Arsenal finally ended their long wait for a trophy at the back end of last season, staging a marvellous comeback against Hull City to win the FA Cup. The Premier League title was so close to reaching the Emirates for the first time, but the Gunners let a healthy points lead slip and lost first place after a 5-1 humiliation at the hands of Liverpool in February, never regaining top despite holding the position for 23 out of the 38 games. In the end, they finished seven points behind eventual winners Manchester City.
So, with the likes of FA Cup hero Łukasz Fabiański and ever-present right-back Bacary Sagna leaving the club in the summer, with a destination already settled for the former, Arsenal will be left short of players to fit the respective positions of the departing players. With Nicklas Bendtner and Park-Chu Young also being released, players that were, at the very most, backup or surplus to requirements, where do Arsenal need to strengthen in the summer, and who can they buy to fill their team with title potential?
Goalkeepers
Łukasz Fabiański and Emiliano Viviano will both leave the club at the end of the season, leaving Wojciech Szczęsny as the sole senior goalkeeper in the Arsenal side. With Damian Martinez enduring a less that stellar debut for the Gunners, leaking five goals against a determined Reading team in the Capital One Cup, it is not thought that Wenger will stick with the Argentine as a backup for Szczęsny just yet.
Several goalkeepers have been linked with moves to North London in recent weeks, all of whom would be expected to provide some stiff competition for the number one jersey. Two of these include David Marshall of Cardiff and John Ruddy of Norwich. Despite announcing his intentions to stick with the Canaries despite their relegation, John Ruddy may feel that a move to a club with a big name, where he could get his fair share of game time would be good for his international chances.
Ruddy was also subject to a £10m bid from Chelsea last summer, but the bid was rejected. It is thought that since the relegation of Norwich, the goalkeeper would be available for a cut price.
Ruddy has made just one appearance for the England national team, keeping a clean sheet in the 45 minutes he played against Italy. He was also called up to the Euro 2012 squad, but had to pull out because of a broken finger. His appearance record for Norwich this season however, has remained perfect. Ruddy played in all 38 games of the Premier League season, as Norwich finished 18th and suffered relegation.
David Marshall, on the other hand, was widely praised for his exceptional performance in the Cardiff goal last season. Despite his team finishing bottom of the league and conceding 74 goals, his performances attracted the attention of both North London sides, with the majority of newspaper outlets suggesting that Arsenal are in pole position to sign the Scot, who has been valued at £15m.
Defenders:
Bacary Sagna has already confirmed that he will be leaving the club upon the expiry of his contract in June, with fierce rivals Manchester City and Manchester United battling it out for the signature of the Frenchman. In a time where it has been rumoured that captain Thomas Vermaelen will also be sold by Arsenal after making 35 out of a possible 76 Premier League appearances in the past two years, playing second fiddle to a rock solid centre-back partnership of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. It is thought that Arsenal will also be on the lookout for a new centre-back as a backup for the pair.
One of the names that has been mentioned on a number of occasions is Swansea captain Ashley Williams. The English-born Welsh footballer has been tireless in his actions to help save Swansea from relegation this season, as well as to reach the final of, and eventually win the Capital One Cup in 2013, and the consequences of such performances have seen him linked with some of Europe's top clubs, with Lille and Napoli both recently linked to the defender. Arsenal made moves for the Swans captain last year, but were turned away at the value slapped on the defender, £10m appearing to be too much for Wenger. With one year remaining on his contract, the price will be fairly lower than last season's valuation, one which may appeal to the Gunners.
In terms of full-backs, Arsenal have been rocked by the inability to tie Bacary Sagna down to a new deal, leaving Carl Jenkinson as the only senior right-back at the club. The two most reported targets for this position have been Serge Aurier of FC Toulouse and Séamus Coleman of Everton.
Whilst both are still fairly young, with Aurier only at 21 years of age, and Coleman being 25 years old, both are considered as viable replacements for the long-term future. Despite being such a young age, Aurier has already established himself in Ligue 1, making the Ligue 1 Team of the Season, one of just two non-PSG or AS Monaco players to make the team in the 2013-14 season. Aurier's ability to push forward and create goals is a trait similar to that of Sagna, and it is thought that he could emulate such performances in the absence of the departing Sagna.
