The clamour for another creative midfielder at Arsenal – but why ditch Smith Rowe?

By Sir Hardly Anyone

According to the Daily Mail Arsenal have opened talks with Real Madrid over loan deal for Martin Ødegaard – although that is not how the Mail spells it.  But then they never have been very good in terms of foreign.

And unfortunately although it is an article of a little over 400 words they don’t tell us much more than that.  But they do tell us that the talks have opened, three times.  They also tell us that Real Mad and Arsenal have good relations – and they must be good because  they tell us that four times.

As we saw yesterday, after accounting for the players who have definitely gone (Ozil and Sokratis) we have one foreign player space left, so this could be the one.

He is a Norwegian attacking midfielder / play maker aged 22 who has been round the blocks quite a lot taking in jolly jaunts from Strømsgodset where he started to Heerenveen  Vitesse and Real Sociedad playing only eight games for Real Mad, although he did knock up 58 matches for Real Madrid Castilla, the Really Mad Reserves.

Now this could look like a bit of a plan because there is also a Daily Mail story that says that “Arsenal target Emiliano Buendia ‘accepts he must wait until summer’ to clinch a move to the Emirates with Norwich wanting £40m to part ways with their star man this month “

So Martin Ødegaard for half a season and then Emiliano Buendia (age 24).  Except, what about Smith Rowe?  As far as I can see you would never want to play either of these transferees and Smith Rowe in the same team, and since both the incomers are older that Emile, and cost money, they would surely take precedence.

Martin Ødegaard I can just about understand to take pressure off Smith Rowe and not have him playing every game, if it really is now thought we don’t have anyone else at all to play in that position – but to spend £40m on a player to replace SR?  Really?

Meanwhile considering the numbers of players in the squad we also have to think of Torreira who is still an Arsenal player until the summer of 2023.  He’s signed up on loan for this season, but after that?  Atletico Madrid have an option to buy but they seem to have lost interest in him of late.

One idea from the ever excitable Daily Mail is that Torreira could go to Inter Milan then we get Christian Eriksen.  Except if any of the other moves above start travelling around, we are still going to end up with one player too many again and another player having an Arsenal contract but not getting any games.

Now this idea of us signing another creative midfielder is a favourite avenue for football writers to venture down, when passing a tedious afternoon in the Toppled Bollard public house close to Wapping Swamp.

But few have gone as far as Sqwaka did with their headline, “Eight creative midfielders in their peak Arsenal could try to sign in January” as they announced a just four weeks back that “Arsenal are in crisis as the January transfer window approaches.”

That article said,

“The centre of the Gunners’ side is desperately lacking in creativity, with none of Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, Thomas Partey or Mohamed Elneny offering the forward-thinking, risk-taking, line-breaking contributions their team is crying out for.

“That means Arsenal are on the lookout for a new addition in the January transfer window, with technical director Edu spelling out their needs this week.”

Well, actually, no it doesn’t now and it didn’t then.  It meant we bring Smith Rowe into the lineup and play him regularly.

Refusing to acknowledge the abilities of Smith Rowe (ignoring totally that the lad played in each of the Europa League games prior to his league breakthrough, managing to score or assist in each game, they went on a long drive around such notables and not so notables as Papu Gomez (Atalanta), Houssem Aouar (Lyon), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Emiliano Buendia (Norwich – of whom it has been said), Luis Alberto (Lazio), Hakan Calhanoglu (AC Milan), Rodrigo De Paul (Udinese), and Mattia Zaccagni (Verona).

So quite a choice.

Personally I would sooner stick with Smith Rowe.

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