Former Arsenal defender Frank McLintock has said claimed that Arsene Wenger and Arsenal should make big signings in order to go forward and win the Premier League for the first time in more than a decade. Supporters and players alike know that the team is a few quality players short of being definitive favourites to win the league, but McLintock has greater ambitions than just a league title for this season.
Playing as a defender during his long career, McLintock knows what it takes for a defender to be considered world-class, and when speaking to talkSPORT, claimed that he does not see current club captain Per Mertesacker as the man to lead the back line.
I’d like to see an improvement in January, especially at centre half. I think Per Mertesacker has been a bit unfortunate. He’s been a great pro and a great player for Germany but I can’t see him getting in the Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid teams. That’s a position that needs to be filled.
McLintock does not just want Arsenal to be the best team in the league, but he wants his former club to compete with the world powers that he mentioned. Arsenal are closer to that status than some of their recent performances would let on, but they still need a few more world-class players to bridge the gap between the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
Another thing that Arsene Wenger needs to build upon in the team is squad depth. Arsenal’s only reliable defensive midfielder, Francis Coquelin, went down injured earlier this year, and McLintock does not believe that they can rely on Calum Chambers and Mathieu Flamini until Coquelin comes back in a few months.
If [Francis] Coquelin is injured there isn’t a ready made player with any height or strength who could play in that holding midfield position, and they definitely need another top class centre forward too in case [Olivier] Giroud – who has been effective this season – gets injured.
There is more depth in the forward areas than in defensive midfield with Theo Walcott as an alternative to Olivier Giroud, but many people question whether or not the Frenchman can lead this Arsenal team to a Premier League title and beyond. Furthermore, the ex-Gunner believes that there is still plenty of room for improvement, no matter how close to the league title the team may be.
There are still positions they can improve on. When I look at the Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid, Arsenal are quite a bit behind them.
Naturally, Arsenal do not have the copious amounts of world-beating talent that those three teams have, but with the following facts, it should be believed that they can rise to the highest echelons of world football.
Arsenal are a massive club, they get 60,000 fans everywhere, they’ve got a beautiful stadium and the debt has been wiped off – I think they’ve got to really go for it now. I would like to see Arsenal take that extra step, trying to go for the top, going for European cups and domestic championships as well.
A large fan base, great stadium, and money are crucial for any big team, and Arsenal have all three. They have made their two biggest signings in terms of price in the last three years, and McLintock wants to see more of the same in the near future.
And if you want to be up there with the biggest clubs in the world, you’ve got to be prepared to buy players like [Alexis] Sanchez and [Mesut] Ozil, even for the big money. If you’re asking fans to pay the kind of money they pay to watch Arsenal, I think the club should make sure they provide the best players in the world, if possible.
The signing of Mesut Özil galvanised the team for the 2013/14 season and led them to take home the FA Cup in May of that campaign, and the signing of Alexis Sanchez the season after that helped the Gunners to another FA Cup triumph, but McLintock, as well as the entirety of the fan base, has bigger ambitions than just domestic cup competitions.
It is all over the news that Arsenal are on the brink of signing Mohamed Elneny, but more is needed if the club want to compete with the biggest teams in the world.
