Does Wenger really need signings to replace these 3 Arsenal stars?

There might still be more of the current Arsenal squad to be heading for the Emirates exit door during the summer transfer window, with the England trio Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain three of the Gunners that could be on their way.

As reported by Sky Sports though, the only three players from last season’s squad who will definitely not be playing for Arsenal next year are the midfielders Tomas Rosicky, Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta, as they have been released after their contracts ran out.

So what I am wondering is whether the manager needs to spend money in the transfer market to replace these three Gunners? I suppose he already has done with the big money move for Granit Xhaka who will play in the roles occupied by Arteta and Flamini. Arsenal do also have Coquelin and Elneny as central midfield options and we also have the likes of Bielik and Zelalem looking to break into the first team, so is that enough or do you think Wenger needs to add some more top quality in that area?

Rosicky is another matter and I think we did miss him last season when he spent the whole year on the sidelines with injury. The Czech international star has been one of our most creative players for years and that part of the game is one of our biggest strengths.

However, the breakthrough of Alex Iwobi last season will perhaps have convinced the boss that he already has enough options with the likes of Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, Campbell, Alexis Sanchez and all. I would hate to see Iwobi frozen out again if Wenger signs a big name player, but is the Nigeria international going to be good enough to cover for Rosicky on a consistent basis?

Tags Arteta Flamini Rosicky

21 Comments

  1. Here’s another little clue that Arsenal are about to sign Mkhitaryan! ?

    The sister of Armenian forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan has intensified speculation of her brother’s short-term future by following Arsenal on LinkedIn.

    Monika Mkhitaryan, a Uefa employee who also advises ‘players in transfer and professional contract matters’ as well as negotiating a player’s ‘contractual duties’, recently followed the Gunners’ LinkedIn account.

      1. It could be true, why else would his sister start following Arsenal, all of a sudden?
        This seems to be the trend for leaking transfers!

        Obviously, Wenger was keen on both Mkhitaryan and Mahrez, reports suggested that they were both available for £25 million but latest on Mahrez is that Leicester will want £30 million, for their star player and maybe that extra £5 million helped Wenger make his mind up and go for Mkhitaryan instead, hence the latest news regarding Monika Mkhitaryan’s following Arsenal on LinkedIn.

        Now I’m Just waiting for Walcott to like one of klopps photos, on Facebook ???
        Apparently, the Scouser’s are offering £25 million + £120,000 aweek on a four year contract.

        1. Mkhitaryan would be an excellent signing, but where does he line up in our first 11? Left wing perhaps? I like Alexis more on the right, I feel he is too predictable cutting in from the left, and Ozil is the obvious #10.

          Also, if he signs with us, Im actually going to have to learn how to spell his name rather than copy/pasting it every time.

          1. Alexis was better on the right this season, you are right. Put Miki on the left or we could play 4-1-4-1 with both Ozil and Miki in the middle. With Xhaka the one at the back.

            Or 4-4-2 diamond
            with Xhaka at Base. Carzola and Miki and Ozil at top of diamond. Strikers Alexis & Vardy. 🙂

  2. Tomas Rosicky, Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta have been replaced by Xhaka, Elneny and Jon Toral. How many more midfielders do we need.

  3. Xhaka to me seems like more of an Arteta style player than anything else. A deep lying player to start off attacks whilst also providing defensive cover. He’s not an out and out midfield playmaker like Cazorla, nor is he a strictly defensive midfielder like Coquelin.

    To me this suggests that Wenger will opt to play Ramsey alongside Xhaka at CM to try and recreate the midfield style we had in 2013, with Arteta and Ramsey. This worked very well for the most part, as it offered energy and goals from Ramsey, whilst Arteta dictated the game and provided more defensive cover. Xhaka I think will offer more defensively than Arteta (though that isn’t too hard), but perhaps won’t be quite as good at the playmaking aspect. Nonetheless, a better player overall.

    The other successful midfield pairing we’ve had recently has been the Cazorla and Coquelin combo. This offered more defensive solidity from Coquelin and better playmaking from Cazorla, in turn providing goals. But this combo lacked energy. We need an engine in midfield, which was why we had to play Ramsey on the right too.

