Arsenal Transfer News: Midfield Injuries Should Force Club to Add Depth

Arsenal have been questioned for not improving the squad this summer. However, the club might need to complete a transfer at this point just to stay competitive.

While the opening 3-1 loss to Aston Villa to start the Premier League season was bad enough, the club is in worse shape now due to a couple of injuries. Prior to the first match, Arsene Wenger announced that key player Mikel Arteta would be out for quite some time, according to ESPN UK:

Arteta has been an important part of Arsenal's success over the past two seasons, as noted by this graphic provided by EPL Index:

To make matters worse, the manager also stated that young midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would be out for six weeks, according to BBC Sport. The problem is that even the player admitted it would likely be a longer absence from the pitch on his Twitter account:

This is in addition to Abou Diaby, who will be out for most of the season.

Although the club still has a number of quality midfielders on the roster, it is getting harder to complete a first team. There will, all of a sudden, start to have a bigger reliance on guys who should not be in the lineup every match, like Tomas Rosicky—as well as younger players still learning, like Aaron Ramsey.

This will already be an issue in the coming weeks, but things will get even tougher if anyone else gets hurt.

All of this means one thing: The club must work to add another midfielder before the transfer window closes.

Wenger was quite defensive the last time he was asked about potential transfers. According to Sky Sports, he said:

"

I would just like to reiterate to you that in the last 16 years we have been very successful with transfers—if you look at the players who play tomorrow, they are top quality players, and you should never forget that.

It is not always to think what is outside is better than what you have. What is important as well is to rate what you have and our fans have to understand that as well.

"

Obviously, there is a lot of talent on the roster to compete on a regular basis. Unfortunately, these players are dropping like flies, and Arsenal have to find some cover in a hurry.

One target the club has been looking at is Newcastle's Yohan Cabaye, according to David Ornstein of BBC Sport. While the £10 million bid was obviously too low, the recent string of injuries should force management to be more aggressive in the market.

Paul Brown of the Daily Star seems to think the club is reaching that aggressiveness with a £65 million bid for three players, including Swansea City's Michu. Although this also seems absurd, it would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Arsenal need to add midfield help in order to contend for a top spot in the league table. Otherwise, this could end up being a long season.

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