Arsenal face a stern test today as they clash with Chelsea at Wembley for the honour of lifting the FA Cup, which would save the Gunners some grace in what has been a vastly disappointing campaign for Arsene Wenger’s side.
A fifth-placed finish means Arsenal are set to play next season without Champions League football for the first time in two decades and the Gunners have a wealth of uncertainty surrounding the futures of key-players.
The likes of Alexis Sanchez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mesut Ozil are heavily linked with an exit this summer and Arsenal may not have enough to persuade the trio, and other stars, to stay- according to former Arsenal man Charlie Nicholas.
Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of today’s FA Cup final, Nicholas said:
“An FA Cup win does make the season a success to a degree because Arsenal would have won something but what it doesn’t do is show improvements,”
“It eases the strain somewhat and gives the club something to enjoy over the summer after a really difficult season. But as soon as the cup final has finished Arsene needs to put the ‘for sale’ sign up because, of the top-six clubs, Arsenal have the most work to do.”
“Alexandre Lacazette looks as if he’s going to Atletico and attracting Kylian Mbappe is going to be difficult without Champions League football.”
“I’m hearing that Per Mertersacker might go into the coaching staff, then I’d let David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy, Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs, Francis Coquelin and Olivier Giroud go to build up the transfer kitty.”
“We need to get away from the one or two changes, it has to be six or seven players moving on and at least four coming in. Wenger has had one of the strongest groups he’s had but he’s not brought the best out of them, so they need to make big changes.”
“They need a goalkeeper of high standing to compete with Petr Cech, another centre-back, be it Raphael Varane or Virgil Van Dijk, and I would sell Laurent Koscielny if there’s interest. Alex Iwobi will be better for the experience, as will Granit Xhaka if he can work on his tackling, then a centre-forward with pace would be the other priority.”
Nicholas’ plans of a mass exodus would certainly leave Arsenal with a lot of work to do and their challenge would be even more difficult should the likes of Alexis or Mesut Ozil leave the Emirates Stadium, as it would leave huge holes in the Gunners squad.
With Manchester City moving swiftly yesterday to sign Bernardo Silva from Monaco, the Citizens have made a real statement of intent to the rest of the top six and Arsenal need the most improvements of all, so the pressure is certainly on the Gunners.