Arteta will keep one of his favourite players with a new contractplaceholder image
Arteta will keep one of his favourite players with a new contract | Getty Images
Arsenal may be doubling down on a mistake after missing out on Eberechi Eze to their biggest rivals.
Arsenal are reportedly set to tie one of their players down to a new contract after missing out on a key target. The Gunners now look set to miss out on Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze, who is closing in on a deal to sign Tottenham.
Spurs have lost James Maddison for much of the season, and it looks as though Eze will fill that void. Arsenal were said to have been interested, but with so much business done and so much money spent, they would have had to have agreed a significant sale to raise the money to meet Crystal Palace’s asking price of £60million.
The Gunners wanted better back-up and competition for Martin Odegaard, who spent a spell out injured in the early stages of last season. During that time, Mikel Arteta struggled to find an adequate replacement, with Leandro Trossard struggling to play the role, and Mikel Merino was not yet signed.
Merino has traditionally been more of an out-and-out midfielder, but he showed last season that he can play in a more attacking role, and that suggests he can play in that number 10 role if asked.
Still, an attacking midfielder would have been ideal, and it likely would have completed a near-perfect summer of business. But it’s likely the Gunners have now decided to abandon the search with Eze heading to Spurs, with Trossard now set for a new contract.
According to The Athletic, Trossard will be handed a new contract with a ‘significant wage’ due to Arsenal recognising his importance. It comes after earlier reports that the Belgian could leave this summer due to not agreeing on terms for a new deal.
Arsenal are making a mistake
Trossard is a very useful player, make no mistake. But his versatility is overplayed. From what we have seen from Trossard playing in the number 10 role, he is simply not good enough to play in that role for a team that wants to win the title.
As for playing out wide, Trossard can be a threat, but he doesn’t provide realistic competition for Gabriel Magalhaes or Bukayo Saka, and he’s not as good as Noni Madueke. So as versatile as a back-up and as useful as he may be as a squad player, it’s tough to understand why Trossard is being kept around, and with a wage rise to boot.
He is not good enough to be a regular starter with a team that has the ambitions that Arsenal do, and he can only really be trusted to perform in one position.
Trossard is a very good player. He managed 20 goal contributions in 52 appearances last season, which is very respectful. But Arsenal and the squad they have built are now better than the Belgian’s general standard, and they could have done with upgrading this summer.
Failure to do that is one thing, and keeping hold of 30-year-old Trossard in itself is not egregious, but offering a new contract and a pay rise is not the sort of ruthless approach the Gunners need to be taking as they look to end their title drought.
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