Leandro Trossard is in talks with Arsenal over a new contract at the club, football.london understands. The discussions are over improved terms which reflect the importance of the Belgian in the group, while not tying themselves to a long-term deal.
Trossard has played plenty of games thanks to his reliability in attendance, he is rarely injured and has popped up with some major goals during his time with the team. Vital goals against Porto, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United are just a percentage of the strikes and assists he has amassed at the club.
The 30-year-old is valued by Mikel Arteta and clearly he feels has a part to play. There was interest from Saudi Arabia at the end of the previous summer transfer window, and the club are moving to stave off potential repeats of offers from elsewhere.
This begs the question of both what happens regarding a wide player being signed in the summer and the presence of Gabriel Martinelli in the side and his own future. The club are thought to be keen on renewing the Brazilian too, and therefore it seems unlikely either will depart.
So why then would Arsenal move for a wide player such as Rodrygo, who football.london understands could be a market opportunity the club are across, should a deal become possible? Arsenal’s season has been plagued by injuries, particularly to players operating in the final third.
Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri and Martinelli all missed periods of the season with problems, some for several months and beyond. Adding a couple of forwards, notably a striker and a wide player, is pivotal and it could be validly argued a creative midfield is also desirable.
But note the word 'adding', as that is the key. Not replacing existing players like Trossard, but keeping them and adding to the options.
Take Liverpool for example; in terms of players who operate in centre-forward or wide positions they have: Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa, Harvey Elliot and Dominik Szoboszlai.
On the other hand, Arsenal had: Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard. The shortness of options allowed then-17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri to get minutes on a regular occasion, while a panic signing of Raheem Sterling on deadline day had little effect on loan, and he will leave this summer.
Eddie Nketiah was not replaced. Fabio Vieira, who left on loan, was not replaced. Reiss Nelson offered Fulham more in half a fit season than Sterling did throughout the whole campaign for Arsenal.
This roster fell short and Arsenal need to add when it comes to forward signings, not replace. They cannot fall into the trap again and leave Mikel Arteta short of options for yet another season.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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