Arsenal should have splashed out on another top midfielder in the summer | OneFootball

Is it fair to judge Arsenal’s summer transfer activities only on the unlucky injuries that have struck their midfield? Before even making the Arsenal matchday squad, Mikel Merino sustained an arm injury during his first Arsenal training session. Martin Odegaard suffered a knock against Brighton but was ok to go on international duty (something he should not have done), only to sustain a knee injury in Norway’s second match, a 2-1 victory against Austria.

Odegaard and Merino, like Declan Rice, who will serve a red card suspension, are very unlikely to make the North London Derby matchday squad this weekend. Without them, Arsenal still has to beat Tottenham.

Therefore, either Jorginho or Partey could easily replace Rice at 6. And had the Gunners not let Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira go this summer, one of them could have replaced Odegaard. We know Kai Havertz can play LCM, but who plays RCM? Yes, Nwaneri could, but Arteta isn’t likely to plunge him into the deep end in such a high-stakes match?

While it was correct to allow Smith Rowe to leave, the absence of a successor should have prevented Vieira’s loan exit. Vieira possesses a wealth of talent, which will be evident when he plays for Porto. Whenever he played, the Portuguese showed flashes of brilliance; Arteta had started deploying him on the right flank, which should have made it easier for him to fill in at RCM in Odegaard’s absence.

The need for game time and to regain his confidence may have prompted his departure, but with Odegaard’s injury, wouldn’t the opportunity for him to play have presented itself if he were still at the Emirates Stadium? But Vieira and Smith Rowe have left, and we can’t count on them this season, but Arsenal’s decision-makers failed to sign another elite midfielder other than Merino as a result of those departures.

Mikel Merino would not have replaced both Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira (or even Mohammed Elneny, who some forgot also left). Arsenal should have recruited another midfielder other than Mikel Merino, and that has never been clearer than Arsenal’s current issue with their midfield.

Darren N

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