The World Cup has entered its last four implying many of the players are on their way back to their clubs and that means it won’t be long before the transfer updates start flowing across the football world which had so far been on an almost halt in case of the top players, especially those involved in the World Cup.
Arsenal has been heavily linked with players since the end of the previous term and as per the reports many of the transfer dealings might be heading towards a positive direction for the Gunners. But, don’t be fooled. Remember last season’s transfer window Arsenal were heavily linked with the likes of Gonzalo Higuain and many reports even went on to confirm that a deal has been struck and the official announcements would follow soon, and the official announcement came in that Higuain joined Napoli. This season again Arsenal have been heavily linked with top players and reports are in the positive direction.
Arsenal have already rejected signing two of their former players including former club captain Fabregas & striker Vela, they did manage to earn a pretty handsome amount from those transfers as well adding to the Transfer War-chest making the total available amount over 100 million pounds that sure sounds big money for a club like Arsenal who are known for their low spending attitude. In recent years, Arsenal’s low spending policy has been a target of criticism from the gunner supporters across the globe wanting to see Arsenal spend big on players and last season got a taste of a big name signing in the form of Mesut Ozil for a record 42.5 million pounds.
Forwards
So far in the window, since the end of the league season the Gunners have been heavily linked with some of the best strikers in the world which is a requirement for the club as witnessed in the previous season Arsenal did not have any good back-up striker to Giroud and once his form declined or got injured the gunners faced a scarcity of goals, that is one area Mr. Wenger would want to add depth early in the window and the possible names suggested to attain the depth are Alexis Sanchez (FC Barcelona), Mario Mandzukic (FC Bayern Munich), Mario Balotelli (AC Milan) & Loic Remy (Queens Park Rangers).
While Remy & Balotelli both have premier league experience and should be instant fits at the club, Remy carries the lowest price tag at around 8 million and has even been seen at the Emirates during the final days of the EPL campaign, while the inform Chile forward Alexis Sanchez was watched by Mr. Wenger at the World Cup and a deal with Barcelona might be in place for the forward already.
Midfield
Arsenal have also been keen on a defensive midfielder to fill the boots of the likes of Flamini & Arteta both in their thirties while Diaby’s consistent injury concerns have kept him away from regular Football for most duration of his stay at Arsenal, and, hence the requirement of a defensive midfielder, Mr. Wenger has had his bid rejected for Lars Bender in the previous transfer window but he still remains on the radar while the breaking news is that the Gunners boss might have his eyes on another German player Sami Khedira who also happens to be a close friend of the Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil and reportedly Arsenal have bid 23.8 million pounds for the player.
Defense & Goal Keeping
Arsenal would be desperately looking to add steal in their defense and goal-keeping, post the departures of Sagna & Fabianski on free transfer leaving the right back spot vacant and also a deputy for Szczesny would be on top of their transfer target. Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle) has emerged as a front runner for the vacant Right Back rumoured to have already struck a deal as he removed all data about Newcastle United from his twitter bio, and the speculations of landing Serge Aurier (Toulouse FC) seemed too big a gamble for the Gunners.
The search for a deputy for Szczesny is by far quite uncertain; Real Madrid & Spain Keeper Iker Casillas has been linked with Arsenal for quite some time and having already lost his no.1 spot at Madrid to Diego Lopez and Spain’s gloomy departure from the World Cup, the time might be right to seek new pastures, but a player as experienced as Casillas would certainly not want to play second keeper even at his new destination.
If even half of the speculations can be successfully converted into transfers in favour of the club, the Arsenal squad of 2014-15 will be a vicious force to reckon with.