Over sixteen years ago, when Patrick Viera lifted the Premier League trophy as Arsenal were crowned champions, going a 38 game season without a defeat, if one says the club will not be winning the championship in the next five years, many will have such person taken to a psychiatric hospital.
However, Arsenal have gone sixteen seasons without a Premier League success and have slowly become not one of the favourites to win the league year in, year out. They have also missed out on Champions League places as they have finished out of the top four in the last four seasons.
After Mikel Arteta took over in December 2019, performances improved significantly before the ending of the 2019-20 season and they were rewarded with the FA Cup trophy, beating Chelsea in the final played in Wembley.
After finishing on a high last season, Arsenal fans have their hopes up for the new season. However, they have had a mix start, and after they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 at home by Aston Villa just before the International break, the Arsenal faithfuls will not be so confident in the team.
Arsenal need a playmaker is the cry of every football fan, non Arsenal fans included. An offensive player, who will help bring more dynamism to the play seems seems to be the missing piece in the club’s rebuild. Mikel Arteta has reshap The Gunners’ leaky defense and now they have the joint best defense in the League so far this season and have played away at Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
The arrival of quality players in Gabriel Magalhães and Thomas Partey during the summer have boosted Arsenal’s squad. Magalhães has been a standout performer this season, and have won the club’s Player of The Month in the two occasions it has been handed out.
The Gunners were believed to be all out for Olympic Lyon midfielder, Houssem Aouar in the summer but could not finalise any deal for the Frenchman and come into the season without a playmaker.
Arsenal did have a playmaker in their ranks, Mesut Özil, but the German has not feature for the club since the Project restart last season, with his last appearance coming on the seventh of March, in a 1-0 win over West Ham United at the Emirates, assisting Alexander Lacazette for the only goal of the match.
Despite knowing Mesut Özil will not be registered in the squad for the new season, Arsenal were adamant during the transfer window and now, they are being haunted by a problem they should have prevented.
The situation is not new at Arsenal, in previous seasons, there were times when the club have decent midfield and attacking players but came short in the defense unit, yet, they failed to address the situation until the best players in the team leave for more ambitious clubs.
After so many years, the same issue continues to deter Arsenal’s hopes of getting back to former glory.
Amidst rumours that Arsenal will go back for Houssem Aouar in January, latest reports also suggest that the club is among a host of top European teams courting 20year old playmaker Dominik Szoboszlai.
Thé Hungarian, who made his breakthrough last season, featuring for RB Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League, where he scored on his debut against Genk. He also starred in the Austrian BundesLiga, with a hand in 23 goals (nine goals, 14 assists) in 27 league games for the Austrian champions, he was voted the Best Player of The Season in the league.
The midfielder has also hit the ground running this season and has registered five goals and nine assists in 13 games across all competitions for RB Salzburg. The highlight of his season so far, his most recent outing with the Hungarian national team, where his goal, scored late in added time, earned them a ticket to UEFA EURO2020 next summer.
Szoboszlai’s quality and talent is world class, his movement on the ball accompanied by pace, his vision, technique, ball control, creativity, passing ability and eye for goal makes him suitable for the Arsenal type of football.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping that a deal could be reached in January in order that the playmaker could fill the void at the heart of the Arsenal attack. Coming from the Austrian league, the 20year old will not be expected to be overpriced compared to Houssem Aouar, who is valued around £50m. Hence, Arsenal could structure a deal that will not affect their budget, while also satisfying Salzburg’s demands.
Club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has just one league goal from open play this season and has been starved of services due to lack of creativity in a team, which ranked 19th on chances created in the Premier League season thus far.
Should Arsenal fail to sign Dominik Szoboszlai, it may be a decision they will end up regretting in the next few years. Nevertheless, Arsenal will need to sign a playmaker in January in order to salvage their season if they are indeed, a team looking to return to former glory.
Afolabi Kehinde Hassan
