Mikel Arteta has a quality squad to work with at the Emirates and he has made some interesting reinforcements as well this summer. Riccardo Calafiori is one of the most talented defenders coming up in European football and Arsenal have managed to snap him up without competition.
Similarly, signing someone of Mikel Merino‘s quality for just €25m is an absolute bargain. The Spaniard brings so much to the table and is criminally underrated outside of La Liga. He could be the missing link in midfield between Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard that Arsenal lacked last season. Yes, Jorginho did a decent job but Merino is a definite upgrade.
The left back conundrum
One other position where Arteta is relatively not well-stacked is left-back. It’s not for the lack of options but it comes down to quality. Oleksandr Zinchenko is right up there considering the style of play that the Spanish tactician deploys but the Ukrainian international has struggled to remain fit in the last 18 months.
All his replacements – Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior and Riccardo Calafiori can do a job there but it isn’t their favoured position on the field. Arteta does have another left-back in his squad who he seemingly doesn’t trust.
Tar ar!, Tierney?
When Arsenal signed Kieran Tierney, he was expected to be our future on the left side of defence. The Scottish defender was extremely talented and still continues to be an excellent overlapping full-back. He has a peach of a cross in his locker and offers something different to Zinchenko.
For some reason though, Arteta doesn’t place enough faith in the 27-year-old. The Spanish tactician snubbed him from the matchday programme for the pre-season clash against Bayer Leverkusen, sending him a clear message that he doesn’t feature in his plans. One can certainly expect Tierney to leave this summer.
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It’s sad that Tierney never worked out at Arsenal. He had all the signs of becoming a top full-back. At 27, he still has enough time to move to a new club he can call home and earn the trust of his manager. The issue for the Scottish international though is staying fit for a sustained period. Even now, Tierney is nursing an injury he suffered in the Euros.
Let’s see which club comes in with an appropriate offer to take Tierney off our hands. It’s time to make a clean break and have a fresh start and a transfer this summer will do the world of good for all parties involved. It’ll also be interesting to see if Arteta then dips into the market for a new left-back or decides to continue with what he has in the squad.
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