Arsenal Transfer News & Rumours for 2019- 20

By Ayush Verma
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Updated: July 10, 2019
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After a 4-1 loss to Chelsea in the Europa League final of 2019, Unai Emery’s Arsenal needed a proper rebuild, or some serious reinforcements at the very least. The present squad simply isn’t strong enough to guarantee a Top 4 finish, and with Manchester United, Everton and Leicester City all strengthening, Arsenal will need to wake up to reality before they are forced to live a nightmare.

With a reported budget of only £45m, the supply of funds is too scarce to be able to attract any of the top stars from the top clubs around Europe. To exacerbate that issue, Arsenal are chasing a player who plays in, perhaps the only area that Arsenal do need to bring in immediate talent to fill; Wilfrid Zaha, a striker / left winger from Crystal Palace. Furthermore, with Palace’s demands of an £80m fee and the progress of negotiations, the entire club is becoming a laughing stock.

Defence needs to be sorted at a first priority. Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis put up a decent partnership whenever they played, but sadly every centre half other than Shkodran Mustafi suffered some form of long term injury. Mustafi didn’t do Arsenal any favours, with his numerous errors costing Arsenal several points across the season. Arsenal must find a buyer for the German international this window, and recoup whatever of the £30m they paid to bring him to the club. After that, the funds should be used to lure away Samuel Umtiti from Barcelona to add much needed solidity at the back.

Hector Bellerin proved himself to be a good asset for the side before his regrettable injury ruled him out for the season. A fully fit Bellerin will become their undisputed first choice right back, and Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac can rotate between themselves to fill the spot of left back. Although 3 new arrivals are required realistically, given the lack of available funds, the World Cup winning Umtiti will do for now.

Coming to midfield, Arsenal have been dealt fresh issues. Their best defensive midfielder in Lucas Torreira is struggling to adapt to life in England, and may seek a return to Italy. That would leave Arsenal helpless, requiring cover for a pivotal position in their setup, and without much bargaining power. A player for player swap would best suit them, perhaps for either of Rodrigo Bentancur of Juventus, or more ambitiously Radja Nainggolan of Inter.

With Aaron Ramsey leaving Arsenal on a free transfer, and the gaffer unhappy with the club’s highest earner in Mesut Ozil, there is scope of improvement in the attacking and creative department too. Here, Arsenal’s best bet would be to try and tempt Ilkay Gundogan of Manchester City to turn down a new contract with the champions, and lead the Arsenal makeover instead. Given City are unlikely to sanction a sale, it is not a realistic option, but an optimistic one. Kai Havertz could be a signing for the future, but prying him from Leverkusen will be no easy feat. Perhaps RB Leipzig’s Emile Forsberg could be Emery’s man. But given Ozil’s recent form, it is unlikely to see clubs who can afford his wages lining up to sign him. Arsenal would best hope a suitor from China comes in with a blank cheque.

If we look at the contribution from the wings, Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s numbers are not in the ballpark of those put up by the likes of Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez, or Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Mo Salah, or even Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min. But once more the problem of a deficit budget comes into play. Arsenal simply do not have the money to fund moves for the likes of Zaha, Rashford, Sancho or so on. Given the greater urgency of defensive reinforcements, wingers are an area that should be passed over cursorily for now.

In attack, Arsenal have riches in the form of Alex Lacazette and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. There were rumours of a Chinese club coming with a £100m bid for Aubameyang, but they have died out in recent weeks. Should a bid actually arrive, although counter-intuitive, it may be in Arsenal’s best interest to accept it.

With the state of transfers at Arsenal football club, I cannot see them compete for the title by any stretch of the imagination. I believe they may qualify for the champions league simply because Chelsea have gone forwards since last summer, and Manchester United haven’t improved enough till the time of writing. However, should star faces arrive at Old Trafford, Arsenal will indeed be playing catch up on the top 6 as they try to fend off a likely brawl for 7^th involving Leicester, Wolves and Everton.