As Mikel Arteta heads into his first summer as a Premier League manager, the Spaniard has the opportunity to reshape the Arsenal squad in the way he sees fit.
There are many aspects of the Gunners’ squad that need rebuilding and although the club has a network of scouts all over the world searching for the best talent, Arteta may lean on his own experiences to find some new faces.
Having spent the last three years as an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, the Arsenal boss is in a unique position of seeing firsthand just how some of the lesser-known City players have performed over the last number of years.
What’s more, Arteta will have also established relationships with City’s squad players and he may be able to exploit this situation to convince some of these players to make the move to north London.
No one Premier League side has spent more money squad than City and with superstars at every position, there are bound to be some top quality players not quite getting the game time they deserve.
Let’s take a look at some of the fringe players Arteta could target this summer.
John Stones
It has been a difficult season for John Stones as the England international has made just 10 starts in the Premier League and made only one substitute appearance in the Champions League so far in 2019/20.
Once the most expensive defender in world football, Stones’ star has since dipped and he now finds himself on the outside looking in at Manchester City, with reports continually linking him with a move away.
While some Arsenal fans may not be too excited about the prospect of signing Stones, he is still just 25 years old, a relatively young age for a centre-back.
The former Everton defender is a strong passer of the ball and the kind of defender Arteta wants in his team and he may see a move to the Emirates as the best chance of improving his chances to make Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2021 squad.
Joao Cancelo
This season has highlighted the lack of depth in the Arsenal squad at right-back, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles putting in twice as many shifts on the right side of the defence as any other Arsenal player.
While the Englishman has done a solid job, it is not his natural position and the loan signing of Cedric Soares from Southampton in January was an acknowledgement of this fact.
So perhaps Arteta can convince Joao Cancelo to join him in Islington, having coached the fullback for a few months this season before taking over at the Emirates.
The Portuguese defender has found game time limited behind Kyle Walker and with the European Championships delayed until 2021, he could be convinced that he needs to be playing regularly to make Helio Sousa’s squad.
City may be reluctant to part ways with the fullback after just a year but we’ve definitely seen stranger things happen in football.
Yangel Herrera
The signing of Pablo Mari on loan from Flamengo highlighted Arteta’s knowledge not just of City’s first team players but also those off playing on loan, with the Brazilian spending three years on the books during Arteta’s time at the Etihad.
Similarly, the Spaniard will be aware of defensive midfielder Yangel Herrera who is currently serving his third loan spell since joining City back in 2017.
The Venezuelan is quietly carving out an impressive La Liga season with Granada, making 18 league appearances for the newly-promoted side - including a starring role in a 2-0 defeat of Barcelona earlier in the season.
At 22 years of age, Herrera is going to want regular first team opportunities soon and Arteta can point to the likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli as examples of young players being given opportunities at Arsenal.
Phil Foden
This would be the most ambitious - and therefore difficult - coup for Arsenal to pull off but if they did it, what a statement it would be.
Phil Foden has been identified as a future star for club and country, with Guardiola singling out the 19-year-old for praise on multiple occasions. As far as heists go, this one would take something very special.
Arteta will have worked closely with Foden during his time in Manchester and the two will have built up some kind of bond during that time. If he can lean on that, the Arsenal manager may be able to convince Foden to jump ship to London and become the star of his own team.
City have been introducing Foden to the first team very slowly, only giving him five starts between the Premier League and Champions League so far this season - with one of those only coming on the final day of the group stages as City had already guaranteed top spot.
Arteta can once again point to the wealth of young Arsenal players given more first team minutes than him and hope it is enough to convince Foden to abandon City and push through a move to Arsenal, however unlikely that may be.
