Last week we looked at Manchester United and Chelsea and which players should be brought in and which players should be shipped out. Today we’re going to take a look at Arsenal and Liverpool.
Arsenal
In
Christopher Samba
For about the past five years, Arsenal have been crying out for a dominant, physical centre half. Arsene Wenger completed an excellent piece of business this time two years ago by snapping up Belgian Thomas Vermaelen, a snip at £10million. Vermaelen is an excellent defender but without him for most of the season just gone Arsenal struggled badly. They looked fragile and vulnerable as usual from set plays and were tailor made for the more physical teams to just go and pick them off. Samba could go a long way to solving that problem, plucked from the wilderness by Mark Hughes he thrived under his management at Blackburn and later under the tuition of Sam Allardyce and is now a well schooled student in the cut and thrust of the Barclays Premier League. A central defensive partnership of Samba and Vermaelen would be resolute and solid and could just be the catalyst for this Arsenal team to finally go and realise their apparent potential. Haven’t previous title winning Arsenal sides been predicated on strong defences – Bould, Adams, Keown, Campbell, Toure. It’s not rocket science...
In
Scott Parker
Scott Parker is an out and out winner, you can say to me he has just been relegated with West Ham but along with a couple of others he carried that team on his back throughout the season. Arsenal need winners, a couple of experienced heads that when the chips are down can stand up and be counted. Parker has a phenomenal engine and decent passing ability; also he is not afraid to put his foot in. I can genuinely imagine Parker inspiring both the younger and the foreign players around him during games, galvanizing players and helping the team to see out games and tight situations. He may not be blessed with the same level of ability or technique that sum of these Arsenal players possess but he has the mentality and desire of a winner something severely lacking within this Arsenal side.
In
Karim Benzema
Again, it’s not rocket science; essentially you have a player who has had an unsuccessful period with Real Madrid and has appoint to prove. His ability is there for everyone to see, pace, power, two feet and a wonderful finisher. When Robin Van Persie is fit, he is up there with the best strikers in the world, however when he is unavailable, Arsenal struggle, Chamakh is a decent player but you need to replace quality with quality. A strike duo of Benzema and Van Persie would send shockwaves through the Premier League and would be a real statement of intent from Arsenal. Arsenal’s Chief Executive has said today that he expects a busy summer at Arsenal in terms of transfer activity, let’s hope he’s speaking the truth.
Out
Nicklas Bendtner, Tomas Rosicky, Denilson, Andrei Arshavin, Sebastien Squillaci, Carols Vela, Manuel Almunia, Emanuel Eboue.
Liverpool
In
Stewart Downing
If Downing isn’t top of Kenny Dalglish’s shopping list then maybe I don’t understand this game after all. When you’ve got a 6ft 5inches centre-forward in the form of Andy Carroll lurking around the penalty area, your priority must be to add quality in the wide areas. The former Middlesbrough man has just come off the back of a fantastic season, particularly the second half of the season and was rightly voted as Aston Villa supporter’s player of the season. He has reached a point in his career when a big move is the right step, perhaps he thought he was doing that with Villa but they are a club in slight transition following the departure of Martin O’ Neill. Liverpool is the arena for Downing to fully realise his outstanding potential. He has been somewhat overshadowed in the past two years by the emergence of his former Middlesbrough team mate Adam Johnson. What’s more is that Downing is a proven talent in the Premier League, leader within the Aston Villa set up and a former captain of Middlesbrough, therefore one would be surprised if he wasn’t to succeed. Liverpool have been looking for a decent winger for years, look at all the poor and average signings they have made in wide areas. Pennant, Riera, Gonzalez, Zenden, the list goes on, they now have an opportunity to go out and buy a wide player with quality.
In
James Milner
If you’re looking for a player to play wide on the left, it’s only good sense to look at the opposite flank. Make no mistake about it Dirk Kuyt has done more than a decent job playing as a right sided midfielder for Liverpool, full of energy, determination and courage but unfortunately with little end product. Kuyt’s future with Liverpool is a striker along with Carroll and Suarez and he will enjoy further success as a front man. Liverpool need quality coming from both flanks, a couple of weeks ago, Ashley Young was my man for Liverpool, I wanted Kenny Dalglish to do a raid on Aston Villa, part with £40 million and return to Merseyside with both Downing and Young. Unfortunately, Ashley Young looks Old Trafford bound so Liverpool will have to look at alternatives. Take James Milner for example, with City reportedly in the market for Udinese’s flying Chilean Alexis Sanchez, one does wonder where does that leave James Milner? He has failed to secure a regular starting berth for City this season so perhaps this is an avenue which Liverpool could pursue. Granted, Milner has only been at City one season so let’s not right him off yet. At the same time, with the money involved at City, you just never know what could happen.
In
Charlie Adam
I’m constantly reading speculation linking Charlie Adam with a move to Merseyside so I thought I’d better comment on it. I don’t feel that Liverpool need to spend lavishly in the centre of midfield. They already have players of the ilk of Lucas and Meireles, while the emergence of Jay Spearing looks promising. That’s not even mentioning the return of Steven Gerrard, who in many ways will be like a new singing for the Reds. Charlie Adam would be a decent signing, fantastic delivery and a wonderful striker of the ball. He could prove very effective from set pieces with the obvious threat of Andy Carroll. Furthermore, I get the impression that he works better under a British manager; surely it must be every Scottish footballers dream to play under Kenny Dalglish?
In
Stephen Warnock
I’m never quite sure if players re-signing for former clubs is a good idea but this one I feel could work. A former academy and first team player, Warnock has a point to prove, his career has progressed nicely, steady development at Blackburn which earned him a big money move to Aston Villa. He has since showed good form there and that form was rewarded with a place in England’s World Cup Squad last summer in South Africa. Warnock is another player with a point to prove, sold by Liverpool nearly six years ago, he will want to return and be successful.
In
Scott Dann
The former Coventry defender has endured a tough end to the campaign as part of the Birmingham City side that capitulated and were relegated on the final day of the season. Dann enjoyed a wonderful first year in the Premier League; his partnership with Roger Johnson at the heart of the City defence was the bedrock on which that brilliant season was built upon. He is now a Premier League Player and won’t want to go back to the Championship. Furthermore he is a Liverpudlian, therefore you get the sense that he fancies this move. No doubt that it would be good business all round.
Out
Joe Cole, Poulsen, Kyrgiakos, Jovanovic, Konchesky.
