The club can still make top 4

It’s safe to say that the January transfer window did not turn out as some Arsenal fans had hoped. It’s also not as bad as some may think.

The departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on a free transfer caught many by surprise. Some see it as a good deal because he was never going to play for the club again, so the club was going to save on his £350k a week wages. Those that have a different view believe that he was still needed to improve the club’s chance of making top 4.

Several ex-players have expressed their opinion on this. Ian Wright’s comments suggests he was not happy with the deal and believes the club could have done more to bring manager and player together and settle their differences, for the good of the club. Paul Merson believes the club has done the right thing, while Martin Keown had a warning for Arteta that he needs to stop falling out with his payers because some players may use it as a way of getting a transfer out of the club for less than their transfer value. Doubtful that the club will entertain such tactics from players seeking transfers out of the club.

The club is still short in midfield and lacking a proven goal scorer. With respect to Lacazette and Nketiah, nether are 20 plus a season players. Observations from the club’s training in Dubai suggests that the club is going to play Gabriel Martinelli in the centre forward role. Martinelli has played this role before and he is capable of it, but it is a risk switching him to this role part way through a season. If it works out Arteta will be called a genius. If it doesn’t and the club miss out on the top 4, the sale of Aubameyang will be revisited and used as a stick to beat him.

The club is also short in midfield. The two starters are Partey and Xhaka. If either got injured or suspended, the club is able to call on Elneny and Sambi Lokonga. Lokonga is still inexperienced in the Premier League and Elneny is too defensively minded. If the club becomes really short they have the option of offering a short term contract to Jack Wilshere who has been training with the club for several months.

Despite any new signings, the club is still capable of finishing fourth, but will need luck with injury, refereeing decisions and will need the forward players to be scoring goals.