Which Transfers WIN Arsenal the Premier League?

What makes Arsenal so exciting for me as a team is that despite breaking genuine records last season for goals scored, goal difference and wins in a Premier League season, there is still so much margin for improvement and so many potential avenues for evolution we can go down as we progress into the 2024-25 season and how we address those in the transfer market is what this video is going to focus on today. And I think our transfer window for me boils down to one analogy, if you want to grow to new heights you have to make sure that your foundations below are even stronger than ever and this summer it's about how we balance adding new parts and those finishing touches and details that move us maybe into the killer margins against fortifying what we already have which I don't have to tell you is very very good. Welcome back to the Harvey Gratian YouTube channel, I'm so glad you found us or are joining us once again and in today's video, well it's had me thinking for a long long time but I'm going to take you through the different needs for our transfer window, where they rank in priority for me and why Arteta's projection of the future is really the decisive factor. The first indispensable profile that I think we have to go out and sign is the left centre mid or the left interior, the left eight, the extra pivot man, whatever you want to call it. But why is that? Well if we include this summer and what's likely to Now I don't have to tell you that these are two of Europe's best progressors of the ball, Xhaka more in terms of volume and Thomas Partey in more specific qualities that I'll touch on later. If you partner this with Jorginho reducing his minutes from this season which were 921 to probably next season 700 or below as he moves to more absolute third choice midfielder, for all the areas we can improve on going into next season we cannot afford to lose a big part of what has helped us transform this year. Remember the central progression issues in the first three months of the season to now where we have the sheer amount of controllers in the middle of the pitch in our build-up all the time. I do not want us to be held back especially early on in the season again by being short in midfield like this season. So in order to keep our foundations of this squad strong I think progression of the ball is a key tenant. Timber of course returning is absolutely massive and on his own improves our left-hand sided dynamics and also offers I think a certain kind of ambition on the ball, ability to combine higher up, underlaps and I just think a genuine difference maker quality. But if he is seen as the Zinchenko upgrade, you know that specialist inverted fullback that I still see him as, there is a massive hole for another ball dominant profile in midfield, specifically the left centre mid. Someone who can upgrade on party's legs and also cover the ground that once nicknamed Thomas Partey the octopus. So what does the left centre mid need to have in profile? Well if we choose our marquee signing this summer to be a midfielder we're looking at someone who combines the best of Xhaka and Partey and has the willingness to defend and also the legs to defend but most importantly maybe carry the ball and it's a lot granted which is why I'm positing it as potentially our marquee signing. We're coming to the end of our own midfield cycle at the club and there are certain qualities that at the very least need maintaining as we look to counteract the real right-handed dominance in our attack that we saw last season. For example we need a passer that can create over larger spaces and control the rhythm of the game like a Granit Xhaka but also replicate Partey's press-baking qualities from deep. Although Thomas Partey can be caught out in possession at times, it's how he disguises his turns and beats a man over short distances in the 1v1 spaces turning predictable situations into a dynamic situation often creating our own transitions. This is what I want to replicate in the midfield signing this summer and I'll get on to why maybe the superstar attacker that's been touted in recent weeks and months maybe should be delayed for another year but you can increase I think our effectiveness in transition not just by adding to the front line and to our attack. I agree it would be tremendous to have the players who are guaranteed killers in front of goal but we also need the mindset and the qualities to get our own players in these positions in the first place. I think all in all with Rice controlling from the six deep, Erdegaard and potentially a new left centre mid enacting that pendulum system in our new form of flexible build up we've been talking about and having Timber in that fluid interchangeable relationship with one of the centre mids just like Tomiasu and Declan Rice do at the end of this season for Arsenal. Let's say Timber is left back and operating in that relationship with the left centre mid we become I think much more balanced as a side. There is a concern though on this new formed left-hand side with the lack of overlap but a lot of it depends on Arteta's projection for Gabriele Martinelli in the left-wing position because again all of this depends on priorities and the number of solutions I'm in the process of and about to show you for how our transfer window could go. I think one of them is guaranteed to be the solution but it's impossible to say which one for me because only when a signing has put pen to paper will we be able to see a longer-term view of what Arteta is planning next season but we've been talking about striking the balance between strengthening the foundations and adding extra details and adding an overlapper on the left-hand side is something I would be more than happy to add because unless the left centre mid is a left footer like a Lucas Paqueta which will not be happening for many a plethora of reasons you're asking then Martinelli to hold the width more than