Arsenal have had an interesting start to life under Mikel Arteta.
The highlights have been the club lifting the FA Cup and recently ending a 14-year winless run against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Unfortunately, that has been cast alongside momentum sapping defeats against Aston Villa and Leicester City as the Spaniard continues to try and implement his vision at the Emirates .
The summer transfer window was defined by Arsenal’s deal for Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid, while they also managed to complete a deal for Gabriel Magalhães, Willian and Cedric Soares.
That helped address some, if not all, the club’s main issues and for that reason Arteta will be keen to try and bring further reinforcements in come January.
Houssem Aouar was one of the club’s major targets during the last transfer window, but the Gunners were unable to reach an agreement with Lyon in time. They may revisit that come January, along with a few other potential deals.
Dominik Szoboszlai has been heavily linked with RB Leipzig recently, although he has previously been an Arsenal target.
Elsewhere, the Gunners were dealt a blow with the news that Brenner looks like staying with Sao Paulo for the time-being, although that could change come January.
In terms of outgoings, Arteta will be looking to trim his squad and shift some fringe players in an attempt to boost his transfer budget.
That could see Sead Kolasinac, Sokratis, Mesut Ozil, Matteo Guendouzi and Shrokdan Mustafi all leave the Emirates in the new year. There is also talk that Alexandre Lacazette could depart the club as speculation continues to surround his future.
It also feels likely that Arteta will sanction loan departures for Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith-Rowe as they seek more consistent first-team opportunities.
Such a high turnover might seem drastic , but if Sport Bild’s report of a double swoop for Christopher Nkunku and Ibrahima Konate are true it could be transformative for Arteta and Arsenal.
It all leads to what could be the ideal Arsenal’s dream squad come the end of January.
Arsenal’s ideal 25-man first team squad:
Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno, Runar Alex Runarsson.
Defenders: David Luiz, William Saliba, Gabriel, Rob Holding, Cedric Soares, Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Pablo Mari, Ibrahima Konate.
Midfielders: Bukayo Saka, Dani Ceballos, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, Joe Willock, Granit Xhaka, Dominik Szoboszlai, Christopher Nkunku, Houssem Aouar .
Forwards: Willian, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli, Alexandre Lacazette , Brenner.
