Okay the way I see it is with Mustafi and Sokratis entering the last year, they need to go. Chambers is recovering and we don't know whether Holding can cut it after his injury. So you sell Mustafi and Sokratis, loan Holding, no point selling Luiz as he won't have value.
RCB: Saliba/ Luiz
LCB: ??????/Mari
It is pretty clear we want a left footed centre back. Id say in the 23-26 age bracket. As far as names go, it would be pointless guessing. I think there is a big chance we get a an unknown in this area, but the main issue is we want a 23 year old who has a lot of experience. Bournemouth are struggling financially, Ake fits the profile. He may not be better than Saliba in the long term, but he will make fewer errors in the short term allowing Saliba to flourish. Upamecano will make a lot of mistakes.
We have to be realistic. What makes a world class centre back is consistency, the low rate of errors, leadership and being able to make game winning decisions. You cannot acquire any of that unless you play a lot of football. You can't be a world class centre back at 18. Think about it. You need to have played against different types of centre forward multiple times, for hundreds of minutes in order to learn what to do and what not to do. You need to deal with a Giroud and an Aguero. When to drop off, when to step up, when to go for the ball, when to cover, when to mark, when to go into wide areas and thats even without considering when to go to ground and when to stay on your feet. You need to make the wrong decisions to learn from them.
Koscielny was a prime example, picking up red cards in his first season, until he gained the experience to know what to do in every situation. Saliba will make mistakes, he needs someone alongside him who can cover for them. That isn't Mari and definitely isn't Upamecano.
Midfield is totally dependent on how Arteta wants to play. Does he want a double pivot or a holder? Does he want a 10 or two 8's. Does he want a 10 who can become an 8 off the ball? I really can't tell you. We won't know till next season. What I would say that no matter who we go for, we lack two things to change the entire shape of our team.
Athleticism and Technical quality.
Torreira, Guendouzi, Xhaka are our central options. None of them have athleticism and none of them have technical quality. We need Thiago/ Cazorla level of technical quality and also Ndidi/Kante levels of athleticism. It is really easy to find a player with athleticism but low levels of technical quality, or technical quality without athleticism. Its really difficult to get both in one player. It just depends how you construct your midfield. Bayern have two diminutive touch players with good speed, which allows them to press. They are not overly athletic, but they are combative. However, in England you need big distance players due to the intensity and speed of the league. Torreira for example gets massively exposed in a double pivot. You could have him at the base, but he isn't progressive enough.
We have been linked to Partey and Zakaria as well as Papa Gueye. Names don't matter. It is the profile of player and how Arteta wants to play. We know he wants a 2-3-5 when we attack. The question is whether he wants inverted full backs or overlapping ones. He views Martinelli as a CF, but will he play him there? He has players to build around, it's more about how clear his idea of playing is.
