The transfer deadline is fast approaching and with no players yet to come in at Arsenal many Gunners fans are start to wonder if there will be any new faces to cheer come Thursday. In this article I look at a few names that have been linked the most with Arsenal and what they could bring.
Ivan Perisic – Inter Milan
The man who broke England hearts on the 68th minute of the 2018 World cup semi final to equalise for Croatia, was one of the players of the tournament. Thanks to his high work rate and single mindedness in attack, Perisic managed to get 3 goals and 1 assist in the 7 World cup finals games he played.
Perisic struggled for a few years in Dortmund to find his best position, with many seeing him as some kind of wide target man or even a forward. He fell out with then coach Jürgen Klopp after accusing him of favouring other players and swiftly joined Wolfsburg where his international form and club form all started to come together finally.
Playing as a hard working explosive left winger he became indispensable for club and country, scoring goals and setting up team mates, which lead to him joining Inter where he has only continued his upwards curve in form. A big game player who is scorer of important goals.
A very versatile player, who can play in any of the front 3 positions, Perisic is the kind of player it seems Arsenal are starting to bring to the club, who is always up for the fight, committed to the death, whilst also having the skill to make a pass or create something out of nothing when the time comes.
Christopher Nkunku – Paris Saint Germain
Another versatile player who seems yet to find his best position, he can play at defensive midfield, central midfield, playmaker or even on the wings.
Nkunku possesses excellent dribbling skills and imagination to create something out of nothing. Like many PSG youth players though sadly he is suffering from the club being funded by such a big spending demanding owners who expect results and big name players. Finding himself down the pecking order behind players like Verratti, Draxler and even Marquinhos, Nkunku has decided its time to move on for first team opportunities.
Due to not many games under his belt its anyone’s guess how good Nkunku could be although some insiders are very excited at the possibility of Arsenal signing the French under 21 international.
Denis Suarez – Barcelona
Speaking of falling down the pecking order, Denis Suarez is another player who finds himself at a huge club with big names knocking him down the list of starters in the midfield.
A very similar player to Nkunku in that he is very versatile, able to play on the wings or in central midfield areas. Suarez most impressive period was at Villareal where he played on the wing, often dazzling with his silky dribbling skills and visionary passing.
Pages and pages have been written about Denis Suarez joining Arsenal and his abilities but the all important one will be on Thursday if he does sign for the Gunners after all.
Yannick Carrasco – Dalian Yifang
Almost as famous for kissing his girlfriend during a goal celebration as he is for his fine wing play.
The boy ain’t happy though, apparently his family are having problems in China, he probably misses the glitz of European football, so now he’s after a move to big team.
The Belgium international made his name at Monaco, thanks to his direct running and extreme dribbling skills this lead to him signing for Atletico Madrid in 2015 where Diego Simone was able to turn him into a trick pony into something quite mesmeric.
Able to play in any of the front three positions although Carrasco is best when he is on the left cutting inside onto his thunderbolt of a right foot. I have a feeling that this speedster is yet to reach his true potential, he’s got pace, technique, skill and a thunderbolt of a right foot too.
If Emery can help the enigmatic Carrasco reach his true potential the results could be frightening.
Malcom – Barcelona
The man that Arsenal missed out on in the summer and were heavily linked with last January, they find themselves linked again with a move for the Brazilian winger.
Making his name for a exciting Bordeaux team that came to prominence thanks to in no small part to this little genius. Les Girondins were never out of the top six during Malcom’s stint at the French club.
Malcom possesses a ferocious shot with either foot but especially his wand of a left. He is comfortable on either flank and possibly in the centre behind the striker, Malcom has quick feet, lightening pace and an even faster brain.
On his day he is near unplayable, creating chances usually on the right flank or cutting inside and unleashing hell with that left foot, again if Emery can help this Brazilian international reach his potential, there will be many a Premier league defender ruing the day he signed for Arsenal.
James Rodriguez – Bayern Munich/Real Madrid
The first time I heard of James Rodriguez was when he had just signed for Portuguese giants, FC Porto. The young Colombian started off playing as a defensive midfielder, in the Jorginho mould, spraying passes across the pitch and dictating play.
After some time the coach realised Rodriguez was better suited to using his skills further up the pitch so he went on to replace Brazilian winger Hulk on the right side of the front three who went to Zenit St Petersburg.
After some time this set piece expert and attacking Swiss army knife attracted attention from many of the big clubs around Europe yet signed for French new money upstarts Monaco who were signing some of the best names in football for high prices.
At World Cup 2014 it was James’ coming out party as he was debatably the player of the tournament ,playing behind the striker he scored the most goals and was named in the team of cup finals.
Following the cup he joined Real Madrid and since he’s played 77 games and scored 28 goals, although many would say he’s hardly been the player that lit up the world cup.
Due to this form he joined Bayern Munich on loan where he started off impressively although since has struggled to get games or live up to the promise he showed.
There is no doubt there is a player in there, as they say, but as it seems with many of these players, it seems he will need help from Emery to reach his once great potential.
I got into football as a kid watching Italian football in the afternoons and ever since I’ve been hooked on tactics and the continental side of the game. I’ve written about Italian football in the past among other things but now it’s time to write about, the embodiment of how I see the beautiful game, Arsenal. Hopefully writing things and opinions about the game you haven’t seen before, I like a bit of a joke too.
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