Having secured Petr Cech as part of Arsenal’s new spine for next season, Gooners everywhere expected Wenger to follow this up with a new DM to compete with Francis Coquelin and definitely a new striker to give Olivier Giroud a rest up front, but now Wenger has revealed why he is in no rush to jump back into the transfer market.
Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere both returned to the Arsenal first team at the end of the last campaign, and Wenger thinks that these two can now be considered to be “like a new signing” and can provide extra competition for the above-mentioned positions. “The best way to strengthen other areas of the team is to get the players who did not play a lot last year and keep them fit,” Wenger said on Arsenal.com.
“Walcott basically did not play until the end of the season, Wilshere has not played many games. Those two were very convincing at the end of the season so I hope that this season we can benefit from their participation and competitiveness.
“We lost Ozil and Giroud for long periods last year and they contributed a lot in the second part of the season. Let’s hope all these players will be fit and available.
“After, if we can still add some quality, we will do it.”
This does not bode well for the Arsenal fans that are adamant that without a true DM and striker we cannot win the League. Walcott has been clamouring to be a central striker for years and Wenger obviously now thinks he is mature enough to be the new Thierry Henry, while Jack Wilshere has been winning Man-Of-The-Match accolades in his defensive role for England. Could these two be our new striker and DM this season?