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In August, nobody seriously imagined that this team would be the Premier League frontrunners in the second half of the race, and yet that is where they find themselves, five points clear of Manchester City with 19 games left to play while the reigning champions have 18.
Arsenal, who have concluded their incoming business with the £12 million signing of Jorginho on deadline day, could get everything right and just fall short. Even for a squad with all the growth potential of the Premier League’s youngest, there is no guarantee that future years will see the rest of the chasing pack drop off so early nor that City will not raise the levels beyond Arsenal in the years to come.
At the start of January, Arsenal wanted to secure a top-tier young winger and, if possible, a left-sided center back. Another body in central midfield would have been nice to have, but there were many around the club who expected to keep their powder dry for the summer when they still intend to sign Declan Rice, a player who CBS Sports revealed earlier this month was enamored by the prospect of moving from West Ham to Arsenal.
When Chelsea snared Mudryk from them at the 11th hour, Arsenal found themselves with more cash to play with but not enough that they could pry Moises Caicedo away from Brighton. Arsenal were mindful of not damaging relations with Brighton, with whom they have done much business in the past and could well be in dialogue in the summer over Caicedo, by pushing the issue when their stance was made clear.
Instead of a youthful injection, Arsenal have pivoted to make the sort of moves that a title contender makes. In both case, Arsenal are extremely unlikely to recoup their transfer fee, and toward the end of their contracts, both players may well not be playing at a level that befits their salary. But if Trossard delivers a handful of effective cameos and Jorginho eases the burden on Thomas Partey this season, then their combined £38 million fees will be a price worth paying.
Neither of these two additions can be certain to be starters. When attacking, this tends to morph into a 2-3-5 with the full backs inverting into central midfield. Though Ben White has shown overlapping tendencies, particularly when Eddie Nketiah is the main striker and the two midfielders often termed eights ahead of Partey given license to attack the penalty area.
Early in this season, their first XI was humming and had reached the level that is so often a sign of champions. The Brazilian is expected to return in March from surgery, but Arteta can feel confident he has the quality up front to keep this charge going.
In wide areas, Trossard’s addition gives Arsenal plenty of options on the left, but the Belgian is sufficiently versatile that he could end up logging minutes in other spots. Similarly, on the left side of defense, Gabriel has featured in some capacity during all but one of Arsenal’s games this season. Kiwior should allow him to at least rest up in the Europa League.
Meanwhile, the logic behind Arsenal’s push to sign a central midfielder became apparent when Mikel Arteta confirmed that Mohamed Elneny, Partey’s previous backup, had suffered a major injury. USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner has shown solidity as a shot-stopper and growth with the ball at his feet, but the drop-off in Arsenal’s possession play would be pronounced if he had to step in for Aaron Ramsdale over a run of games. Before injury disrupted his preseason last summer, sources close to the player and Arsenal have indicated that he would have been blooded as an eight.
It would be a far from optimal situation if Arteta had to test him in that position again during a title run in.
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