Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta considered a bizarre move to play Sead Kolasinac in central midfield against Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Forest on Sunday night, crashing out of the FA Cup in the third round.
It was strange enough to see fringe man Kolasinac come off the bench when Arsenal were chasing the game.
It’s rare you see a left back change the game in an attacking sense.
Yet what will really leave Arsenal fans baffled is that Arteta actually thought about an even bigger role for Kolasinac.
The Athletic claim that, in the build-up to the Forest game, Arteta was considering utilising Kolasinac in midfield.
If you’ve seen Kolasinac play in midfield before, fair enough, but this seems absolutely bizarre.
A left back by trade and left-sided centre back at an absolute push, we’ve seen little to suggest that Kolasinac could play in midfield for Arsenal.
This is the hole Arsenal have left themselves in though.
Losing Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny to the Africa Cup of Nations was always going to happen, but why loan out Ainsley Maitland-Niles without a replacement lined up?
Arsenal now look very short in midfield; so short that Kolasinac is somehow being considered as a midfielder.
What makes this even more bizarre is that Kolasinac is actually in talks to leave Arsenal.
Sky Sports News claim that Kolasinac has opened talks over a pre-contract agreement to join Marseille.
Kolasinac’s £100,000-a-week contract – which looks pretty ridiculous now – expires this summer, so the Bosnian is free to go.
Arsenal would much rather see Kolasinac leave than see him in midfield, and this strange idea just shows that the Gunners must sign another midfielder soon.
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