Arsenal are set to announce a new captain for the coming season, following Mikel Arteta’s departure from the club this summer, and I fear the role is not taken seriously enough at the club.
When you look at Chelsea, and see their captain John Terry has been in the role since 2004, there is no question of his leadership, and he shows that regularly on the pitch, as he did for England previously also. Man City have Belgium international captain Vincent Kompany doing his bit also, and has had the armband at his club since 2011, while Man United have current England captain Wayne Rooney in the role, where he is regularly seen playing with his heart on his sleeve.
Then at Arsenal, we have seen a number of people gifted the armband, only to see them leave the club shortly afterwards. There is no consistency in the role, and it is hard to see who exactly is being the leader on the pitch.
This season we had Arteta as our club captain, who did not start a single Premier League match, and was not expected to be a regular in the first-team either. What is the point?
Before him we had Thomas Vermaelen for two seasons, who left to join Barcelona respectively, but when you look back to the likes of Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira, it really highlights what we are lacking in.
Reports are now claiming that Per Mertesacker is set to be given the captaincy for the coming season, who is into the last year of his playing contract, and was in-and-out of the starting line-up in the previous campaign.
Do we really want a non-playing captain? Surely we need consistency on the pitch, and a leader to fire our players up in the right moments.
Granit Xhaka has just arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach, where he was captain, and could be a long-term prospect for the role. He described himself as a leader in his first ever interview with Arsenal, and despite only arriving this summer, would have shown long-term goals for leadership within the club.
Who would you have chosen to captain the side this season? Am I wrong to want a long-term leader pushing our side forwards?