Arsene Wenger Must Make a Defensive Midfielder Arsenal's Priority in January

To you and me, £20 million is a fortune we'll likely never see. But in the world of football, £20 million is virtual peanuts.

That's why when it was confirmed Arsene Wenger will receive that amount to retool his Arsenal squad in January, per Daily Mirror reporter John Cross, most fans thought it won't be enough. Admit it, you know you did.

Fixing his current squad involves Wenger finding the answers to a pair of key problems. The first is a lack of options at centre-back. The second is the need for a natural, defensive-minded midfielder to protect an often-fragile back four.

Wenger might have to make a choice with only £20 million to burn. But it isn't really a choice at all. A defensive midfielder has to be the Gunners' priority in January.

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Obviously, the recent defensive woes, shipping five goals in two matches against Anderlecht and Swansea City, point to the need for better talent at the back. But that requirement can be fulfilled by the return from injury of right-back Mathieu Debuchy and central defender Laurent Koscielny.

It's no coincidence that Arsenal's defence has floundered while half of the club's best back four has been languishing on the treatment table. However, the end of those issues is now in sight.

Debuchy, a tough-tackling and savvy full-back who's been sorely missed, expects to return next month, per Arsenal.com writer Max Jones: "My injury is now better. I work hard every day with the physio and I want to be back on the pitch in December. I’m looking forward to it."

Wenger recently bemoaned the effect Koscielny's absence has had on the Gunners back line during an interview with beIN Sports (h/t Goal.com reporter Tom Maston):

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We have many shortcomings this season. They are defensive firstly—both the level of experience and absence of injury.

A defence needs the reading of the game, the physical quality and it's also a balance. When Koscielny is not there, we are destabilised. We do not have a balance so we have insecurity all the time.

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Koscielny has been sidelined since the last international break. His ongoing Achilles issue is an obvious concern. But it might not be the worst thing for Arsenal to play a waiting game for the former FC Lorient man.

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By taking some pain now, in the form of a few shaky showings at the back, along with some poor results, the Gunners are banking on long-term gain. Better to have Koscielny fully fit for the second half of the season, rather than letting him struggle through the whole campaign far from his best.

Koscielny's return will mean the resumption of his highly successful partnership with Per Mertesacker. It's a true partnership in the sense that neither man plays particularly well without the other alongside him. Yet together Koscielny and Mertesacker offer the ideal complementary blend of attributes.

On November 7, Wenger suggested it might take Koscielny three to four weeks to get completely right, according to David Hytner of the Guardian:

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He has not started running outside so you cannot think he will be available in two weeks’ time. Then, you have to see how he responds to going outside and running. He is not there yet anyway. He cannot run. He will not be available for three or four weeks.

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Given how much of a difference Koscienly could make, it's worth waiting for. That's because Arsenal's full-strength back four is actually a capable one.

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When everybody's available, Wenger not only has a good starting group, he has more options in reserve. Calum Chambers has struggled at full-back, but the ex-Southampton prospect is a better fit in the middle. That's where his power and combative bravado can positively influence games.

Chambers will provide excellent cover for Koscielny and Mertesacker. A talented youngster such as 19-year-old Isaac Hayden will also help.

Their presence will free up Hector Bellerin, another precocious youth, to be Debuchy's direct understudy. Wenger has trusted Bellerin at times this season and regularly puts him in the matchday squad on the bench.

When Wenger has every top defender available, his squad is well-stocked at the back. There's nothing he can do about the deficiencies until then. But considering Debuchy and Koscielny will be back in time for the winter transfer window, spending money on another centre-back won't seem as important.

Do you really want Mertesacker or Koscielny replaced in the starting 11? If not, then what type of quality do you expect the club to land to play as a fourth choice? That type of thinking leads to Mikael Silvestre and Sebastien Squillaci.

But while Wenger will have choices in defence, the lack of a defensive midfielder won't be solved by players returning from injuries. Even when Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Abou Diaby are fit, the Gunners lack a truly robust, skilled and defensive-minded holding player.

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In fact, they only have bits of one. Arteta is extremely savvy and rarely puts a foot wrong in the positional sense. However, the 32-year-old is not a strong physical presence nor he is athletic enough to quickly cover ground and plug gaps.

Flamini, meanwhile, is a very willing and tenacious tacker. The problem is he's reckless and erratic positionally, something that frequently leaves Arsenal vulnerable.

Of course, Diaby's problems just getting on the pitch are well-known, although certainly not his fault. But on those very rare occasions he is available, Diaby should not be restricted to a deep-lying role.

At his best, he is a powerful box-to-box runner capable of transitioning defence to attack in an instant. His long strides, clever passing and scoring potential are all qualities best served in more advanced areas.

The Gunners don't have what they really need at the base of midfield. That's a natural shield to protect the defence from counter-attacks, who will break up play but still be skilled enough to contribute in Arsenal's possession game. In crude terms, there is no Emmanuel Petit or Gilberto Silva in this squad.

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Wenger has attempted to get by with a litany of like-minded playmakers all able to comfortably maintain and recycle possession. That type of dynamic is still possible, but the regression of Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla has made the death by 1,000 passes approach increasingly risky.

The better strategy is to deploy a stronger base in midfield. That's what Wenger tried with Arteta and Flamini playing together in wins over Burnley and Sunderland.

It's no coincidence that Arsenal kept clean sheets in both games. It's also not a quirk of fate that the dam broke against Anderlecht, and subsequently against the Swans, after Arteta had limped off the field.

That's why Wenger can't wait much longer to finally fix a position that has been in a state of flux for nearly a decade. Without greater protection in front of the back four and more balance in midfield, no new centre-back will solve the team-wide defensive issues that have plagued Arsenal's season.