LONDON (UK) — While Arsenal made a bold £42.5 signing of Mesut Ozil, the Gunners still need to add quality players if they wish to become serious contenders.
Ozil will make a great impact at Arsenal this season by racking up loads of assists. He has the ability to pick out passes that the other Arsenal midfielders could not. Theo Walcott’s goal scoring tally will increase having Ozil play through balls to him. Also, Olivier Giroud will receive more balls played into the box, which he should be able to get his feet or head onto for goals.
One major concern is the lack of depth up front for the Gunners. Giroud is the only natural center forward the Gunners have, besides free transfer Yaya Sanago, Sanago still needs time to develop as he was playing in France’s Ligue 2 last season. Walcott believes he can be an everyday center forward, but he is much more effective playing on the flanks where he can use his great speed. Lukas Podolski could be played through the center, but once again he is better on the left side where he can use his deadly left footed strikes more often.
There is no clear replacement for Giroud, which should be a major concern for Arsenal supporters. Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, clearly knows this as he was trying to bring in Chelsea’s Demba Ba, on the last day in the transfer window. Bringing in Ba would have been an improvement over Giroud. Bringing in a striker with the quality of Ba would have made the Gunners title contenders this season.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho knew this as he was reported to say, “I did not accept Arsenal’s offer for Demba Ba because added to their signings of Ozil, they would have been title contenders.”
The Gunners also need to bring in a world-class goalkeeper to challenge Wojciech Szczesny. Wenger did bring in Emiliano Viviano from Palermo on a season long loan, but he is not the top quality keeper that the Gunners need. Queens Park Ranger’s goalkeeper, Julio Cesar, was looking for exit the entire transfer window. Acquiring Cesar would have been the much-needed experience in between the post the Gunners must have to become title contenders.
Maybe Wenger has a plan to better his team in the January transfer window, if not expect Arsenal to be battling it out for another fourth place finish this season. Once again, the Gunners are so close to becoming a great team, but will they put the pieces of the puzzle together this year to become a contender?