Coleman, similarly to Aurier, made it into the Team of the Season, albeit in the Premier League. His six league goals and his defensive abilities helped Everton achieve their highest amount of Premier League points, finishing on 72 points and securing European football. Coleman has also made 20 appearances for the Irish national side, and despite not yet scoring for his nation, he has been praised by current manager Martin O'Neill for his consistency and impressive performances for his nation.
The price range for Aurier and Coleman vary drastically, with Aurier only being valued at around half of the £20m that the Toffees are seeking for the services of Coleman. With Aurier being four years younger and having a longer career ahead of him, it seems likely that Wenger will make a move for the Frenchman rather than Coleman.
Midfielders:
Arsenal are more than settled in the midfield department, with a long list of midfielders already tied down to the club. Since the beginning of last season, Arsenal have managed to secure the contract extensions of influential pair Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla, but are still hunting the signature of one more defensive midfielder.
Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Lars Bender was strongly linked with an Emirates move at the beginning of the season, with the Gunners submitting a £15m bid for the German's services, one which was swiftly turned down by Leverkusen. As Arsenal look to move on from the ageing Mikel Arteta, it is thought that they are not yet planning on stopping their pursuit for Bender, despite the player claiming that he 'isn't good enough for an Arsenal move' and is happy to stay in Germany.
The Gunners are not thought to be stopping there. Former Arsenal fan favourite Cesc Fabregas has been linked with a sensational move back to North London, with the fee mentioned being similar to that of which they got for him three seasons ago. Manchester United are also interested in the Spaniard, who was voted by Barcelona fans as the player they would most like to see leave in the summer, after a final 15 games which failed to see Fabregas create or score a goal.
Strikers:
A world-class striker would surely bring the best out of Arsenal. Two strikers, although not many people's top choice as an Arsenal forward, will both be leaving in the summer, leaving just Olivier Giroud and Yaya Sanogo as the fully fleged strikers in the side. With a wide array of opportunities available and a reported £100m war chest to spend at the Emirates, this could be Arsenal's biggest chance to get the best value for their money.
Number one priority for Arsenal is the forward role, with the inconsistency of Giroud being a constant thorn in the backside of Arsenal fans. The main targets appear to be Karim Benzema, Loïc Rémy and Alvaro Morata.
Karim Benzema has been long admired and sought after by Arsène Wenger since his Lyon days, where he first made his name. Benzema is a striker with a quality finish, but who can also play a killer final ball and create goals just as well as he can score them. When linking up with current Arsenal midfielder Mesut Özil at Real Madrid, Benzema scored 78 goals for Los Blancos across their three season spell together. The possibility of a link-up yet again between the pair has led pundits and fans alike to believe that Karim Benzema can bring the best out of Özil once again.
Loïc Rémy is another French striker that Wenger has headhunted for several years. Rémy, who was present at Arsenal's final home match against West Bromwich Albion, has been a target for Arsenal since swapping France for West London in 2013. Rémy did not follow QPR down to the Championship, instead, he secured a loan deal with Newcastle United, where he did not fail to impress his fellow players and managers, scoring fourteen times in 26 appearances for the Magpies. A French combination of Rémy and Giroud is an idea that Wenger and Arsenal fans may quickly warm to.
Álvaro Morata is the final and most likely target for Arsenal. Rumours surfaced just a couple of days ago that Real Madrid and Arsenal had agreed a deal for the young Spaniard, a deal that included a buy-back clause for Real Madrid to activate as they please. The value of Morata according to Florentino Pérez is around £20m, a number which Wenger is thought to have seen as a reasonable deal. The price has been discredited by the Gunners fans, however, most of whom have only seen Morata on one or two occasions, the forward playing a total of 37 league games for Real across four seasons, scoring 10 goals, eight of which came last season.
Arsenal have tied down deals for their current key players, but will almost definitely need to add to their team if they want to push for the biggest prize in English football - the Premier League trophy.
