According to William Gallas, Arsenal should prioritise defensive reinforcements before pursuing Declan Rice or any other midfielder they want to bring on board. The ex-Arsenal star believes the Arsenal backline must be fixed immediately, noting the need for quality signings at right back and in central defence.
“I think Arsenal need to recruit a lot of players,” the Frenchman told Genting Casino’s blog when asked about the north Londoners’ needs for the summer window. “They need a left back and a right back. Ben White is not a right back; I think we’ve seen that in the difficult games.
“When Arsenal have played better opponents, he has struggled to have an impact in the offensive part of the game. I think that is because he is a centre-back that is being played out of position.
“I think Arsenal need to sign an experienced centre-back.
“I’ve said this many times: Arsenal needed to sign one experienced centre-back just in case one of Gabriel or Saliba got injured, which unfortunately happened.
“I think Arsenal need to add a different type of striker too.”
About the midfield, he didn’t directly mention Declan Rice (but we all know the Hammer is Arteta’s top target). Still, he advised a move to bolster the engine room should come after key defensive additions are made: “I think that Arsenal could look at adding one more midfielder, but before they do that, they should think about adding a good right back, a good left back—players that know how to defend.
“They need a centre-back. Arsenal can’t go into next season without adding an experienced centre-back because if one of (William) Saliba or Gabriel (Magalhaes) gets injured, they are in trouble.”
Is it right for Arteta to bolster the defence and then bolster his midfield after that, or would he risk losing his top midfield targets, like Rice and Moises Caicedo, to other suitors?
Or do you think the midfield reinforcements are more important?
Daniel O
Video – Alfie and Rob are back for the summer transfer window
Here is their first analysis of the summer, where Alfie and Rob discuss and predict every single possible Arsenal incoming and outgoing this summer, including fees and potential destinations for outgoings.
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