Arteta faces a long, hot summer

Mikel Arteta said, “We have not been competing with the top clubs in this country for five years. We have to be ruthless. There is no time to waste and there is a lot to do. There are so many things to do because we already have a lot of players on loan, and a lot of players with contracts still that we need to sort. It will depend what happens with a lot of those players and what we are able to recruit to improve the team. That is going to determine where we are.”

According to The Sun, Arteta is not in immediate danger of losing his manager’s job at Arsenal, however, they report if the team does not improve on their mid-table performance by the end of the 2021 calendar year, the AFC board will be looking for a new boss.

Arteta feels the pressure, and that will only squeeze him tighter as this season winds down, as the transfer market opens, as the preseason begins, and then as the season starts on August 14th. Arteta feels things can improve if the board provides the necessary funds to attract some big players over the summer. However, without European football of any kind on next season’s fixture list, that will make recruiting a bit more difficult.

According to some football experts, there are eight players currently on top of Arteta’s summer signing list: Martin Odegaard, Sandor Berge, Yves Bissouma, Odsonne Edouard, Max Aarons, Emiliano Buendia, Manor Solomon and Andre Onana.

That’s a pretty nice list, but in order to splash the cash, the Gunners will need to purge a few players as well. Here’s is my “best guess” list of who might be leaving the club this summer: Bernd Leno, Alex Runarsson, Hector Bellerin, Alexandre Lacazette, Willian, Reiss Nelson, Sead Kolasinac, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Matteo Guendouzi. David Luiz’s contract won’t be renewed, and Dani Ceballos will return to Real Madrid, as will Martin Odegaard (unless Arteta can work out a deal to get him signed with the Gunners).

Personally, I think this has the potential to be Arsenal’s most exciting summer transfer window in a long, long time. However,  there are so many pieces of the puzzle that will need to fall into place, and so many people to convince they should risk coming to a club that is in a total rebuilding mode, yet a club that also needs to win at the same time. Exciting for some, maybe too scary for others. Mikel Arteta faces a long, hot summer.

Whatever happens between now and the end of August when the window closes is anyone’s guess, but there is one thing I do know, this club has to improve soon, or else mid-table finishes will become the norm, not the exception.

Gunner1953