Arsenal has recently finalised the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea and is now expected to secure a deal for Declan Rice in the coming days.
Once Arsenal secures Rice’s transfer, the Gunners may not pursue another midfielder, as they continue to actively search for new additions to their squad.
With the presence of Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, and Granit Xhaka, Arsenal came close to clinching the Premier League title in the previous campaign.
Now, Arsenal aims to strengthen their midfield options further. However, with the potential departures of Partey and Xhaka, the composition of their midfield for the upcoming season will undergo significant changes, hopefully resulting in a considerable improvement.
The Daily Mail reckons that Arsenal’s midfield lineup following these two high-profile signings is expected to feature Havertz, Rice, and Odegaard in a midfield three.
Havertz will be deployed as a number 8, effectively replacing Xhaka as a midfielder known for making late runs into the box and contributing goals.
Odegaard will continue in the number 10 role, while Rice will take over from Partey and play in a deeper position behind the other two midfielders. These options will allow Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to implement his preferred 3-2-5 formation successfully.
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A midfield three of Odegaard, Rice and Havertz could be a disaster in the making.
——————Ramsdale
–White-Saliba–Magalhese–Zinchencko
—-Odegaard—–Rice—–Mavertz
—-‘Saka———Jesus–‘—-Martinelli
Trams with physical and powerful midfielders will overrun this Arsenal setup, Onana and company did exactly that at Merseyside.
Lavia from Southampton manhandle Arsenal at the Emirate in that 3;3 draw.
Partey has to be in that team or another powerful midfielder.
Southampton manhandle us in the absence of Xhaka at the Emirate.p
Good evening arsenal fans am very excited for the first signing and we need more signings to be able arsenal fight for premier league title next season. Rice, Timbre and cancelo at the back. Sky will be our limit next season
Havertz Will presses and works very hard off the ball and he is also very strong for a skinny guy like him. Dnt underestimate that midfield three.
The number one reason we capitulated last season was (you guessed it) Squad Depth. So far we have spent close to 180M, over 75% of the transfer budget, but have we really addressed Squad Depth, bearing in mind Partey and Xhaka are on their way out. Beats me.
If our summer window ended with three signings (Havertz, Rice and Timber), I’d be very happy as long as we keep the trio of Partey, Xhaka and Tierney. The less we dislocate the team of last season, the better, IMO
I agree
Some stability is needed during the transition
For those looking at things glass half empty among all players last season at Chelsea:
◉ Most goals
◉ Most shots on target
◉ Most chances created
◉ Most aerial duels won
◉ Most possession won final ⅓
◉ Most final ⅓ passes
◉ Most duels won
◉ Most flick-ons
◉ Most lay-of.
Basically their best player, now maybe this is what MA and technical team are looking at but seems most of us looking at the bad side that Chelski were poor and he was part of it.
Chelsea fan here and not trying to stir anything up but I can guarantee you Havertz was not our best player last year. Those stats are primarily because Havertz played more minutes than anyone else in the forward line. He would put in 1 good performance every 5 or 6 matches and then be dreadful in-between. I always thought Havertz would suit a less physical league as he simply didnt look up for the fight at all in the PL but played better when there was more time and space in the CL. Intrigued to see how he plays at Arsenal. He certainly can’t play in a midfield with Odegaard though
Agreed. Arteta knows what he is doing. Plus, Havertz also provides elite level cover for Saka on the RW, & Ode if he’s out.
That big grin means nothing to us the fans. A big grin cheek to cheek may be shared with us the fans once we win the Champions League or the Premier League title. Everything else is meaningless. Little Pep has not from his master. Pep spent 51 million for Halaand, and Arteta spent 45 million on Gabriel. Result 36 goals vs 11 goals. What a joke. Pep spent 30 million on Kovacic and Arteta spends some 65 million on Havertz. Wake up people, we have the wrong manager. He is leading us to bankruptcy with his failed ideas.
It may sound sacrilegious to some Arsenal fans, and is probably a moot point anyway, but I would have liked to see Sambi-Lokonga stay and rotate with Havertz/Odegaard/Smith-Rowe. It is well established that he is not of enough quality to replace Rice, so presumably the club intend to continue with their pursuit of Jurrien Timber. Should they be successful in securing his signing as well we could be witnessing the most exciting transfer window in living memory.
With this midfield, we’ll need Timber to constantly tuck in midfield else we’ll be destroyed, hopefully Partey stays.
It all sounds good on paper.
A midfield of:
Havertz on the left
Rice in the middle, in front of the two center halfs
Odegaard on the right
But, what happens if one or more of them gets injured, especially Rice
Will Lavia be bought as Rice’s back-up?
Will ESR be a back-up for Odegaard? (i do not see ESR as being an acceptable replacement in midfield)
Will Trossard be the back-up for Havertz?
I think there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding our midfield for next season!!
Are Elneny, Lokonga, and Viera good enough replacements, I think not.
Additionally, we will play teams who “put it about a bit”.
Both Partey an Xhaka could look after themselves, can Havertz and Odegaard do the same?
. Rams (turner)
White. Saliba. Magalahes.
(Timber). (Kiwior). (Tomiyasu)
. Partey. Zinchen.
. (Rice). (Jorginho).
Saka. Ode. Kai. Martinelli
(Nelson). (Vieira). (ESR). (Trossard).
. Jesus.
. (Nketiah).
First team could start 4-3-3 with zinchenko as invert lb. Against big six we could start with rice in kai position, with a double pivot of partey and rice. Partey cant leave.