It has been a long and tedious January transfer window for Arsenal fans but it has certainly been productive in as much as we have lost 4 peripheral first team squad players so far in Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Mari and Calum Chambers, all of which have only featured in 2 games each this season and would have only have had to sit on the bench for the rest of the season if they had stayed.
There are also rumours that Leno, Nketiah or even Aubameyang may also depart in the next couple of days, but with Turner not arriving til the summer I can’t see Leno being allowed to leave, but I can only see either Nketiah or Aubameyang going if we have another striker coming in.
As for buying anyone at all, it seems from the rumours that Arteta’s three main targets were Vlahovic, Guimaraes and Arthur Melo and all three of those are dead in the water, but do we actually need any of those if we only have 17 League games left to play this season?
There is only one game each week, so there will be no need for rotation except to cover for injuries, suspensions and Xhaka’s occasional red cards (surely he has reached his limit for this season?).
The only big problem area is midfield thanks to Xhaka’s and Partey’s red cards. But once they are back and we have Lokonga and Elneny (and Azeez or Patino at a push) we will be fine until the end of the season, so where would a new midfielder fit in?
The more I look at it, the more I think there is no need for Arteta to waste money buying anyone now when we will have much more to choose from in the summer…
Admin Pat