we want or the full back to do more of an unnatural job holding the width wide with Tomi Asu and Timber remember being right footers and both more comfortable as interiors and not exterior players. You know you could potentially see Timber lining up more and more in the position Gabriel Jesus takes up here pushing Martinelli into the half space and the new left centre mid is where Zinchenko is but of course there'll be a lot of rotations in this little triangle and pod of players like I said if we're not going for a superstar attacker we need to I think prioritise getting Martinelli a player with the potential by the way to be that killer in front of goal we are looking for we need to get him closer to goal and be the end point the finishing point of our attacks but it still goes without saying I think having a Timber left hand side with a new left centre mid and Martinelli off the left already creates much better dynamics than the one Martinelli was placed in earlier in the season you know just having players that instead of just occupying the between the lines spaces that Tomi Asu and Kivio have done at times it's about demanding the ball and Timber and a new left centre mid would certainly do that for me Durian Timber is very important in all of this because he feels like a starter whether that is inverting from the left or the right or even more fixedly playing in the central midfield positions this is a possibility that I've aired in the past and these decisions have a real tangible knock-on effect to where we prioritise allocating our funds this summer if we were to go for a flying overlapping left back that would suggest maybe that the majority of Timber's minutes will be elsewhere and Arteta also is projecting Martinelli as our left wing and I think the overlapping left back is a real possibility looking to find our Ben White on the left hand side but someone who this time specialises in that rampaging full-back role I think adding these extra details on top are more about market opportunities and Alphonso Davies could be one he's got one year left of his contract to buy Munich with no intention of extending and with Real Madrid links really going quiet if you look at Davies his role would be one just as fluid as Ben White where he can hold the width in attack in the middle third or in our 2-3-5 in the final third push Martinelli into those sorts of areas where he's already shown he can be clinical or tuck into the left of a midfield three and break blocks from deeper with half space crossing or dynamic combinations or even retreat into left centre back where he's spent a lot of time this season with Bayern especially as he's been nursing and coming back from injuries you know we talked about the superstar quality of a potential attacker and adding threat that killer quality on transition and also that player that teams are really genuinely scared of this can come in a Ozimhem or Erling Haaland bully boy type forward or a technical carrier in midfield with that killer ball quality as well that we've been just discussing with the left centre mid or a press breaker from fullback in the form of Alphonso Davies who will also double as a last line threat and it all boils down to again Mikel Arteta's projection of the team every single year Arteta has significantly changed something tactically so let's far too briefly summarise what they've been so far well in 2019-2020 season Ainsley Maitland-Niles was a left wing back and Tierney was a left centre back in a 3-4-3 or a 3-2-4-1 it was almost a double double overlap to facilitate a Bamiang in those Martinelli positions ironically in and around the box to platform him and get the best out of at that time our captain in 2020 and 2021 there was more of 4-2-3-1 with Oerdegaard eventually moving into the number 10 and shifting Emile Smith-Rowe out to the left hand side in 2021-22 we started to see the hints of what Arteta wanted to do to take Arsenal to the next level with Xhaka occasionally at the end of the season inverting from left back into midfield or Cedric and Tomiasu tucking into the midfield three in a 2-3-5 but then with the signings of Zinchenko and Jesus last season or should I say two seasons ago now was full-blown modernisation we could rock a 3-2-5 and we became so much more aggressive out of possession and last season the main change of course was Oerdegaard's role change but also now a really really flexible build-up amongst a host of other changes in between but regardless I think some transfer needs stay the same William Saliba needs a deputy and I think even though he's been pushed further right since January this season and has shared more central centre back responsibilities with Gabriel he is still our technical leader in the back line our transition stopper and our chief organiser at the back of course he played every minute last season which is great for him but young bodies bear the minutes now and they will reap the consequences later down the line and I don't want to put Saliba in that position himself I think he needs someone to be able to give him a rest I mean if you can play the Saliba role you can inherently cover the outside centre back roles too and because Saliba is and will be a mainstay you can afford this position to be slightly more projecty if that makes sense but again depending on how we choose to allocate our funds you could have more money to splash a bit higher on a Diamonde or a Lenny Yoro in this position or if you can't commit the amount of money to these types of profiles you can go for a more short-term or even in-house fix but the bottom line is Saliba needs a deputy and maybe a change in our tactical approach could offer him that and this overlaps this discussion with another unquestionable hole we need to fill and that's the rice deputy because again if he needs a rest or is ever injured we need a mopper up if that makes sense of transitions between the lines and that retentive source at the base of midfield but here's