Former goalkeeper David Seaman believes Arsenal need a centre back and a central midfielder if they are to compete for the Premier League title.
It’s another summer where pundits and ex-players think Arsenal need just a couple more players to be contenders. More than that, it’s another summer where those couple more players happen to be a central defender and a central midfielder.
According to David Seaman, while Arsenal’s business so far has been good, they need those two players if they really want to compete for the title.
“Arsenal need more players – more top-class players,” Seaman told Goal. “They’ve got Lacazette, which is a good signing, but I still think they need a couple more. Whether they are in the pipeline I don’t know.
“I think they need a central midfield player – a holding midfielder – a Patrick Vieira type midfield player. One with a lot of presence and strength, with the ability to control games like Patrick used to.
“Then maybe a centre-half. Mertesacker is coming back now – I watched him play last weekend, and he looked as good as ever. I don’t think he’ll ever look as good as he did in the FA Cup final, that was brilliant to watch, but with over 100 caps for Germany, we know he can play.
“For Arsenal to win the league, I feel they’re a few players short, looking at other squads. I think they just need a couple.
“They’ve been there or there abouts for a long time now but never been in with a really good chance in the last few weeks of the season – so adding a couple of players might change that.”
Of course, it’s much easier to say we need a Patrick Vieira type midfielder than to actually sign one. There aren’t many Vieira-type midfielders around just waiting to be discovered. While nobody would say no to a new Vieira, many would agree that Arsenal’s priority is to replace Santi Cazorla, a completely different type of midfielder.
Arsenal do certainly need a centre back, either now or next summer, but may baulk at Southampton’s asking price for Virgil van Dijk. The Gunners are looking a little short at the back should they sell Calum Chambers, considering Laurent Koscielny has injury problems and Per Mertesacker has made just one appearance in the last year.
The midfield isn’t blessed with depth either, with Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla still making their recoveries, while Mohamed Elneny is up for sale. Francis Coquelin didn’t feature much during the tail-end of last season either so Seaman isn’t wrong in his words.