Arsenal have seen a major overhaul of the squad since Mikel Arteta took over as head coach and now manager. The club has spent over £200 million in the transfer market and so far has seen eight players leave the squad.
The six summer additions made by Arsenal last year have had a major impact on the squad yet deficiencies have remained and when required to rotate, the Gunners have looked vulnerable in specific areas, in particular, in defence.
This was highlighted best against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round. Four changes to the usual back five, including the goalkeeper, were made with Aaron Ramsdale, Kieran Tierney, Gabriel Magalhaes and Takehiro Tomiyasu either on the bench or unavailable.
Replaced instead by Bernd Leno, Nuno Tavares, Rob Holding and Cedric Soares. Forest won 1-0 and Arsenal were simply bested by the Championship club.
In central defence, Holding has been a player who has offered a strong output in a number of matches. However, the arrival of Ben White has shown that Arsenal are looking to target defenders with a greater ability to distribute the ball.
Therefore, Holding represents a summer opportunity to make a strong sale, with the player having only recently signed a new deal, and upgrading further in the position to a player that ticks more of the boxes Arteta wants.
Yet Edu does not need to lift a finger regarding a transfer fee to find one. A recent developing story in France has enabled Arsenal to be confident that William Saliba will return in the summer.
On loan at Marseille, the French club have been punished for their signing of Pape Gueye with a two-transfer window ban according to French outlet L'Equipe.
This would effectively mean that in the summer, they would be unable to register any new players such as William Saliba.
Saliba would return to Arsenal, likely with plenty of interest from elsewhere in him thanks to his impressive displays this season, but the familiar surroundings of OM would be cut off making his choice to fight for a stay with Arsenal simpler.
However, some supporters upon hearing the Marseille news were hopeful that this could mean the return of Matteo Guendouzi. The midfielder, exiled by Mikel Arteta after a number of issues behind the scenes, is also on loan with OM except the French side have a clause allowing them to purchase the player.
Similar to Matteo Kovacic and Chelsea, any future ban is unlikely to obstruct Marseille from activating the prearranged clause in his loan deal. Snuffing out any hope from some supporters that he could return.
Saliba however, is a player that Arsenal fans can be excited and expectant about.
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