Arsenal ‘definitely’ need ‘one more’ signing as pundit details specific requirement to unlock Rice
Gabby Agbonlahor feels Arsenal need “one more” signing after Declan Rice, as a “ball-winning midfielder” is essential to give him the “access to push forward”.
The Gunners’ midfield will likely look rather different at the start of next season to how it did for most of the last one. Granit Xhaka played the most minutes of any Gunners midfielder last season, followed by Martin Odegaard and then Thomas Partey.
The former is soon to leave the club for Bayer Leverkusen, and the latter has told Mikel Arteta he wants to leave.
That leaves club captain Odegaard on his own from that group. New signing Kai Havertz will reportedly play in the midfield, and that pair are soon to be joined by Declan Rice, though the Gunners are delaying his signing.
That appears a good trio, but Agbonlahor feels it’s not enough, and one more signing is needed to round out the midfield.
“They definitely need one more,” he told Football Insider.
Agbonlahor feels the next player Arsenal sign in the middle of the park has to be more defensively-minded, in order to unlock the attacking potential of Rice.
“A midfield of Havertz, Odegaard and Rice is good, but I still feel like they need another ball-winning midfielder,” Odegaard added.
“Thomas Partey hasn’t been at his best so we don’t know how he is going to start the season, and they need another strong getting midfielder.
“Another engine so it can give Rice the access to push forward.”
While he is seen as a defensive asset, the West Ham midfielder has added more goals to his game of late – the four he scored in the Premier League last season were the most of his career.
And while he has some very good defensive assets – according to FBREF data, he’s in the 95th percentile among midfielders for interceptions – perhaps Arsenal do want to see more of his attacking side, too.
With that being said, Havertz’s ranks for tackling and blocks among forwards are very good – 90th and 91st percentile, respectively. While that would look less effective compared with midfielders, Arsenal clearly feel he has the tools to succeed in a deeper role, so that might change.
As such, whether or not they will add a ball-winning midfielder remains to be seen, or if they’ll go with what they’ve got currently, as they may feel that’s a well-rounded midfield.
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