    So to me, Wenger had a choice to make this summer as to which midfield style he wanted to have. Ramsey and Xhaka is the one he chose. The other midfield he may have considered? Cazorla and Kante. Kante provides the energy that Coquelin doesn’t, giving a complete partnership for Cazorla. Hope he made the right choice.

  4. We definitely need more signings, because we need to replace these players if we gonna compete
    Arteta
    Flamini
    Rosicky
    Mertersacker
    Chambers
    Chamerlaine
    Kibbs
    Ramsey
    Walcott
    Sanogo
    Gnarby
    Jenkinson

    So far we have only signed one.

    1. I think this is a list of players who have either left or you would like to see go. Players out on loan like sanogo, if they leave do not have to be replaced with an incoming player. There is also the homegrown rule to consider, a lot of players on your list are homegrown, who they will be replaced by is an issue.

      Arsene wenger in previous seasons has passed comment on the diffuculty of integrating more than three incoming players into the first team squad. This season he has said three new signings. By this I think he means players from outside arsenal, not players promoted from the academy.

      Taking your list of players to go plus welbeck injury, homegrown rule and only three new players, we will have a very thin squad next season.

      1. Exactly, it is not easy making a balanced squad with home grown rules, integrating new and letting go of old.

  5. Why do we need to replace Carl jenkinson? When he comes back he is great cover. TW needs to play on the wing and I guess yeah the rest can go as are very weak. We need 4 players in simple and need to be class for our young crop to live up 2

    1. Is it not a little early to write of Chambers and Gnarby? And maybe we should consider sending Kibbs out on loan? I thought he was quite promising in the beginning. Same goes for Gibbs come to think of it.

    2. Theo Walcott needs to be sold he is bloody useless now and has wasted too many years in the “developing” stage and its way far past the point where we should be giving him any more time, Im surprised that people bang on about loosing Giroud far more than TW when its clear that the biggest non starter is TW

  6. The first man I would like to be replaced is OG, remember we had Chamak who played the same style with OG though Chamak was even more accurate with his header than this guy, very unfortunate Chamak was sorounded with more mediocry players than OG.

    Arsenal is not used to play long balls and headers not our traditional. So for me the first thing I want to see in this team is affloading OG.

    If he is that better with his header and hold up play let him join Stoke City. Hope he will make them world better because it is a team who has playing style that suit OG

    1. @Fab I have to agree with you. As long as we have OG as a starter we will not win the PL IMO. It is hard for me to understand anyone would be attached to keeping Giroud.

      1. I think it is generally agreed that we need a better striker than giroud. However before such a striker is in place and scoring goals, and staying injury free, then getting rid of Giroud would be reckless. Giroud has one huge advantage, so far he has been relatively injury free and last season he was our top goal scorer.

        We need a top striker but we also need giroud in case
        1. new top striker is a flop
        2. New top striker is injured
        3. To rotate with new top striker

  7. Let’s be brutally honest here chaps, The fact that the Ox and Walcott are perhaps going is a reason to be well pleased, I have nothing against the Ox but he really let himself down last season AND has been injury prone and if we are to be a team that wins the EPL we need to cut the sentimentality out and get rid of him before he becomes a costly burden just like….Theo Walcott who to my mind need to be offloaded as soon as possible in my humble opinion to keep a player who has clearly lost his bottle and who also quiet obviously negotiated a pay rise in a wholeheartedly mercenary way would be a real mistake in my book.
    The Ox may just have been unlucky and needs a little more 1st team play and a run of luck but Theo needs to be gone as he will only ever be a huge cost and of no real use moving forward.
    We are well stacked in Midfield with plenty of attacking players in midfield and if Wenger chooses not to replace them then perhaps NOT having too many options will benefit us as it would allow for a more regular squade rather than giving Wenger too many options in the midfield.
    Our new acquisition is a great move but we fundamentality need an out and out striker as we all know and perhaps unloading Walcott to some unsuspecting fools like west ham and cash in on the lazy Tw@t before he really gets found out by the rest of the world.

    1. a few years ago walcott seemed to be developing into the player we hoped to see. Injuries and now the fear of injuries seems to have affected him badly. We are paying him far too much for what we get so if we can sell him for a reasonable price then I think we should.

      Not sure that selling him to pool is a good idea though. No european football plus klopp as manager, pool will be a threat in all domestic competitions next season.

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