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Food For Thought: Wenger Should Swoop In To Sign Tottenham And Chelea’s Long-term Target

Ross Barkley of Everton

Why Arsene Wenger Must Make A Move For Everton Midfielder Ross Barkley

Arsenal have been linked with Everton’s Ross Barkley before but over the summer, he was primarily a Chelsea target. The Englishman was really close to joining the London club but the move fell through at the eleventh hour and the player chose to stay at Goodison Park.

Despite spending big in the previous window, Ronald Koeman failed to deliver results and the team slumped to the relegation zone. The team’s disastrous performances did not bode well for the future of the campaign and the board eventually decided to sack Koeman. After David Unsworth took over as manager for a while, Sam Allardyce was brought in and Everton look stable enough now.

However, Barkley had to miss out on all of this due to the fact that he is yet to recover from an injury. Once he is back to full-fitness, the Gunners could consider reigniting their interest in the attack-minded midfielder.

There is no denying Barkley’s talent and with the futures of both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil shrouded with uncertainty, Arsene Wenger could benefit by signing the 23-year-old.

Everton

For a long time now, Arsenal’s attack has been dependent on the likes of Sanchez, Ozil and this season it is Alexandre Lacazette. The trio up front rarely receive attacking support from the midfielders and this has caused the Gunners dearly in numerous situations.

In their recent game against West Ham, for example, Arsenal deployed Granit Xhaka, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil as part of a midfield trio. Xhaka fulfilled his defensive duties but Wilshere and Ozil failed to build a partnership strong enough to get things going.

The trio did not make any noteworthy passes from the middle, which in turn failed to provide enough penetration. Wilshere seemed to be more interested in making side-to-side passes, which seemingly frustrated the German, Ozil.

It is not like Wenger has a plethora of options in this area, hence making a move for Barkley sounds plausible. In Santi Cazorla’s absence, Arsenal continue to struggle in attacking support from the midfield and they cannot afford to lose or draw any more games from here on.

In the last season itself, frustrations were rife among the supporters at their inability to even qualify for the Champions League and with a knife hanging over the French manager’s future at the club, missing out on the Champions League is not a risk he can afford to take.

A player like Barkley can bring about some much-needed dynamism to Arsenal’s overall performances, making him an option Wenger should definitely consider come the winter window.