha.
No doubt, Raphinha is a good player. He featured for Brazil in Quatar 2022 FIFA World cup. A great experience for him. Unlike Chukwueze, that didn’t appear in the 2022 World cup due to his country Nigeria not qualifying. In La liga, Barcelona were crowned La liga winners, another great experience for Raphinha, though he didn’t enjoy as much playing time with Barcelona.
Samuel Chukwueze featured in the FIFA under 17 World cup hosted by Chile in 2015 and won by Nigeria. A great experience to start his football career. He joined Villarreal FC in Spain and has been doing well playing for the club regularly. He won the Europa cup with Villarreal in the 2020/21 season. He featured for Villarreal in the European Champions League. His goal against Bayen Munich, that eliminated Bayern in the quarter final of the 2021/22 season UCL was world class. He has shone brighter when playing against big clubs in Europe. His brace against Real Madrid dented Real Madrid hope of winning La liga last season.
Arsenal needs the best, not second best, not 3rd or 4th to the best. La liga announced Samuel Chukwueze as the best player in the just concluded 2022/23 season. Chukwueze will definitely be a very good signing for Arsenal.
In the color of his country Nigeria, Chuckwueze is a regular in the national team. He has represented Nigeria at the senior level on two occasions at the African Nations Cup (AFCON), scoring one goal.
With both Rice and Caicedo in Arsenal for 2023/24 season.and Samuel Chukwueze also an Arsenal player. Arsenal can sweatllessly wrestle with any club in the epl.
Before I drop my pen, Gabriel Jesus also needs a better replacement. Nketiah is good but he still needs to develop to Jesus’ level. Trossard is a false 9. His best position is playing from the wings. Trossard is the best competitor for Gabriel Martinelli from the wing.
Also Arsenal right full back needs back-up. Ben White did a good job last season, but he always loses it with better attackers from opponents.
Tomiyasu hasn’t been getting playing time and each time he comes in to play, he always shows match rustiness. His first season in Arsenal was fantastic. An attempt to bring Man City’s Cancelo to Arsenal is a welcome decision, if the deal can be done.
An eye on Gundogan, the Man City captain who will soon become a free transfer, by Arteta, to convince him to join Arsenal is also a welcoming development, if the deal can happen. But my fear is that the player will not like to join Arsenal being considered as Man City’s rival by City fans. He may not want to stay in the EPL.
Rice, Caicedo and Chukwueze are players that Arteta and Edu must do everything to bring to Arsenal in this window as a matter of urgency, if we don’t want to have that horrible experience that we had at the end of 2022/23 football season. If Arteta is weighing the possibility of spending as much as 75M pounds on Kai Havertz, i think spending 80M to 90M on Caicedo to bring him to Arsenal is not too much.
Michael Oluwabunmi, from Lagos Nigeria.
Good idea. Chukwueze is still young and Villareal can’t set a high price-tag because he can leave for free next year
However, we’ve still got Marquinhos who’s much younger and hasn’t been tested yet in EPL. We’ve got enough wingers, so we’d better focus on the most important part of our spine
I think we can forget about Caicedo, because Brighton can still force him to stay for three more years. Even the ultra-rich Chelsea seem looking for an alternative, such as Gabri Veiga
Am very impressed by this Gabri Viega kid, but i had always seen him playing in the final third.
As am made to understand he can play as a defensive midfielder, this kid is amazing.
But there must be something else about the youngsters as his release clause is pretty low £37 mill.
Could it be scout’s not sure about his abilities in the premier league why he’s still available?
Maybe the coaches thought he was still too young to be a main player for a top EPL team. That low release clause would likely make him snatched by a top club this summer
Based on his YouTube highlights, he seems able to play with his back to goal as well
He’s a fantastic player but why would he want to join as a backup for Saka? In the article you say ‘competition’, but would that be fair competition?
We already have players who can cover Saka’s role in Nelson and trossard plus ESR is apparently staying and we do still have Vieira – I’m not sure how we could fit in another forward who, as far as I can tell, only really plays right wing. It could only work for Chukwueze if Saka moved to a different position, or something terrible like he picked up an injury or changed clubs.
Imo Chukwueze is too good to bring in under these circumstances – he will believe he’s earned the right to be a starter at his next club, realistically, and that wouldn’t be the case here, so it seems like it would be an expensive signing with a low chance of success.
Davi,Chukwueze is a fantastic player and I fully concur with the writer that we should pursue him.Last season we almost ran Saka to the ground,we shouldn’t repeat the same this season orelse we will turn him into a crock the way we did to Wilshere.
We therefore need a proper winger to give Saka a good breather between matches.With us trying to do better in Epl&fighting for other trophies, signing a player of Chukwuezas quality will be brilliant.
I agree that we should play Saka less for his own good, but Chukwueze is a player who should want to be starting every big game, not covering for Saka in smaller matches – I can’t see him being happy with that role after starring against sides like Madrid and Barcelona. We should be rotating Saka with trossard and Nelson next season – Nelson will be easier to keep happy in that role, and trossard can play/rotate with several positions.
Neither Chukwueze or Havertz should be a priority signing just now, good players yes.
Arsenal have to get our priorities right, Rice, Lavia/ Caicedo, Osimhen/ Vlohovic got to be our priority now, before we start talking about wingers
What I like abou this well written and obviously well educated writer is how he writes clearly and without waffle. Concise and clear opinions, much of which I find sensible and well argued. An added plus for us signing atop class Niigerian player is that so many Nigerians are Arsenal mad fans and that is all to the good.
Kanu, even though not a player I personally thought as VERY GOOD as so many other Gooners clearly do, was the prime reason we are SO popular in Nigeria and so TOP class Nigerians have a head start in our club even before they play.
That is a factor we should ignore,PROVIDED a player is good enough.
I look forward to more excellent articles from Michael.
“should NOT ignore.”
We love Kanu a.k.a papilo so much in Nigeria. I did not watch any of his games in an arsenal shirt. But i thought he was very good and an absolute nightmare for defenders and goalkeepers. (Judging by his perfomance for national team and few arsenal clips i watched)
I started supporting Arsenal in 2006 primarily because of the very attractive style of play, it was like a work of art. I still miss the days of Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini & Rosicky.
I recently moved to the U.K (Manchester) to further my studies, and most weekends i’m working at JD Wetherspoon. It is common to see drunk fans asking if i support City or United. The few United fans i have met are OK with me being an Arsenal fan, but i would never understand why they hate Liverpool so much.
I think with the right signings, we can challenge for the title and perhaps win in in 2024/2025 or 2025/2026 season.
For 2023/2024, I will be satisfied should we win at least one of the domestic cups and make a good UCL run + a top 2 finish.
If Cancelo is a realistic option, then Tomiyaso could fetch a decent fee or throw him into the Declan Rice bid?