This article was originally published on the Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Charles Watts’ exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service at thedailybriefing.io Arsenal to step up Mikel Merino transfer pursuit after completing Riccardo Calafiori deal I’m fully expecting Arsenal to step up their […]
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This article was originally published on the Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Charles Watts’ exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service at thedailybriefing.io
I’m fully expecting Arsenal to step up their attempts to bolster their midfield now their move for Riccardo Calafiori has been confirmed.
We know that Mikel Merino is a player they like. The club had identified him as a target before the Euros and his brief performances for Spain in Germany only confirmed that he is a player who could make an impact in the Premier League.
There is believed to be rival interest in Merino from clubs in Spain, as he is expected to be available at a good price due to his contract status at Real Sociedad.
But I do think Arsenal will step up their interest in the 28-year-old having finally secured the signature of Calafiori.
There have been links to other midfielders. I’ve seen Fabian Ruiz mentioned recently. That’s not one I’ve heard anything on myself yet, but he is a fine player of course.
I still think Merino is the main target though and he would be a fine addition. He would add versatility, which is so important to any signing who comes in under Mikel Arteta.
Physically, he looks well suited to the Premier League and along with Calafiori, looks like he could really bolster Arsenal’s left-sided options for the new season.
I think an important thing to remember when looking at Arsenal’s midfield is that a pathway needs to be left for someone like Ethan Nwaneri to progress over the next 12 months.
Nwaneri has shown during the pre-season tour in the United States that he is more than good enough to make an impact at senior level. He looks totally at home in the first-team environment and you can see that the senior players trust him enough to give him the ball, even when he is under pressure.
The imminent departure of Emile Smith Rowe should give Nwaneri a real opportunity, so you don’t want to bring in too many players that end up blocking the pathway of a young player with so much talent.
It’s no surprise to see several clubs being linked with an interest in Reiss Nelson. Anyone watching Arsenal’s pre-season tour over in the United States will have seen the decent performances he has been putting in.
Leicester are understood to have enquired about the winger, but West Ham are still there and I certainly wouldn’t rule them out as Nelson’s next destination.
But as it stands, I don’t think anything is imminent. Although of course that can change at any point, should someone come in with an offer that Arsenal find acceptable.
The fact Nelson is playing over in the USA shows, however, that no-one has come close to meeting Arsenal’s demands for Nelson. It’s the same when it comes to Eddie Nketiah, who Marseille want.
The French club have been talking to Arsenal about Nketiah but have not come close to finding an agreement.
It’s a very different situation to that of Smith Rowe, who is now on the verge of joining Fulham after a £34 million deal was agreed between the two clubs.
That move has been close to being done for a while now, which is why Smith Rowe was left out of the USA tour games against Bournemouth and Manchester United.
To be honest, I do think the time is right for all three to move on this summer. If that were to happen though, then Arsenal would need to sign at least one new attacker ahead of the new season. They would be a bit short otherwise.
Jurrien Timber has been one of the shining lights of Arsenal’s pre-season so far, just as he was last summer.
Obviously, what then happened on the opening day of the Premier League season last year was a disaster for Arsenal and for Timber himself, but he really looks like he has put that behind him now.
He looks sharp, he looks physically strong and he looks as comfortable on the ball as he ever did.
It’s been interesting to see him playing as a central defender in the first two games because prior to that we had only really seen him operating as a left-back in an Arsenal shirt.
That versatility he has could be so important because when you look at Arteta’s defence right now, it’s tough to predict exactly what he is thinking.
Calafiori looks like being the long-term left-back, then you have the incredible centre-back partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes and of course you have Ben White at right-back.
So when everyone is back fit and available, it’s tough right now to see where Timber will feature. But the key thing is he can play anywhere across that backline and we know that Arteta wants to rotate more this season than he has done previously.
That’s something he’s spoken about in the last few weeks and when you look at the options he now has defensively, he is going to have to rotate to keep everyone happy and so I have no doubt that Timber is going to get plenty of minutes this season.
This is a big season for Fabio Vieira. The Portuguese playmaker arrived for big money two years ago and so far he has done very little to live up to that price tag.
There were really positive signs at the start of last season, but an injury halted him in his tracks and he never really recovered from that. In fact, once he returned Mikel Arteta barely used him at all.
So now he has to show he can make an impact in the Premier League and the imminent departure of Emile Smith Rowe to Fulham should certainly give him an opportunity for more game time.
Although, recently when we have seen Vieira we’ve seen him being used on the right hand side of the attack.
That’s where he has featured in both of Arsenal’s pre-season games in the USA and there have been flashes of quality, including the goal he scored in the draw against Bournemouth.
The thing with Vieira is you know he has that quality, He’s shown that during his time in England. But it’s about whether he can do it on a consistent basis and whether he has the physical capability to deal with the demands of the Premier League.
I don’t really like him playing out wide, I don’t think that’s his best position. I see him more as a Martin Odegaard understudy than I do a Bukayo Saka one.
I do believe he’s worth sticking with for another season, but wherever Arteta does opt to use him he has to show now that he can do something for the team because otherwise you feel that his time is running out at Arsenal.
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