Regardless of whether they win this season's Premier League or not, Arsenal have secured themselves a spot in next season's Champions League. That means big changes are on the horizon at the Emirates Stadium.
In their six years outside of Europe's top competition, the Gunners have essentially had two sides - a Premier League team and a Europa League team. While this has brought perks such as the opportunity to bring through youngsters like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, it has also created a significant drop off from the first team to some of the squad players.
That is no longer an option. Instead of having an A team and a B team, the increased quality of opposition in the Champions League means that pretty much all members of the Arsenal squad need to be A* quality. This leaves Mikel Arteta with a big decision to make.
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football.london understands that the Spaniard wants to improve his squad depth this summer, and one of the key positions he's targeting is central midfield. West Ham's Declan Rice is their top target, while Moises Caicedo of Brighton remains a player of interest as Arsenal look to pump some youth into an area of the squad that is largely populated with more senior players. This has raised question marks over the future of Granit Xhaka.
The Swiss international has been one of the players of the season for Arsenal and has totally transformed his relationship with the fans. He is also an influential member of the Arsenal dressing room and consistently referred to by sources in and around the club as the captain without the armband.
Arteta though has been very clear in the past about what he feels is necessary to form an elite squad capable of challenging on multiple fronts. "If you can financially afford it and we don’t have to do the turnaround in the squad that we’ve had to do, if you ask me what I want it’s 22 outfield players and three goalkeepers," the Spaniard said last year.
This essentially means two top quality players for every outfield position. If both Rice and Caicedo were to arrive, they would be joining a squad that already contains Xhaka, Jorginho and Thomas Partey. In other words that Arsenal would have five players competing for two places in the squad, assuming Albert Sambi Lokonga moves on this summer as expected and Mohamed Elneny is still out for a while with his knee injury. This is more than Arteta would want.
In an ideal world the Spaniard would probably want to keep Xhaka most out of all the options in his squad due to his form and influence. The market may mean it's not that simple though.
Bayer Leverkusen are reportedly keen on bringing in the Swiss international this summer. Xhaka has a year remaining on his contract and Arsenal have the option to extend it by a further 12 months, so on paper there is no reason for them to sell right now. There is no comparative interest in Jorginho or Partey though, so if space needs to be made for Rice and Caicedo to come in this summer, the Gunners could be forced into an immediate decision.
Arteta has already shown in the past that he is not afraid to be ruthless with trusted players if he feels the opportunity is there to better his group of players. David Luiz was another experienced and influential member of the squad, but when the opportunity came along to upgrade on him with Ben White in the summer of 2021, Arteta did not hesitate.
In fairness to the Spaniard there are probably a few reasons why this comparison isn't necessarily the most apt. Firstly, Luiz had reached the end of his contract. Secondly, neither Rice nor Caicedo would be a like for like replacement for Xhaka in the way White was for the Brazilian last season. Part of the reason for Xhaka's rebirth at Arsenal has been the more advanced position he has been deployed in. Xhaka has managed managed seven goals and seven assists this campaign in the 'left eight' role. Rice and Caicedo have tended to operate in more defensive roles for West Ham and Brighton respectively, so it's hard to see them coming in and replicating that straight away.
What it does show however, is that Arteta will have no qualms on moving Xhaka on if he feels the deal is worth doing. There aren't too many players in this Gunners squad more deserving of playing Champions League football next season than the Swiss international, but if the offer is right, then Arsenal may well be tempted to sell.
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