Arsenal will have to make a decision by the end of the month, as the squad issues tend to get deeper and deeper as the season goes on. The most important thing Wenger needs to focus on is to bring in a defensive midfielder to take the lead from Arteta whose only replacement is Flamini. Even though the Frenchman came for free and did a pretty decent job at keeping things in place, he is clearly not on the same level as players like Ramsey or Wilshere who need strong support in order to cover their offensive runs. Unfortunately Flamini and Arteta are not able to maintain the pace and keep moving at the same speed as the others. Regardless of the reason, which could be age or injury related, it is clear that Wenger needs to make a transfer.

That transfer could come from Portugal where William Carvalho is continuing to impress. According to Metro, the 22 year old has been on Arsenal’s wanted-list for a while now and has been linked to several big teams in Europe. Unfortunately, his high price tag has prevented him from leaving. Currently valued at about £25m, he is quite a gamble. As many know, Portuguese players don’t always enjoy England and some have trouble adapting. Players like Quaresma, Nani or Coentrao have cost a lot of money and turned out inadequate for certain competitions. With that in mind, Arsenal really need to make sure Carvalho is worth spending the entire transfer budget on.