Unai Emery knows what Arsenal need in January, and he’s going to get it
By Kian Long
Another day, another link between Arsenal and a winger.
It’s clear what Unai Emery will set out to achieve in his first January transfer window with Arsenal. The club is in need of an out-and-out winger, as it’s the one thing they lack within the squad. While they’ve done pretty good to fill the gap in the meantime, it’s a problem which needs to be addressed, and it should be done efficiently.
Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck, Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the players which can fill the space out wide, but none of them are ideal. While they’re all amazing players in their own right, each one of them would rather play through the middle.
This is why it was no surprise to see Arsenal linked with Nicolas Pepe last week, but this week it’s all about Ismaila Sarr. That’s right, according to The Sun, Arsenal will pursue moves for him and Bayer Leverkusen’s midfielder Kai Havertz. I can only assume that Havertz will be brought in as a long-term replacement for Aaron Ramsey, who looks set to be leaving the club anytime soon.
This is another sign of progress.
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Bringing in Unai Emery as the new head coach has marked many positive changes around the club, and this news only adds to the list. It shows that Emery is implementing his use of video analysis well, because the winger role was the only thing missing to make Arsenal’s summer overhaul perfect.
Alexandre Lacazette is only going to be more deadly when he receives creativity from out wide. If a player who can play a decent cross and is disciplined to stick to his position comes in to play out wide, then this will also take the onus away from Aubameyang, which means we could see plenty more from him.
Rennes will be familiar with Arsenal, given their rich French history. That said, communicating with them for Sarr could be a walk in the park. Also, the Gunners and Leverkusen have been in close contact recently, obviously with Bernd Leno jumping the pond.
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Who do you think is the best option for Arsenal out wide?