As Arsenal search for a striker this summer, Gabriel Jesus continues to be the main man linked. Now that Alexandre Lacazette has confirmed that he will be leaving the club when his deal expires at the end of this month, the Gunners need someone else in to compete with Eddie Nketiah who is thought to be closing in on a long-term contract extension.
At just 25-years-of-age and with the ideal tactical profile for what Mikel Arteta wants in a number nine it would appear that Jesus fits the bill perfectly for what is needed at the Emirates. football.london understands that Edu has been in talks with the Brazil international's representatives over a move since November, and the player is now set to make a decision on his future this month.
Centre forward, however, is not the only position where Arsenal are expecting to look to recruit this summer though. Midfield is also set to be high on the agenda. As the Gunners seek to find players capable of helping them breach the gap to the Champions League sides, one of Jesus' Manchester City teammates, may be the perfect man for the job.
READ MORE: When Arsenal can register Gabriel Jesus amid talk of agreement for first summer transfer
Nearly two years ago Arteta was asked what his dream tactical setup would look like at Arsenal. "We want to move to a 4-3-3," the Spaniard said. "But for that, you need a lot of specificity in every position but now in five or six positions, we don’t have it."
The immediate need for results and limitations of some of the players in his squad at the time meant that Arteta largely shelved this dream, until around December of this year. Since then Arsenal have been a clearly identifiable 4-3-3 team. This is evidenced in the screenshot below from March's victory over Wolves, where Thomas Partey is acting as the visibly deeper midfield pivot, with Martin Odegaard and Granit Xhaka on either side of his as 'number eights'.
For Xhaka this has represented a departure from the role he had previously filled under Arteta. During the 2020/21 campaign, the Swiss international played some of his best football in an Arsenal shirt but did so largely as part of a double pivot that he admits suited his game best. "[Arteta] put me in a position where I have freedom and the game in front of me," the 29-year-old said. "This is what I like."
Xhaka largely did well in the more advanced role and even claimed the Gunners' April player of the month award for his displays. However, the more advanced position did ulitmately expose some of the flaws to his game.
If we head back to the Wolves game it's possible to see an example of this. In the screenshot below Arsenal are in possession and in their 4-3-3 setup, when Xhaka receives the ball from Kieran Tierney.
In this situation, the Swiss midfielder wants time on the ball. Last season when his role was largely drop into the left-sided centre-back birth and cover for the aggressive runs of Tierney, he had that in ample simply. Now that he is further up the pitch and more of a direct threat to the opposition goal though, time is something he simply doesn't have.
He tries to take a touch and look up, but is immediately swarmed by Max Kilman and Francisco Trincao, before trying hurridly to play the ball down the line to Gabriel Martinelli, which Nelson Semedo is able to easily intercept.
With these struggles in possession in mind, it's interesting to consider Arsenal linked to Oleksandr Zinchenko. While the 25-year-old has largely played left-back Manchester City, he is a regular in central midfield for Ukraine. On top of this the inverted full-back tactics that Pep Guardiola likes to employ mean that he often ends up occupying the wide left positions that Xhaka has taken up in the latter part of this season. However, the big difference between Zinchenko and the Swiss international is how assured he is on the ball in these parts of the pitch.
Speaking about the most technically gifted players in the City squad, Kyle Walker admitted that the Ukraine international is up there among the very best. “Not in any order, because I wouldn’t want to put them in any order, my top three are Zinchenko, [Riyad] Mahrez, [Bernardo] Silva,” the England international said.
"He's incredible, incredible. Two touches, head tennis, he's incredible. So good, so, so good. And then you're leaving the likes of (Kevin) De Bruyne out, Phil Foden, Cancelo. But they don't come close to those three."
This example from City's 4-1 win over Liverpool in the season before last serves as evidence. Although slightly deeper, Zinchenko is in a relatively similar position to Xhaka's starting point against Wolves when Ilkay Gundogan looks to play the ball to him in the build-up phase.
He is then immediately set upon by Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones.
Considering that Liverpool are one of the best pressing sides in the Premier League, if not the world, this could easily be a daunting prospect. Zinchenko though keeps his composure and feints away from the pressure before playing a ball up the line to Phil Foden.
City are able to keep possession and create a fine scoring opportunity that Raheem Sterling is inches away from getting on the end of. By contrast in the earlier example Wolves win possession back and Arsenal are countered upon. The difference is clear to see.
This though should not be seen as a criticism of what Xhaka does for the Gunners. When asked why he had moved the Swiss international into the more advanced eight role, Arteta admitted it was to try and catch the opposition off guard rather than exposing the flaws of one of his most influential midfielders.
"I wouldn’t say that it would make him comfortable but sometimes you have to take players from their comfort zone and open a different door to explore how the team will react, what the opposition will do when you do certain things," the Spaniard said. "Then it’s more unpredictable because if not it’s pretty easy to prepare against the same opposition."
The addition of Zinchenko into the squad enables Arteta to obtain that unpredictability that he is craving. Having committed to the 4-3-3 it seems the Spaniard is finally targetting the specificity that he has been dreaming about for so long.
