It was not the start that Arsenal fans would have expected but unfortunately our Premier League season began with a 0-2 loss against fellow London club West Ham and although they followed it up with a hard fought win over Palace there were definitely some deficiencies. The main talking points of the West Ham game were our defence’s inability to clear set-pieces and the poor performance of our marquee goalkeeper signing Petr Cech. All this has again brought forward the issue of insufficient transfer activity this summer.
Wenger has only bought only Petr Cech from Chelsea considering our first team transfer activity this season. We are still short of a defensive midfielder and striker. But the current squad gave the fans enormous confidence by completing a pre-season treble after winning the Community Shield following victories in the Barclays Asia Trophy and the Emirates Cup. Until last week everything seemed fine but after our average start to the season, Wenger now faces extra pressure from Gooners around the world to bring in new recruits before the transfer window officially slams shut on August 31.
Over the last few weeks striker rumours dominated, but over the past few days Arsenal have been linked with two talented defensive midfielders in the form of Lucas Silva(Daily Star) and Sevilla midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak(Metro). Both of them are highly talented and perfectly suit our style of play. Getting any one of them will also give us an extra option in midfield considering injuries to players like Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky.
Lucas Silva joined Real Madrid only in January but has found it difficult to find a place in the playing XI playing only nine times in the second half of last season. He had won two Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles with Brazilian club Cruzeiro and was instrumental in both those triumphs. During his time at the Santiago Bernabeau so far he has started only four games and has come as a substitute in another five, but he has exhibited his defensive mindset in all those games. Hence he is the person who Arsenal might need in this period of crisis.
He can act as the right back-up for our current anchorman Francis Coquelin with both Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini clearly ageing and out of form. Being just 22, Silva can work wonders with Arsene Wenger guiding him at Arsenal. However current Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez wants to send Silva out only on loan to gain more experience. Nonetheless bringing in Silva even on loan would be a smart move as he would bring in with him some Samba magic. Let us wait and see how this rumour ends up.
The other midfielder who is being linked with us currently is Polish International CDM Grzegorz Krychowiak. This Sevilla anchorman was crucial in the Spanish club’s latest Europa League triumph last season. He joined Sevilla from French club Reims last season only for a fee of around €6m and instantly impressed with his defence minded play. He became a crowd favorite as well due to his intense skills and physical strength. He played for Sevilla 48 times last season in all competitions which is the maximum by any Sevilla player last season. This shows his injury-free nature. He has never been out on a long injury lay off in his entire career. Hence he could be the right man for Arsenal.
If he joins us he would be equally good as Le Coq during normal games but will definitely be a better big match player than Coquelin because he has 26 International games to his name. Bringing him in will definitely strengthen our team and will provide the needed stability in midfield. Though Wenger recently denied any interest in Krychowiak we all know that Wenger is a man of surprises. Such was the case with our record signing Mesut Ozil two seasons back as well. Hence let us just keep our fingers crossed on this one because Krychowiak is a really talented player.
