Wenger Set To Ditch Plans For ‘Marquee’ Midfield Signing & Hand Wilshere New Role

The summer transfer window is now open for business and it’s expected to be a busy few weeks as managers strengthen their squads ahead of next season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Gooner Mac brings us news on Arsenal’s hunt for a defensive midfielder.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger looks set to end his pursuit of Sami Khedira and Lars Bender and hand Jack Wilshere the chance to become the teams main anchorman next season, according to reports.

Wenger has been hotly tipped to bring in a new defensive midfielder this summer to act as a long-term replacement for Mikel Arteta and we’ve been strongly linked with the likes of Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira and Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender in recent weeks.

However, with potential deals for the duo not progressing, it looks as though the boss is ready to throw in the towel and stick with the players already available to him next season, with Wilshere set for a new role in the team.

The Mirror claim that it’s ‘increasingly likely’ that Wenger will ditch plans to bring in a ‘marquee’ midfield signing and will hand Wilshere the chance to become the clubs anchorman alongside Aaron Ramsey.

The newspaper suggests that the Frenchman feels Wilshere has huge potential to excel in a deep-lying role, so unless an ‘remarkable deal’ crops up over the coming weeks, the boss is going to save his money and stick with the midfielders he’s already got.

If true, there are going to be some disappointed Arsenal fans out there as many were excited by the thought of us finally bringing in an established defensive midfielder to offer protection to the back four.

On numerous occasions last season, our midfield was completely cut open on the break, particularly in the big games, and we were susceptible to pace on the counter-attack with the ponderous Mikel Arteta in the holding role.

I personally have my doubts over whether Jack is the answer to these problems as pace is hardly a hallmark of his game and until now, Arsene has always maintained the 22-year-old does his best work around the oppositions penalty area.

I would much rather we see a ‘proper’ defensive midfielder like Bender or Schneiderlin come in this summer as it would be a huge risk to head into the new season relying on Wilshere as our main holding player, as he has no experience in the role and has been plagued by injuries over the past few years.

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However, we’ll have to see how things develop from here. Perhaps Wilshere will shine in his new role and I’d be delighted to be proven wrong, but I fear we’ll regret it if Wenger doesn’t address a glaring issue in our team and bring in an athletic ball-winning midfielder this summer.