Another year, another January transfer window. For Arsenal, despite their recent turnaround in form, it is more needed than ever.

The Gunners bought well in the summer bringing in Gabriel Magalhaes and Thomas Partey as their marquee players, but worryingly find themselves in the bottom half of the table and need to add some star quality to bolster the side.

With Granit Xhaka’s best capabilities uncertain and loanee Dani Ceballos struggling to make a regular impact, it has been identified that the North London side are in desperate need of a midfielder- both attacking and defensive-minded.

Just like every other window, all the top teams are linked with a plethora of players and Arsenal fans will be hoping any potential additions can drag them to a European finish.

  • Julian Brandt

 

The German playmaker burst onto the scene back in the 2018/19 season where he posted an impressive 7 goals and 11 assists for Bayer Leverkusen, earning him a move to Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund at the end of that season. 

Since then the 24-year-old has failed to live up to promise he showed at his previous club and as of late has struggled for game time, especially since the emergence of other attacking outlets such as Giovanni Reyna and Jadon Sancho.

Having come to prominence at such a young age time is on Brandt's side and he could be offered a lifeline by The Gunners who are thought to be big admirers.

Sport Bild reporter Christian Falk said: “We also know he has connections [at Arsenal], youth director Per Mertesacker has the same agents as him, and he is a bit tempted to come to London. I could very well imagine it coming true.” However, despite the rumoured interest, Falk notes that on such short notice the transfer is more likely to happen next summer.

Likelihood of transfer: 5/10

  • Emiliano Buendia

 

Despite coming at a cost-cut price to the others on this list, Emiliano Buendia is certainly not inferior ability-wise to his fellow candidates. It is common knowledge that Arsenal have struggled for goals this season, so the creative flair of Buendia would be much welcomed at the Emirates.

The Norwich star, despite being a part of the squad that was relegated last season, was third in through balls in the Premier League (17) with only James Maddison (19) and Kevin De Bruyne (32) topping him.

With six goals and six assists in the Championship so far this campaign, his £15 million price tag is one that has caught the eye of Mikel Arteta and he could fair up to be the most likely addition for The Gunners this window.

Likelihood of transfer: 8/10

  • Yves Bissouma

 

'Gooners' may have split opinions on Yves Bissouma after the Mali international infamously was seen laughing at The Gunners after they failed to qualify for the Champions League two season ago.

Nonetheless, the Brighton midfielder has a lot of upside to his game and the potential to be a key player for Arsenal if they opt to sign him. Many Premier League sides are on high alert for Bissouma as he has the second-most tackles in the league with 48, an asset which is invaluable to any team.]

Renowned for his athletic efforts off the ball, the 24-year-old is just as comfortable on it as he averages 4.7 passes into the final third and 1.7 successful take-ons per game.

Question marks may be posed whether he has the profile to play for a club like Arsenal, but he has proved continuously this season that he is an adept player and could shape up to form a dynamic double pivot with Partey.

Likelihood of transfer: 7/10

  • Isco

 

Yes, I know it’s been a long year. But, surely not that long? Throwback to the year 2013 where Arsenal are yet again linked with a promising youngster. 

Isco is another one of those names to join Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Suarez on Arsene Wenger’s ‘nearly signed list.’ The Spaniard was always rumoured to make a switch to North London back at the beginning of the last decade, however, a move never came to fruition.

Isco won the Golden Boy award in 2012 after impressing in the blue and white of Malaga and one year later he earned a dream move to Real Madrid for a sizeable fee of €30 million.

However, much like many other Madrid players, Isco fell out of favour with boss Zinedine Zidane and despite helping Los Blancos to three Champions League titles, has now been frozen out of the squad altogether.

Many moons later, Isco could finally fulfil the dreams of Arsenal fans with a potential loan move on the cards this month. In a similar vein to James Rodriguez, a move to another club could rejuvenate his career where he can remind the world of his quality.

Likelihood of transfer: 6/10

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