A new striker and a holding midfielder should be top of Arsenal’s summer shopping priorities, according to Martin Keown, but the former Gunner is worried that his old club’s ability to strengthen in those areas may be affected by the loss of Bacary Sagna and Thomas Vermaelen.
The two defenders could be leaving the Emirates this summer and Keown told Standard Sport: “A lot depends on whether Sagna and Vermaelen stay. I think Arsenal would prefer to spend their money elsewhere but it will have to be spent to replace those two if they leave.
“Arsenal need a holding midfield player, either a long term successor to Mikael Arteta and Mathieu Flamini, or someone who is going to go straight in to the team. Olivier Giroud has carried the mantle of being the striker magnificently, scoring 23 goals, but he needs help. It is a big call to wait for Yaya Sanogo to be the No.1 striker for Arsenal.
“You need two international strikers, you have to put fear into the opposition - and give hope to team-mates. We just rolled it to Thierry Henry or Dennis Bergkamp and they did the rest.”
Arsenal have already been linked with long-term target Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid striker, and Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, but Keown expects the World Cup to prevent Arsene Wenger tying deals up quickly. “You never get it done quickly in World Cup year,” he said. “Players are focused on doing their thing for their country, they very quickly get into that frame of mind, you have to pick [transfers] up afterwards.”
Benzema is in France’s World Cup squad while compatriot Schneiderlin is on Didier Deschamps’ stand-by list.
Keown is pleased to see Arsenal now competing for big players, rather than selling them. “The Mesut Ozil signing galvanized the fans, they were delighted to see finally the Arsenal buying a top quality player instead of losing one as had happened in previous summers with Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri. The club is now in a position to buy a big player each summer – it is about picking the right one.”
Every Arsenal player at World Cup 2014
Martin was speaking ahead of this weekend’s match at Wembley Stadium connected by EE. For more information and to download EE’s official Wembley app, visit wembley.ee.co.uk
