Injuries, Contracts and the Future of Arsenal

With a 4 day turn around after Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat away to Brighton, fans would have been keen to quickly switch their focus to Southampton as the Gunners search for their first points post lockdown. However, in the brief interlude one press conference and a club statement about contracts have taken all the attention.

During a press conference on Tuesday evening, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta provided updates on Leno, Xhaka, Sokratis and Martinelli. Despite fears that Arsenal’s first choice goalkeeper could be out for up to a year following Neil Maupay’s unnecessary aerial challenge during the Brighton game, Arteta reported that Leno has not damaged any cruciate ligaments and it is suspected that the goalkeeper could resume training as early as 4 to 6 weeks from now. Given Leno’s impressive season, making 113 saves in the Premier League, 2nd only to Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka (119), and paper talk linking Arsenal to out of favour Burnley goalkeeper Joe Hart, it is a massive boost that Arsenal’s number 1 should be fit and ready by the start of the 2020/21 Premier League season. In the meantime it provides an opportunity for deputy keeper Emi Martinez who has started just 6 Premier League games for the club despite being its longest servant. With suggestions that the Argentine is considering a move for first team football, he now has the chance to stake an unlikely claim in the Arsenal team, or put himself in the shop window should he perform well.

Looking at the short term, Arteta reported that Xhaka and Sokratis are back in full training. With Mesut Ozil being left out, Joe Willock still fighting to be in contention and Lucas Torreria a few weeks away from full fitness, Arteta went with a midfield three of Guendouzi, Ceballos and Saka for the game against Brighton. Despite Saka’s impressive performance in an unfamiliar position, the trio left a lot to be desired and Xhaka’s return to the side will be a welcome one. Although he has had his issues in the past, the former captain has been a mainstay ever since he signed in 2016 and it’s hard to argue the current team is worse with him in. With Pablo Mari’s injury sustained against Manchester City, and David Luiz’s red card from the same game, Arsenal’s situation at centre back has been forced with Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding and Zech Medley the only centre backs taken on the Brighton trip. Whilst Sokratis has fallen out of favour at times under Arteta due to his lack of ball playing ability, his return at least gives Arteta another senior centre back and crucially another option should he be required.

With all this positive news, bad new typically followed. Arteta confirmed that in training Martinelli “got hit by another player” and has sustained knee injury with the Brazilian forward expected to be out for “months”. The Brazilian wonderkid has become a fan favourite this season, bursting onto the seen in the cup competitions with his high work rate and goal scoring instincts summed up by his magnificent solo goal against Chelsea in January. Although he has not featured as heavily under Arteta thus far, fans were hopeful he’d have a prominent role in the coming weeks. The loss of Martinelli for the rest of the season, and possibly some of next, is undoubtedly a blow for Arsenal, however it cements another Arsenal prospect’s place in Arteta’s rotation – Reiss Nelson. Nelson was favoured over Pepe during the first few games of Arteta’s reign and despite impressing, he was always going to lose his spot to £72 million pound man Nicolas Pepe. With Martinelli’s injury and Saka’s use in midfield, this could be a now or never period for Nelson to cement his place as an Arsenal player.

The following morning, Wednesday 24th June, Arsenal fans were greeted with more news: contract updates on Dani Ceballos, David Luiz, Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares. It was announced that midfielder Dani Ceballos, on loan from Real Madrid, has agreed to extend his loan until the end of the Premier League season. Following his impressive display against Burnley at the start of the season, comparisons were made to the likes of Arsenal favourite Santi Cazorla. However, since then Ceballos has failed to catch the eye. Although with Arsenal’s current midfield issues, the retention of the Spaniard until the end of the season is a smart decision.

The extension of David Luiz’s contract by 1 year however, is not a smart decision. Much has been said about David Luiz over the years but his substitute performance against Manchester City last Wednesday summed up why he should not play for Arsenal if they are truly aiming to improve. The Brazilian is on enormous wages and even if he has taken a pay cut, is still likely earning more than any other defender at the club. Regardless of what happens next season the deal is incredibly risky financially and will almost definitely cause outrage should Arsenal’s star youngster Bukayo Saka leave the club when his contract runs out at the end of next season. The wages given to David Luiz would be better used to entice Saka to stay at the club. In terms of positives for the deal, it frees up the possibility to sell a combination of Sokratis, Mustafi, Chambers and Holding to raise much needed funds as well as providing an experienced mentor for 19 year old William Saliba. Despite this, the extension of David Luiz’s contract seems like a poor decision.

The signing of Pablo Mari on a 4 year deal is an intriguing one since he has played just 204 minutes for the club before sustaining an ankle injury which will see him miss the rest of this season. The injury has come at a bad time as Arteta had persuaded the board to sign a left footed centre back in January and Mari looked set to play the remainder of Arsenal’s fixtures. From the 204 minutes we have seen of the Spaniard, he has looked composed, good on the ball and a fairly solid defender without being eye catching. Arteta must have been impressed with him in training to commit funds to Mari and the only real question mark is over the fee. Reports of the fee have ranged from £7.5 to £16 million. If the fee is on the lower end, the deal represents a low risk signing for a player Arteta is clearly a fan of. If the fee is on the higher end, it can be argued that Arsenal have spent money on another ‘average’ player who doesn’t really improve the team. Either way the fans should get behind Mari as he’s not put a foot wrong so far and is a player the manager clearly likes.

Arguably the most bizarre of the contract updates, is the signing of fullback Cedric Soares on a 4 year deal. Cedric’s loan spell at Arsenal has been plagued by injury resulting in the player not playing a single minute for the club. Therefore the decision to offer him a 4 year deal seems very strange but as with Mari, Arteta and his coaching staff must have been impressed by him in training. There is potential upside to the deal though as Cedric has, at times, been a solid right back in the Premier League for Southampton as well as winning the European Championships with Portugal in 2016. If Arsenal get the Cedric of 3 or 4 years ago then this deal will have been a huge success. With Hector Bellerin’s injury struggles, Arsenal have used the likes of Maitland-Niles, Mustafi and Sokratis in the right back position so having a natural back up to Hector Bellerin is welcome. Should Cedric return to his best, Arsenal could even decide to cash in on Hector Bellerin in the coming transfer windows to cover the replacements of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil. The keys to the deal are ultimately whether Cedric can return to his form of previous years and how much the Portuguese fullback is earning. With a squad already full of players earning more than they should be, if Cedric has come in on a high wage then Arsenal could have added to their wage problems for another 4 years. The most confusing aspect of the deal is the fact it’s 4 years. Cedric turns 29 in August which means Arsenal will likely see a decline over the latter years of his contract. The hope is that it’s a 3 year deal with an option for the club to extend it for the 4th year.

Overall, the days in between the woeful defeat to Brighton and the fixture against Southampton have provided numerous short term and long term implications for Arsenal. The club is in a difficult situation but at least there is more clarity as to what the team will look like for the remainder of this season and the beginning of next.

Adam Perry - 25/06/2020