Mikel Arteta’s preoccupation with one position in his Arsenal team risks sending the club’s summer transfer plans into disarray.
Left-back is a problem position for Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta is now satisfied with the current make up of his defensive contingent. The manager is keen to add a new left-back to his Arsenal squad in the upcoming summer transfer window.
However, the Gunners already have many first team players on the books who feature in that position. Oleksandr Zinchenko has almost exclusively played as a left-back for the North London club, whilst Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior, and Jurrien Timber have all spent a large proportion of their game time for the Gunners playing in that role.
Abundance of Arsenal left-backs has created summer transfer problem
However, there are question marks over each member of this quartet. Arteta seems to have lost faith in Zinchenko due to his defensive frailties and all too common lapses in concentration. Meanwhile, Tomiyasu’s recurrent injury concerns are a problem, and the Gunners lack attacking impetus when Kiwior is fielded in that part of the pitch.
The Poland international is a centre-back by trade, but will always struggle for game time in the heart of the Arsenal rearguard whilst William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are fit and firing for the club. The same obstacle is preventing Tomiyasu from playing more regularly in the middle of the back-line.
Timber’s maiden campaign at the Emirates Stadium was decimated by injury, so it is difficult to say for certain where he features in Arteta’s plans. The Dutchman can play in any defensive position, but the presence of Saliba and Gabriel, and the form and dependability of right-back Ben White, indicates that he will get more opportunities at left-back than anywhere else.
On top of that, Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares are due to return to Arsenal following the end of their loan stints with Real Sociedad and Nottingham Forest, respectively. Neither of these left-backs have a future with the Gunners, but there next moves still need to be sorted out this summer.
Arsenal must recognise danger of left-back problem spiralling out of control
That means there are six senior left-backs already at Arteta’s disposal. At least two or three will surely need to be ushered out before a new face in that position can be signed. Yet the manager remains insistent upon strengthening his hand in that part of the pitch.
Given the Gunners also face a pressing need to invest in other areas of the squad, the amount of work that will have to go into sorting out the left-back situation, and the sheer number of deals that will need to be done, now threatens to derail the club’s other summer plans.