A potential squad overhaul, a new contract for our best player and an ex-player returning as manager are getting me excited.
It doesn’t matter how true the rumours are – there are just some that capture your imagination.
There are no shortage of rumours surrounding Arsenal, but here are just three that have caught my eye.
1Mesut Ozil could sign a new contract
If Arsenal make one signing this winter, please let it be Mesut Ozil.
The 29-year-old will forever divide opinion, but there’s little doubt in my mind who the best player at the club is.
He’s a creative force in the side, constantly crafting chances for other even when he’s not at his best.
In a team that is packed with a surprising amount of inefficient players with inconsistent end product, Ozil is an assuring presence. You know that, when the time comes, he’s going to produce the right pass.
He makes the players around him better, and the thought of surrounding him with new personnel is an appealing one.
In addition, it would be wonderful just to end the constant speculation about his future.
No Ozil to Manchester United or Barcelona rumours.
Just Ozil playing for Arsenal for years to come.
That’d be nice.
2Arsenal plan a major squad overhaul
This particular story is one that will make you roll your eyes. It crops up every season, usually amid a period of bad form and fan unrest, and never amounts to anything.
Still, I can’t help but feel a little curious about what a squad overhaul would look like at Arsenal.
Even if logic says that we shouldn’t let go of 10 players in one go, it’s a tempting prospect.
There are players who have been at the club for years. We know their strengths and weaknesses inside out. We know what they are and aren’t capable of.
So nothing about the team’s performance is surprising or exciting. It’s difficult to see how or where this group of players can progress.
Hitting the restart button and bringing in a whole raft of new players is risky, but it’d be thrilling.
I got giddy when Arsenal signed Andre Santos, Park Chu-Young and Yossi Benayoun within hours of each other, so I can’t image what signing a whole new team of half-decent players would feel like.
3Mikel Arteta could succeed Arsene Wenger
The man with perfect hair could replace Arsene Wenger in 2019.
This has more to do with sentiment than anything. Arteta was a very admirable player and person at the club. He played a huge role in steadying the ship during the 2011/12 season.
It was a huge shame that Arsenal couldn’t convince him to stay as a coach.
At the very least, he’s learning from the best. It’d be too much to say he’ll be the next Guardiola, but if he could apply just some of those principles to Arsenal, we’d be in a better place.
There’s a hope that his youth would galvanise the club. He could arrive with fresh ideas and bring the team into the modern era.
He’s an unknown quality, but that alone makes him an exciting prospect.
We’re so familiar with Wenger at this point that his side often fails to raise the pulse. We know full well what the team will do, and that can suck the fun out watching them.
Arteta could be wonderful, or he could be a massive flop, but either way, it would be novel.
More than anything, the club needs a new act.