Last summer it was clear that the next step of Arsenal’s evolution would be upping the quality in the engine room, and that very much appears to be Mikel Arteta’s number one priority this summer, after a disappointing end to the season.
Declan Rice has long been touted as Arsenal’s number one priority, and reports suggest the club will make the first formal bid in June following West Ham’s Europa Conference League final, which will be his last appearance for the club.
This move would lift Arsenal’s level massively. Unlike Thomas Partey, Rice is a dynamic runner who can carry effortlessly through the thirds, break up play with ease and has vastly underrated technical qualities that could make him our Rodri.
Alongside these qualities, Rice has an ever present status, which is vital with the loss of Granit Xhaka, and the issues Thomas Partey’s fluctuating form and injury record has caused the club.
These qualities are further enhanced by his leadership, which this season has seen him drag West Ham out of a relegation battle and into the Europa Conference League final.
Despite all of these qualities, Arsenal still need at least one player in addition to him, and with Xhaka and Partey potentially leaving, we could need three.
Enter Mount and Caicedo. With these names, you have three very, very different players, all of whom would increase the quality of the team massively.
With Mount, you have a manager’s dream. He is technically gifted, light on his feet, creative, available and intelligent. No matter what the coach wants, Mount will carry it out to the letter on the pitch, and under a tactician like Arteta he would thrive, just like he did under Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea.
Like Rice, it would be an expensive deal, however with a year left on his contract and Chelsea needing to sell for FFP, the fee will likely be lower, however competition will be extremely strong.
Whilst it will be expensive, it will come in considerably lower than what Moises Caicedo would cost, however the pair are vastly different players.
Like Mount, Caicedo is technically gifted and intelligent, however he is a dynamic ball winner who can play at six or as an inverted fullback, so his signing would not address the attacking hole that will be left with Xhaka departing.
The dream would be for Arsenal to sign all three, as it would transform the team, and address glaring issues that are currently in place, however given costs, that seems like a pipedream right now.
Arsenal may have Champions League money, but numerous new contracts and bonus payments will take up a large sum of that, so it will depend on what the Kroenke’s are willing to spend, and what Edu can bring in from sales.
If we can have a strong summer in the sales department, don’t rule out all three, or potentially Man City’s Ilkay Gundogan arriving on a free. We may as well dream.
The Arsenal Therapy Podcast 