Paul Merson has picked out two Premier League midfielders who are capable of ‘transforming’ Arsenal next season under their manager Mikel Arteta.
The players in question are Ruben Neves and James Ward-Prowse. Wolves are expecting Neves to leave this summer amid interest from the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United.
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The Portugal international is valued at £36m by transfermarkt, while Ward-Prowse has a value of £28.8m (£64.8m combined). Both players have been in great form this season in their own right.
The Gunners have fared well this term as they currently sit fourth in the Premier League.
They are two points clear of their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Despite this, Merson has argued that Arsenal are in need of a deep-lying “genuine playmaker”:
“Mikel Arteta needs a player in the same mould he was to transform Arsenal next season,” Merson wrote for The Daily Star.
“I think they still need a midfield player who can sit in front of the back four and pick a pass. Arteta did that beautifully. But they don’t have anyone like that any more. Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey don’t have those kind of skills; someone who’s going to get on the ball and start spraying it around.
“Xhaka and Partey do a great job in there but they’re not going to take you to the next level. I don’t think they’ve got a genuine passer in the team; a genuine playmaker from deeper positions like that. And if anyone can find that type of player it should be Arteta because he’s played that position himself.
“Sometimes you have to be able to hit that diagonal ball over the top. With Arsenal, everything is short, short, short. Martin Odegaard does a great job of that, playing one-twos and trying to slip players in. But you need someone with a good passing range in behind him too. Someone who keeps it simple but can hit your forwards with a long ball or two as well.
“Ruben Neves does it…
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