Arsenal has had a thin roster for their last two games because guys have left their team or are on loan. On July 4th, Arsenal lost their starting defender Gael Clichy to Manchester City as he signed a four-year deal worth 7 million dollars. He was tied for the team led with 33 starts at outside back last year. On August 16th, Arsenal lost another defender, Emmanuel Eboue, to the Turkish club Galatasaray for 3.5 million dollars. Without Clichy and Eboue, Arsenal has been struggling to find a solid defender. They have experimented with both Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson, but they are both very young and unproven. The Gunners have also been troubled with whom to pair in the middle with Laurent Koscielny, as they have gone away from Sebastien Squillaci and they have begun to use the inexperienced Thomas Vermaelen.
Considering that last season with Clichy the Gunners let up 43 goals, 10 more than Chelsea and Manchester City, they will be conceding much more this season with unproven guys in the back. Arsenal needs to some cash and bring in some fresh faces to play in the back, and even Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted that. "Certainly, we will have to find one more defender. We are working on it." Arsenal's 12 million dollar bid for center defender Phil Jagielka was turned down by Everton and it will most likely take an offer around 18 million for the English defender to come to Emirates Stadium. Although 18 million is a lot for a defender, Jagielka would be a great pairing with Koscielny in the middle and it would please many of the very unhappy Arsenal fans who want the team to spend some money in the market. If Arsenal is reluctant to spend that much on Jagielka, they could also look at Gary Cahill of Bolton, Chris Samba of Blackburn, or Scott Dann of Birmingham City, all of whom would cost less than Everton is asking for Jagielka.
Although bringing in a defender should be Arsenal's first prior, they also need some help in the midfield and up front. Arsenal no longer has their captain, Cesc Fabregas, in the mix. The Spanish midfielder returned to his former club Barcelona on August 15th after years of speculation if he would go back to play for them. He was signed for a fee that could be worth as much as 39 million, which would obviously give Arsenal a lot of room to make some moves. More money should be available to Arsenal as their French midfielder, Samri Nasri, is reportedly close to going to Manchester City for around 25 million.
Without Fabreags or Nasri in the middle, Arsenal will need to bring in a quality player in the midfield. Jack Wilshere is still out with an ankle injury and Andrei Arshavin has really struggled with the club since his great start in 2009. Mathieu Valbuena of Marseille and Eden Hazard of Lille are the two most likely targets for Arsenal. Although Marseille said that they would listen to offers for Valbuena, they are unlikely to deal him at this time. The more likely option is Eden Hazard, but it will definitely cost the Gunners a lot of cash. Arsenal will have to be willing to pay Lille 30 million for the Belgian winger. It's more likely that Arsenal signs a defender before they would spend 30 million on Hazard, but the French League One Player of the Year would be a great threat to a depleted Arsenal side.
While Arsenal have lost Clichy, Eboue, Fabregas, Vela, and Denilson on transfers or loans and are about to lose Nasri and Bendtner, other top premier league teams have bolstered their squads in hopes of making a run at the premier league title. Liverpool were big buyers this summer. To sure up their midfield issues, they brought in Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam. Liverpool spent about 20 million to get Downing from Aston Villa and the long suspected transfer of Adam to play in Anfield Stadium finally concluded for a cost of about 7 million. They also shored up their left back position by bringing in Jose Enrique from Newcastle for about 6 million. As always, Manchester City spent a lot of money to make a run at the title. Besides the signing of Clichy for 7 million, they also bought defender Stefan Savic for around 6 million. Their big splash came when they signed Argentinean striker, Sergio Aguero, in the second biggest Premier League transfer deal for 35 million dollars from Atletico Madrid. Chelsea signed Orio Romeu from Barcelona for 5 million and the young Belgian striker, Romelu Lukaku, for about 20 million. Manchester United spent the most money of any premier league team with their three big signings that cost a combine 54 million dollars. They bought young England defender Phil Jones for about 16 million, Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea for about 18 million, and Ashley Young from Aston Villa for about 20 million. With Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Manchester United all spending a lot of money to bring in quality players, Arsenal will have to bring in some new players or they will likely fall out of the top four.
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