If you were an Arsenal Scout with £50m to spend in the EPL… Part 3

Okay readers, let’s play a game. by Dan Smith

As many readers will know I spend many international breaks filling time with lists. So with Arsenal on a winter break I thought it be a good day to start our own kind of ‘Fantasy Draft’.

Essentially, we will go through each Premier League team and pick one player to sign. This, though, is Arsenal we are talking about, so let’s pretend you can’t spend more than 50 million on each player. Therefore, there is no point in selecting Aguero, Pogba, Salah, Kane, etc.

The idea of the game is to explore if there is any value out there. So, let’s use our imagination and be on our recruitment team.

Just a bit of fun, all opinions welcome, no right or wrong…

Here are the next five of my choices….

Man United – Chris Smalling – Free
Some Arsenal fans would have laughed at this idea a year ago but try telling that now to any Italian fans, where he’s been rebuilding his reputation, which is kind of the point of a loan. He will be out of contract in the summer, so we lose nothing even if he became a squad player. Anyone who’s watched him with Roma will tell you he’s been better than any of our centre-backs. If he can keep that determination to prove his critics wrong then he could be a bargain, although expect competition from a lot of Serie A clubs.

Newcastle – Dubravka- 25 million
The great thing about Newcastle is you know under Mike Ashley they will sell any asset if the price is right, especially for someone they brought for only 4 million. I am a fan of the work rate and pace of Almiron and Saint Maximin but they need to improve in the final third. Dubravka is their best player. I don’t rate Leno as much as other gooners and I don’t think it would hurt for him to have some competition, something he would never have under Martinez. Even if Dubravka started as your second choice he would improve your chances in the cup competitions.

Norwich – Aarons – 30 million
I think many gooners have said this, assuming Cedric is just a stop gap at right back. The Canaries are 7 points from safety so will accept with a fair price, but it is like us to haggle over the last pound and someone beats us to this move.

Spurs – Rose
So obviously Spurs are not going to be keen to sell anyone to us leaving our options limited. Rose on the other hand wouldn’t get a bigger move then us and the way he’s spoken he’s hardly going to worry about what his old club would think. Surely he wouldn’t pick Newcastle over us because the North does chips better then down South?

Sheffield United – John Fleck -30 million
The fact there is zero stars that come to mind reflects the job Chris Wilder has done. I don’t think he’s type of manager who would force someone to stay because that would upset team spirit.
As long as they didn’t ask for crazy money, he’s someone who adds bite to your midfield.

Over to you for your choices….

Dan Smith