where things get interesting when you link it back to a Saliba second choice because you could be in a position where you get the marquee signing and you also get an additional midfield body this summer transfer window that might even be the ideal case for me and you can get a hybrid 6 or 8 like a Onana or a Matt's Viper mold and this player could not only cover for rice but also for Saliba in terms of if Saliba was ever out we could change our system to have a Viper or an Onana type stepping through from centre-back into midfield and what's really integral in the player in this role Saliba can do this as well by the way but it's the carry from defence into midfield that's the main in possession trait it's exactly what John Stones has done in the past for Manchester City and it could be a way of getting a rice and a Saliba deputy but just in one player again it's a potentiality it's hypothesising it may never happen but will Arteta go down that route that Pep's shown at Man City there's every possibility of it again he's changed something significantly tactically every single year he's been an Arsenal manager and I think finally it goes without saying the second choice goalkeeper will be pretty integral if Ramsdale which he looks like if Ramsdale goes as Stefan Ortega and also our excessive movement in this position in recent years have shown you really need a reliable option in the second choice goalkeeper you need a stable option for Arsenal we obviously need a ball player we need someone who is just as proactive off his line and in distribution as David Raya and also very importantly someone with a really calm temperament someone like Abilo would work really really well he's the same effortless striker of a ball as David Raya and also has probably a slight upside on the clip balls to fullback that's a definite plus for Abilo but to finish I'm going to talk about why maybe it's about holding off another year on the superstar attacker as I've said when it comes to adding something new it's more about the market opportunity and I think the only forward available with the ability to truly transform us as a side at the moment is Viktor Ozyman in terms of his output and the fear factor against the very best teams I haven't quite nailed how to describe this trait but Ozyman has the make it yours trait in the box against crowded and deep defenses if you look at other potential superstar forward options the PR on a move for someone like Marcus Rashford would be absolutely ridiculous his contract situation is also just as tricky and complicated as a Raphael Liao I think the debate of whether you want a superstar forward or whether you wait an extra year and use the funds elsewhere boils down to of course whether you want a center forward or a left wing but more importantly is where you see the most upside in this arsenal team going forward is the ability in the front line to win the big moments in games even if that's just one two or three moments a year that's obviously worth its weight in gold and Ozyman I think is an upgrade on Havertz the same way an incredible left winger is an upgrade on Martinelli only the best of the best can improve this arsenal team now but it's just whether you think this is enough upside over filling all of the squad holes and giving ourselves an environment where we can platform our wingers especially much better because I think both Martinelli and Saka if we get them closer to goal does that outweigh the attacker signing essentially revolutionizing how we platform our forwards I think for me it probably does just and there is not a right way necessarily and again we're only gonna see it depends what Arteta is thinking of how he shapes this team and where he sees different players playing down the line that is the absolute key that I want to stress but I also can't get away from the fact that we have assets in our attack that potentially have the break that the game breaking qualities desired but also underutilized too in Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira and it would be of course a shame not to maximize them but where I draw the line under everything is that whatever the approach and this is what I said in my final day post-mortem video there needs to be and I feel like it's clicked with Arteta now a ruthlessness off pitch not just in terms of who plays and who doesn't but who is kept and who is sold if Mikel still believes that we have players in our ranks who can add those extra nice details on tops which can propel us into the killer margins up front then we use them in pre-season if not it's simple they have to look to be offloaded and then we can start thinking about a different strategy in the transfer market I think it's about being the protagonist in the market acting like we are the numero uno and I think that will have an equal effect on the pitch but like I said for me the issues we've had this season trusting Thomas party to be fit for at least 25 games which was a massive risk that proved too much of one and sacrificing the central progression that we did for the first three months of the season I want to be in a position where our in possession dynamics are absolutely bulletproofed and for me that does involve looking at the marquee superstar attacker being delayed for one more year that's where I stand on it I really would like to know your thoughts also other players I don't have time to cover them in this video but I can get down in the comments and give you my thoughts if you want on these types of players any questions get down below I know you've been waiting for this video so I hope I've given you a really good overview of what Arsenal's approach for me should be going into the summer and why until signings put pen to paper that's going to be the most exciting time because we're really going to see Arteta's plans and how they get put into action in the long term but thank you so much for watching like comment subscribe catch in the next one see you later