With there being just over two weeks left for clubs to do business this month, there’s still a few things which remain unclear at Arsenal. Will Ozil leave? Are we going to sign anyone? We come across a lot of stories on social media, some are accurate and others, not so much.
So, I decided to get in touch with football.london’s Arsenal Correspondent Chris Wheatley in the hope that he could give supporters some insight and clarity regarding speculation surrounding certain players at the club. I also wanted to get his thought’s on Arteta, Edu and how he sees Arsenal’s season playing out.
Chris certainly delivered and I’m pleased to bring you what was said during our Q&A. Enjoy the read!
Q: Chris, thank you for taking the time out of your day to answer some questions surrounding The Arsenal. I’m sure you are very busy at the moment, especially as the January window is currently open! First of all, the question on everyone’s mind right now is, will Mesut Özil leave the club this month?
A: It’s certainly looking that way. Talks between Fenerbahce and DC United have been on-off for the past couple of years and all the signs from people close to him, including his brother who recently posted a hint to his future whereabouts on social media, show that Fener are leading the way now. Whatever happens this month, I believe there is little chance that Ozil will return to London Colney again.
Q: Where did it all go wrong for Mesut, is there anything you have heard from people behind the scenes which has shed some light on the situation?
A: Ozil is one of the most technically gifted players of my generation. The assist records he broke in his early years at Arsenal are evidence of that but over the past couple of years his performances have tallied off, particularly in away games. Despite that, I understand the reasoning that many of his fans have when they question why he’s been excluded from the squad altogether.
Mikel Arteta played with Ozil and knows his personality more than most and sees him on the training ground every day. Someone close to Ozil recently told me that if his exclusion is meant to be a punishment, the player is certainly not feeling that way. He gets to spend time at home with his family, doing the things he enjoys.
Mesut isn’t someone who wants to play football all the time, hence why he essentially chose the games he played under Arsene Wenger. Whether you think that’s right or wrong, only one manager has managed to get the best out of Mesut Ozil in the past few years, and that person is Wenger himself.
Q: Mesut obviously hasn’t been playing anyway, but if he was to leave then that would create some space in the NO.10 position. From what you’ve heard, do you get the feeling that a new midfielder will join this month and if so, who could it be? The Buendia links are refusing to go away and those with close connections at Norwich tell me they are very confident he won’t be going anywhere just yet.
A: It’s not nailed on that Arsenal will sign a creative midfielder this month but they’re certainly doing everything they can to get one through the door. As widely reported, finances are tight and they need to get players out to make signings.
Emi Buendia is the obvious name that I reported last month although the fees I’ve seen mentioned (£40m) are wide of the mark. He wants to come but the club have yet to make a formal offer for the Argentine. A loan move for a creative midfielder remains the most likely option.
You could argue that the goalkeeper position is equally as important to strengthen as CAM, with Bernd Leno needing an experienced back-up for the remaining games this season and that’s a position that Mikel Arteta is looking to add to this month.
Q: Another player it hasn’t quite worked out for in the last few months is William Saliba, although respectfully the circumstances are very different. It’s fair to say he wasn’t really given many chances with the First Team. Do you think the club have made the right decision in loaning him out?
A: I think the loan move is the correct decision because of the amount of centre backs Arsenal have. The main questions many fans have been asking about Saliba is why wasn’t he given a chance in the dead-rubber Europa League games earlier in the season? He could have been registered for that competition and it would have been a good chance to build-up his match fitness in the same way that he’s doing with Nice in the French top flight right now.
I’m hopeful that he will come back for pre-season like Edu has promised but from the player’s side I can understand his frustrations at not playing first team football for the club he joined for £28m almost two years ago.
Q: We know that Kolasinac and Saliba have left on loan, Macey has left permanently and Özil could soon follow suit. Are there any other major departures that we should expect to see over the next couple of weeks?
A: Sokratis will leave this month and he’s in talks with a number of clubs right now. A decision on his future is expected this week. The other player who could leave is Shkodran Mustafi and he’s attracting interest from teams in Germany, Italy and Spain. Alex Runarsson is expected to be loaned out while a couple of the youngsters are also available for loan and could be used as makeweights in a potential swap deal this month.
Q: Mikel Arteta has of course been under some pressure this season after that poor run of results, but things seem to be on the up again now. Do you still believe he is the right man for the job, and more importantly, do the players?
A: I wrote an article last month about some of the senior players tuning out of Arteta’s project. It’s worth noting that Arsenal’s upturn in form has coincided with the integration of youngsters in the team with Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe making an important impact in recent games.
There are around half a squad of players who have wanted to leave the club for a while now, with some of those leaving this month and many more set to depart in the summer. Once Arteta has a squad of the players he wants it’ll be much easier to make an assessment of how much Arsenal have progressed under him.
Q: Just turning to Edu now, there’s been a few concerns amongst the fanbase regarding his lack of experience within his current role and with transfer dealings too. What are your thoughts on his work so far?
A: Those concerns are understandable and whilst Edu has a wealth of experience in South American football, his main dealings in Europe were as a player for Valencia and Arsenal. Since the departures of Raul Sanllehi and Huss Fahmy, the technical director position has assumed more responsibilities and a cynic might suggest that this has been done on purpose.
The agents I’ve spoken to who deal with Arsenal on a regular basis say that Edu needs more help and I would expect them to bring in a Head of Football Operations by the summer.
In terms of his work so far, there are the obvious questions over the David Luiz and Willian deals which perhaps made sense at the time, but I’ve been impressed with his ruthlessness this month in getting the Kolasinac and Saliba loan deals sorted so early. Hopefully that ruthlessness is a sign of things to come.
Q: Finally Chris, what are your predictions for the rest of the season? Can you see us continuing to climb up the table and making progress or do you feel it will be a big ask?
A: It all depends on keeping key players fit and we’ve seen most of the teams suffer key injuries this season. Gabriel Martinelli is a hugely important player for the frontline, while Thomas Partey and Gabriel add solidity to the midfield and defence. If Arsenal can keep the core of their squad injury-free then they are more than capable of finishing in the top six this season.
Once again, I thank Chris for taking the time to answer some important questions, you can follow him on Twitter by clicking here. It was very interesting to read what he had to say about what we can expect not only this month but in the future too.
I’m hoping we can at least get one through the door now, either a Goalkeeper or Attacking Midfielder as Chris mentioned. We desperately need to address both positions and ultimately strengthening in those two areas could save our season.
Let’s see what the next couple of weeks hold.
Thank you for reading, take care and stay safe!