Beyond Arsenal looking to sign a striker, or two, in the summer, the central midfield position continues to be a key point of focus. Only Sambi Lokonga arrived in the summer despite a protracted pursuit of more senior targets.
Arsenal were in the race for Manuel Locatelli, however, the club was beaten once again by Juventus. Instead, to many fans’ frustration, Granit Xhaka stayed and the young Belgian was the only reinforcement.
However, Xhaka has been very good this season. Frankly, he has been a standout for the last two seasons and performed above new signing Thomas Partey for the majority of 2020/21. Finding a replacement for him will need to happen in the near future, but it is a testament to the Swiss international’s contribution how difficult a task this will prove to be.
READ MORE: Arsenal given £67m incentive to complete deal after Liverpool and Man City abandon striker plan
READ MORE: William Saliba told to seek Arsenal 'answers and guarantee' from Mikel Arteta by Emmanuel Petit
With the international break upon us, it provides a chance to get a better look at what players are flourishing beyond just their clubs. The World Cup play-offs kick off tonight with Portugal facing Turkey. The winner will play either Italy or North Macedonia in the play-off final.
Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves has pulled out of the squad and his replacement should be getting on Arsenal’s radar. Porto midfielder Vitinha, a name that should be recognisable to Premier League fans, took his compatriot's place in Fernando Santos’ squad.
Vitinha joined Wolves from Porto on loan in a deal which the west midlands club decided against triggering the £17 million option. This has since been widely criticised.
Portuguese football expert Tom Kundert tweeted in December 2021, 'No doubt the decision by Wolves to "go Portuguese" has paid rich dividends, but the club dropped two absolute clangers in not tying down Vitinha and Pote, two players who are going to be global superstars.'
Pote, better known as Pedro Goncalves, has flourished since leaving Molineux, returning to Portugal via Valencia and now thriving at Sporting Lisbon. Vitinha meanwhile has only improved since returning to Porto.
Former Portuguese star Deco now represents Vitinha and spoke of his relief that Wolves didn’t exercise the option to buy. Delight could be linked to the possible big-money transfer of Vitinha in the future.
“All players have their potential and their way of seeing football. In this specific case, I see a true star, a player with enormous potential. (I was) happy when Wolves did not exercise their option to buy for him. FC Porto clearly benefitted from this and gained an asset for their squad,” Deco told A Bola.
Vitinha and Xhaka’s qualities are vastly different, this is clear. Do not misinterpret this as a ‘next Xhaka’ style description, it isn’t. However, Mikel Arteta has given the midfielder a new role to play. A position more advanced compared to the deep playmaker alongside Partey in the old 4-2-3-1.
In this new 4-3-3, the left central midfielder is much more involved offensively. Vitinha could flourish with Martin Odegaard and provide the Gunners with a greater offensive threat. His ball-carrying is much better than Xhaka’s and his progressive play and goal threat is improving all the time. It is no surprise he has won two Player of the Month awards for the league leaders this season.
Edu should be keeping a solid eye on Vitinha if he plays over the course of the break. If he does not, the Brazilian should certainly be keeping tabs on him for the remainder of the season.
