Mikel Arteta needs to guide Arsenal back into the Premier League’s top four – but The Gunners don’t have a Bruno Fernandes, a Hakim Ziyech or a De Bruyne.
By the time the 2020/21 season kicks off, whenever the hell that will be, three of the most influential creative midfielders in European football will be pulling the strings for a top Premier League club.
Bruno Fernandes already looks every inch the of transformative, world-class talent who could drag Manchester United back into the elite. Hakim Ziyech, meanwhile, should provide Chelsea with the kind of match-winning ability they have been so badly lacking in the post-Eden Hazard era.
And, well, what else is there to say about Manchester City’s barnstorming Belgian, the undisputed king of assists that is Kevin de Bruyne?
So, as if Mikel Arteta did not have enough of a challenge on his hands, the rookie coach will soon be tasked with finding a place in a crowded top four for an Arsenal side deprived of a talismanic midfield creator like a Fernandes, a Ziyech or a De Bruyne?
Mesut Ozil of course has the ability to rival any of that aforementioned trio. But, with just one goal and three assists to his name across 23 games this season, it is hard to imagine this former World champion leading an Arsenal revolution from the frontline.
And while United and Chelsea were spending big in January for a proven, top-class talent, The Gunners allowed a midfielder with all the potential in the world to slip through their grasp. Globo Esporte claimed that Arsenal’s director of football Edu was supposed to hold talks over a £21 million deal for Bruno Guimaraes before Lyon snapped up the Athletico Paranaense star from right underneath their nose.
“We currently lack a midfielder. A player like Falcao in the past or like De Bruyne today, someone able to bring more creativity, speed,” Tite, the coach of the Brazilian national team, tells France Football.
“Bruno Guimaraes, has enormous potential and can be that player.”
The list of players Arsenal could and should have signed since the turn of the century is long and varied, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo and many more coming back to haunt a club who’s status among the elite is slipping by the year.
Soon, the name of Bruno Guimaraes could be added to that star-studded collection.
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