Who will Arsenal boss Unai Emery sign for Arsenal this summer?

Arsenal transfer news: Got, got need! Who are Unai Emery's summer targets? Who should Arsenal sign? Who will they sign?

By George Pitts

Football

Wed June 19, 2019 · 5y ago

As Unai Emery prepares for his second season in charge of Arsenal, we look at where he needs to strengthen, who he should sign and who looks likely to join.

It was a case of so near yet so far for Arsenal last season as they got to the Europa League final and looked nailed-on to finish in the top four going down the stretch, only to lose out on both.

Emery has some superb offensive weapons at his disposal, but there are some glaring areas of concern going into his second season....

Got: World-class strikers

In Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, the Gunners have a front duo that is the envy of most Premier League sides.

They did not come cheap, at £56m and £46.5m respectively, but the north Londoners saw their potential blossom in their first full season together and they can continue to improve as a pair.

Alexandre Lacazette (left) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrate for Arsenal

Aubameyang shared the Premier League's Golden Boot award with Mo Salah and Sadio Mane and finished the season on 31 goals and eight assists in all competitions.

Lacazette, who developed a great understanding with the Gabon forward, himself scored 19 and assisted 13 in all competitions for Arsenal.

That's a combined 49 goals from their front two in their first full season together. Emery and Arsenal will certainly be hoping those rumours linking Aubameyang with China will soon go away.

Got: Unai Emery

In Unai Emery they have a manager who is relatively experienced for his age, with silverware on his CV, and he has a clear idea of how he wants to play.

The Spaniard has shown his capabilities since replacing Arsene Wenger last summer, which is not an easy task after such a long period of time under the Frenchman. He just needs the tools to do it.

Arsenal's current model with a director of football has suited Emery at his previous clubs, Raul Sanllehi and co. just need to back him by delivering the signings he needs to make the north Londoners a success and competing on all fronts once again.

Need: A quality centre-back and attacking midfielder/winger

Arsenal have been lacking a quality centre-back pairing for years - it looked like they finally found the formula with Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen around the start of the decade but injuries and the latter's departure to Barcelona put them back to square one.

Lacklustre performances have shown Shkodran Mustafi is not up to the standard required while Koscielny turns 34 in September. Sokratis is probably their best defender at the minute but the Greek international too can show lapses and is no spring chicken at 31.

The Gunners need younger and faster players to form a spine capable of competing in the top four.

Shkodran Mustafi does not seem up to it at Arsenal

Calum Chambers is back from an impressive loan spell at Fulham but he developed in midfield rather than defence, so Emery may have to delve into the market for at least one, ideally two, quality additions.

Further forward, they need to replace Aaron Ramsey and it is going to cost them after seeing the Welshman go to Juventus for nothing.

In Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil, they have attacking midfielders that are quality on their day but do not quite cut the mustard often enough.

Like a lot of this squad, their attacking midfielders and wingers are decent but not quite to the standard of their rivals - few of them would get into the starting XI of the current top four. They need players on par with the likes of Aubameyang to take them to the next level.

It will be interesting to see if Reiss Nelson can play that role after an impressive loan spell in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim.

The dream signings: Matthijs de Ligt/Jadon Sancho

Two youngsters attracting the interest of some of Europe's biggest clubs. De Ligt is incredibly Ajax captain at 19 years old and looks like an experienced head when you see him on the field. Sancho, meanwhile, is a direct and fearless winger destined for big things.

The realistic signings: Joachim Andersen/Ivan Perisic or Yannick Carrasco

The Gunners are said to be closing in on Andersen and Carrasco.

Danish centre-back Andersen plays for Sampdoria, Lucas Torreira's old team, and fits the bill of being a young defender with potential. At 23 years old and 1.9 metres, he could be the man to help tighten a leaky defence after impressing in Serie A. The Gunners are reportedly considering a £42m double swoop for Andersen and his team-mate Dennis Praet, a midfielder.

They just missed out on signing Ivan Perisic on loan from Inter in January and the Croatian would bring top-level experience as well as a deadly threat in the final third. Carrasco, meanwhile, could be the first summer arrival from Chinese Super League club Dalian Yifang and, at 25, the Belgian has bags of potential and impressed in his previous spells at Monaco and Atletico Madrid.

Reports suggest Arsenal are in advanced talks over a move for Carrasco, a player who also came close to signing up at the Emirates in January, but they instead opted for Denis Suarez on loan from Barcelona.