Our series of January transfer window wrap-ups continues with a look at the business done by Premier League title contenders Arsenal.
Who arrived?
Prior to the commencement of the January transfer window Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger confirmed that he would be looking to add one or two players, citing the club’s wretched injury woes, especially in central-midfield, as the rationale for the need to further bolster his squad.
The Gunners were linked to an array of midfielders, but in the end it was Egyptian Mohammed Elneny who was signed from Swiss champions FC Basel for a fee of around £7 million. Like previous January acquisitions Gabriel Paulista and Nacho Monreal, Elneny was a signing that no-one saw coming, but Wenger later admitted that the club had been keeping tabs on the 23-year-old for a year before deciding to pursue the his signature.
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Elneny comes with decent pedigree having won a hat-trick of Swiss Super League titles, as well as earning 39 caps for Egypt, playing as either a holding-midfielder or in a box-to-box role. His versatility, technical ability and aerobic endurance are his major attributes, but he will need time to adapt to his new surroundings in the UK, hence the tedious integration period where he made his full debut in the FA Cup against Burnley last weekend.
Adequate cover for Francis Coquelin has long been required and the arrival of Elneny will be deemed as an upgrade on the two old stagers who are the current understudies to Coquelin – Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini.
Aside from Elneny, the only other new comers to the club were exciting Nigerian teenagers Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze, who both impressed in Nigeria’s triumphant under-17 World Cup campaign. The deal for the duo is worth £3 million, with the two remaining in their homeland before officially starting their Arsenal careers once they turn 18.
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Who departed?
The most notable departure from the Gunners squad was undoubtedly right-back Mathieu Debuchy, who joined French club Bordeaux on loan until the end of the season. Debuchy has fallen well behind young gun Hector Bellerin in the pecking order and with Euro 2016 around the corner, the 30-year-old felt leaving the club for regular first team football was the only option if he was to make Didier Deschamps’ final squad of 23.
There was interest from a host of clubs including Roma, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland and Manchester United, but he opted to return to his country of birth in an attempt to get his career back on track after regressing significantly from the player who featured for France at the World Cup in 2014.
Yaya Sanogo’s disastrous stint at Ajax came to an abrupt halt when his season loan deal was terminated, paving the way for the striker to sign for Championship club Charlton Athletic until the end of the campaign.
Forgotten youngster Serge Gnabry also returned to the club after a disappointing loan spell at West Brom. It looks likely he will be farmed out again, and the luxury of lower league clubs being able to sign players on loan outside the transfer window time limit means Championship duo Charlton and Brighton are the front runners to acquire the German’s services.
Who can help the team?
With the likely departures of the out of contract trio of Arteta, Flamini and Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere’s chronic injury problems, central-midfield looks like a position that will be the main priority in the summer. The likes of Lars Bender, William Carvahlo, Granit Xhaka and Adrien Rabiot have been linked in the past and could all improve the squad in different ways.
Ever present defensive pair Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker are now both over 30, so a young central-defender could be targeted and a new left-back if Kieran Gibbs decides to move on in the summer. Promising young Leicester City defender Ben Chilwell was the subject of a £3.5 million bid from Arsenal in January and they could reignite their interest in the summer.
A high class striker will be again on the agenda and Borussia Dortmund hit-man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is every Arsenal fan’s pipe-dream signing, having been linked to the Gunners in recent times. Despite the club’s interest, the player’s reluctance to leave and the astronomical fee that Dortmund are commanding means a deal remains highly unlikely.
A strike force of Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott is not the worst, but an upgrade on those three marshalled with stars Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez would transform Wenger’s front-half into one of mouth-watering proportions.
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Overall Rating
It was pretty much as expected from Arsenal, with Wenger banking on the return of key personal to propel the title charge with 14 games remaining. Getting Coquelin and Sanchez back for the run in is crucial, while Welbeck will provide another attacking alternative from the bench.
The addition of Elneny will allow Wenger to shuffle his pack as fixture congestion will hit while the Gunners are still alive in the FA Cup and the Champions League. The manager has publicaly stated on numerous occasions that what he has is good enough to win the league this season, and with the squad in a healthy state, the Frenchman now has the necessary depth to go the distance in the title race after successfully negating the past two months without some influential faces.
Keeping the squad injury free from here on end will be a determining factor as to whether Arsenal can win their first league title in 12 years. Wenger has always maintained that he will nt buy for the sake of it and persuading clubs to part ways with their key assets is like pulling teeth. With the title virtually there for the taking, a failure to grasp this opportunity will be not because of the lack of January activity, but more so the summer.
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