Mikel Arteta close to dream lineup as Arsenal ready to sign first summer transfer

Mikel Arteta moves closer to his dream lineup at Arsenal as the Gunners are ready to sign their first summer transfer.

There will be massive tactical changes for Arsenal next season if transfer business goes as planned.

As things stand Mikel Arteta is a long way off his dream Arsenal side.

Mikel Arteta confesedd that his ideal scenario for Arsenal is 4-3-3 rather than 4-2-3-1.

“For me the way we occupy space and who is going to move in there is more important than the formation,”
he told DAZN late last year.

“And from there we have some very similar players that are not used to play in those positions
so we have to keep changing the formation a little bit.

“We want to move to a 4-3-3 but for that, you need a lot of specificity in every position but now in five or six positions, we don’t have it.”

Football Audit understands that Granit Xhaka will join AS Roma for a €18-20m fee.

Granit Xhaka has been one of the best Arsenal players this season even thought it was a bad season for the Gunners.

Xhaka may be away from the top ‘for sale’ list for fans but the fact Mikel Arteta is willing to let him go is perhaps because he will make tactical changes soon at the Emirates.

Granit Xhaka replacement

Of course, this will all be dependent on who exactly is brought in.

Yves Bissouma for all his tackling and intercepting excellence is not someone with the possession skills to be the deepest player in a three.

Ruben Neves is perhaps someone who is more suited to the role, but the fact that he has generally played in a double pivot means that questions will still be asked about his capabilities.

But after promising to be “ruthless” in his transfer dealings this summer
there are some signs that Arteta is no longer willing to be patient as he seeks to take his project at Arsenal one more step forward.

After underwhelming results in the league and Europe last season the Spaniard knows that he is a man under pressure and his increased urgency to move towards his preferred tactical philosophy suggests he knows it.