The 4 players Arsenal need to complete the jigsaw

This is, hopefully, going to be my first article on ‘Just Arsenal’. Having been a follower of the great club, and therefore this website, for well over a decade, I feel that I have something relevant to say. I believe this is the best Arsenal squad, overall, since Flamini was last here. Not since then has it been the case that just one or two first-teamers would really allow us to challenge for all four competitions, particularly not with any realistic hope of winning either the Premiership or the Champions League. Then we had a solid team, with Fabregas providing creativity, and Flamini bossing it in the middle of the park. Further up we had Adebayor, Robin van Pursestrings and Henry all available as front men. But this is really intended as a look at who should be the players that we really go for in January, since now we clearly have the ‘financial firepower’ to land just about anyone. Starting at the back, I think Jenkinson and (particularly) Gibbs look good enough to continue in these positions, with the ever more inconsistent Sagna and Monreal able to provide the cover we need. I still believe that an experienced goalkeeper would be beneficial, but it’s probably worth giving Viviano a season – he’s here anyway and Szczesny is clearly where the future lies. Nonetheless, if Viviano fails to force his way into at least the Carling Cup team, or if he looks shaky, we do need another option. My favourite would be Cesar – likely to be cheap (three million or so), and clearly quality. Add to this his age – close to retirement – and you have the perfect man to fill the gap while the other two mature. I also think a centre back is a necessity. Koscielny has clearly cemented himself in the heart of defence, but we seem unable to find a partnership that works. Vermaelen hasn’t been at his best for two years, and Sagna is aging fast. Mertesacker is good, but looks vulnerable to anyone fast and still has moments of madness (like the one against Marseille). However, I do think the good news is that we needn’t buy someone that is going to walk straight into the team – here we can look to the future a bit more. That is why I feel the continued speculation linking us with Papadopoulos is very promising – a good young centre half that will only get better! Even better still is his price tag – just eleven million apparently– quite low for such a quality player. The other options would be buying from Liverpool – one of Agger or Skertel is likely to be available since they bought in Toure and Sakho, both are clearly good defenders, and may well come relatively cheap as they aren’t in Rodger’s long term plans. Further forward and our first choice midfield three (of Ozil, Wilshere and Ramsey) looks unbalanced. Furthermore, it’s not as if we have an obvious player that is going to walk into it from the medical room and sort it out (Diaby would, but he’s never going to leave it for more than three weeks!) Arteta is good, but not a defensively minded midfielder, however hard Wenger tries to make him one, and Flamini seems to be more attacking than when he left – though he will still provide good cover. That’s why I feel it’s a shame that we didn’t make more of an effort to sign Gustavo. Staying with the German market though, and there are three obvious players that would probably be able to plug the gap – either of the Bender twins, or Gündoğan – any of the three would also be good value for anything under twenty million. Further forward still and we do look short of a striker. I personally believe that Giroud is good enough to be our main front man. He’s clearly hit the ground running this season and it’s not as if we should be surprised – he showed glimpses of it towards the end of last season, and has one in two for his previous clubs. I also don’t think that a massive bid for Suarez is good business in any case – yes he gets goals, but his best position (in my opinion) is as a number ten, and we have arguably the best number ten in the world. Suarez is also a loose cannon; and I don’t want a player that used the words he did against Evra pulling on an Arsenal shirt. So I believe the only reason that we should fork out big money here is if someone of the highest quality became available – maybe Higuain doesn’t settle in Naples (though it looks like he will) or if Dortmund would let Lewandowski go for no more than twenty- five million. Failing either of those unlikely events occurring, I think we should invest in a back up striker – someone that would be able to slot in if Giroud’s injured rather than necessarily offering us something else. There are two people in the league that really interest me – Defoe and Bony. Defoe is clearly very unlikely, though he has just told the BBC, in no uncertain terms, that he doesn’t like his current role. He is a class player, and natural finisher. More likely though would be Bony. He has already netted for the Swans, and his goal scoring record at Vitesse speaks for itself and he is also young. Furthermore, I think a swap deal with Bendtner (good enough for the Welsh club, but deadwood at the gunners) could potentially lower his price tag beyond even ten million, which would make very good business, and get rid of the useless Dane. Would be interested to here what my fellow gunners have to say, and hope you liked it!