This season has many stars available to be signed on a free transfer, and The Arsenal Way looks at two players the club should attempt to sign, and a player the club should look to avoid.
Sign – Franck Kessie
The Ivorian international would be the perfect midfielder next to Thomas Partey and they would create a pivot that rival Premier League fans would certainly fear, due to their ability to be dominant in the middle of the pitch.
Securing a deal won’t be too expensive either, with reports in Italy claiming that the central midfielder wants around £146,000 per week. The Rossoneri are currently offering around £107,000 per week.
At just 24-years-old, Kessie already has tons of experience having played 205 games for the Serie A side and scoring 35 goals which holds the midfielder in good stead.
He also has European experience under his belt having played in both the Champions League and Europa League for AC Milan.
Sign – Noussair Mazraoui
The Moroccan international is yet to sign a new contract and his current deal expires in less than seven months.
The 23-year-old has plenty of Champions League experience and was instrumental in getting the young squad to the semi-finals in 2019.
He’d certainly fit Arsenal’s mould in terms of signing young players and he is a quality right-back that Arsenal could sign for a bargain price, following the path of Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Tomiyasu is the only right-back at the club who can oversee the team compete at the top of the league when he is featured in the starting XI, so competition needs to be provided for him.
Cedric Soares and Calum Chambers are the current players who provide cover at right-back, but both of them are not at the required level which is needed for Arsenal to compete for the major trophies.
Avoid – Ousmane Dembele
Four years ago, if you presented me with the opportunity to sign Ousmane Dembele on a free transfer, I would have labelled you a fool for not doing the absolute most to secure his services.
However, his time as a player at Barcelona has certainly not gone to plan and he has been more of a hindrance than a success for the La Liga side.
Constant injury issues and a lack of development since joining means he would not improve the Arsenal squad, as the wing positions are already stacked with quality for Mikel Arteta.
His wage demands are also reportedly extremely high, and considering the problems Arsenal have had with offering huge contracts in the past to players such as Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it is certainly a situation the club should avoid with Dembele.
