Here are your Arsenal evening headlines for Friday, June 5.
Defensive duo hand Mikel Arteta injury boost
Arsenal could welcome back two players who have barely featured this season when they return to Premier League action.
Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding are back in training as we count down to the Gunners’ league meeting with Manchester City, and former Arsenal head of performance Darren Burgess expects the pair to be back to their best sooner rather than later.
“They’re both unbelievably diligent workers, they’ll have worked on those weaknesses and they’ll come back to as good a level as everybody else, just because of the break,” Burgess told The Arsecast.
“Certainly for those players who have weaknesses and deficiencies, this is a perfect opportunity to work on those, particularly with the resources available to them in terms of the number of staff that they can consult with, the home gyms and things like that. There’s not much of an excuse to not correct those issues.”
Holding has played just nine times this season, most recently coming off the bench in the FA Cup win at Bournemouth in January, while Bellerin’s late cameo against West Ham was just his 14th appearance of the campaign.
Champions League football could see Arteta target four positions for new signings
The upcoming transfer window will give Mikel Arteta his first chance to bring in real reinforcements, following a quiet January for the Arsenal manager.
Plenty of names have been linked with the club, but the extent of their spending will depend on European involvement next season, with more spending possible if the club is in the Champions League.
Arsenal are eight points behind fourth-place Chelsea with a game in hand. However, if Manchester City’s European ban is upheld, the Gunners will have just five points to make up in order to earn a seat at the table by finishing fifth.
According to Goal, a Champions League return would see Arteta target at least three new signings this summer, or four if either Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette is sold.
As well as the potential pursuit of a striker, Arteta is keen on a right-back, centre-back and box-to-box midfielder.
Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey has already been mentioned in the latter case, while the defensive investment could see loanees Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares join on a permanent basis.
Arsenal’s ideal Lacazette replacement might already be at the club
As talk turns to the attacking talents with the quality to replace Alexandre Lacazette if the Frenchman leaves, it’s worth considering the other option: namely that the ‘new Lacazette’ is already at the club.
Lacazette might have scored the Gunners’ most recent winning goal, striking late on against West Ham, but it’s worth remembering he didn’t start that game.
“I have two strikers at the moment that are making life difficult for me but at the same time it’s very good,” manager Mikel Arteta said after that game, and the Star suggests the other striker in question, Eddie Nketiah, is already in a position to step up.
Since returning from a loan spell at Leeds in January, Nketiah has played seven times, scoring on three occasions. As well as netting in cup victories over Bournemouth and Portsmouth, the England U21 striker equalised against Everton in a come-from-behind league victory.
Having turned 21 in May, and with a willingness to fight for his place, Nketiah could be ready to step up and become a regular first-choice for more than just a few games.
