Arsenal: William Carvalho Is the Answer to Gunners' Midfield Transfer Conundrum

Arsene Wenger has already added two new stars to his squad in preparation for the new season, and speculation is abuzz surrounding another potential Arsenal procurement in Sporting's William Carvalho.

Arsenal have already seen needs met with the signings of Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy.  Now, the squad's most prominent area of doubt lies in the absence of a true defensive midfielder, and if conjecture is to be believed, remedying that void seems to be Wenger's next port of call.

Marc Williams of The Independent reported on Tuesday that Arsenal have made a fresh enquiry for the Portugal international's availability for transfer, having previously been rebuked.

Carvalho makes the fourth midfielder targeted by Wenger thus far this summer.  Most famously, rumours were abound that Sami Khedira would become the fourth German international in four years to move to the Emirates, yet BBC Sport's David Ornstein confirmed any potential deal was off.

"

Arsenal no longer pursuing Khedira but still in market for DMF, will sign GK & probably DF depending on Jenkinson/Vermaelen situations #AFC

— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) July 21, 2014"

The interest in Khedira followed purported activity surrounding Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, as well as Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender.  However, neither affair seems to have gained much traction.

Sky Sports suggested on Tuesday that the Southampton man would prefer a move to the Gunners' foes Tottenham Hotspur, and a reunion with his old gaffer Mauricio Pochettino.  On the other hand, the Bender deal remains a vague possibility, yet with decidedly less media coverage surrounding it than the potential move for Khedira boasted.

Will Arsenal get their man at the fourth time of asking?  Is Carvalho the figure to finally give Arsenal's midfield back its bite and physical prowess that is has lacked, arguably for around a decade?  Most signs certainly point toward this acquisition being the most sensible from Wenger's perspective.

First, the vital statistics.  At 22, Carvalho is a veritable spring chicken coming off a remarkable season for Sporting, in which he accrued an astonishing four Player of the Month awards.  Standing at over 6' 1", the defensive midfielder would provide a distinguished physical presence in Arsenal's midfield infrastructure. 

Regular viewers of the Primeira Liga will cite his remarkable composure on the ball, as well as his anticipation, agility and power in breaking up opposition attacks as being among his strengths.  With a knack for finding men out wide with accurate lofted passes, as well as keeping it simple along the floor, Carvalho is at his best with the ball at his feet having just pinched it from his aggressors.

Being only 22, with just one full year at Sporting behind him, Carvalho's most obvious pitfall would be his relative inexperience, and despite being hotly tipped to feature heavily in a Portuguese charge at the World Cup, he only made two appearances in Brazil—as a second-half substitute against the United States and a full 90-minute turn against Ghana.

Additionally, although sometimes decisive in his actions on the pitch, Carvalho is not totally error-free in his football.  He has been prone to making poor decisions, yet at his age and considering the calibre of his play this past year, his habits can quite easily be coached out of him, with the nurturing that Wenger is known to provide.

The sort of midfield presence that Carvalho could provide—predominantly physical, but with the composure and touch that is a known prerequisite to being a classic Arsenal midfielder—would be a sublime augmentation to Wenger's midfield corps.

At times last season, often when the Mikel Arteta/Aaron Ramsey midfield pivot was absent, Arsenal struggled to keep opposing attackers at bay.  That's not to diminish the fine work Mathieu Flamini cultivated in his returning campaign, by any stretch—more to suggest that without Ramsey in his roving midfield role, the pairing of Arteta and Flamini sometimes lacked organisation or that burst of energy the Welshman so handily provided.

With Carvalho slotting into the midfield, focusing predominantly (but not exclusively) on defensive duties and once acclimated to the Premier League, Arsenal would have on their hands a towering influence in front of the back four.  The Portuguese international would provide the reliability and fortification to complement his centre-backs and his partner in midfield perfectly, allowing his colleagues to focus more intensely on attacking duties.

This sort of permanence in Wenger's midfield is, of course, one that his side has been lacking for some time.

The last specialist defensive midfielder Le Professeur could claim to have within his ranks was probably Alex Song, and even then the Cameroonian was adept in pushing forward as well.  Carvalho isn't too distantly related to Song in facets of his play, which is no bad thing indeed.

The thing is, in today's football, a classical defensive midfielder doesn't really exist or have a particular home in modern formations.  The Makelele role, so called after Claude Makelele, defensively omnipresent in the Chelsea sides of the mid-2000s, defined the position during his stint at Stamford Bridge, yet football has evolved since.

Instead of just sitting back as a withdrawn midfielder, waiting to break up play and maintaining the team's structural integrity, today's midfielders in that sort of position are expected to contribute offensively as well.  Whether that be as a deep-lying playmaker or more of a withdrawn midfielder who can pass and run in the vein of Carvalho is no matter—a specialist defensive midfielder is a seldom-seen quantity in 2014's football climate.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

A Carvalho/Ramsey midfield pairing is a glorious notion. 

Not simply because Arteta, as loyal and devoted as his service to Arsenal has been, is getting on and losing half a yard of pace here or there.  Not solely because Carvalho has the qualities to replace the Spaniard and slot in from opening day.

There's more to it than that—enter, the long-term picture.

At 22 and 23 respectively, Carvalho and Ramsey are prodigiously talented midfielders, coming off breakthrough seasons with their primes a distant speck in the distance.  The pairing has the capability and potential to stitch themselves into the fabric of Arsenal for years to come.

Carvalho may have a hefty release clause (£35 million, per Williams of The Independent), but paying over the odds to secure the future of talented young players is by no means taboo in the financial climate of modern football. 

Some eyebrows were raised two summers ago when Chelsea forked out over £30 million for the signature of Eden Hazard, 21 at the time.  His performances in the famous blue, married with the outrageous potential he possesses, are a prime example of why proactive business of this ilk, for young players, is a shrewd quantity.

More recently, Liverpool stumped up £20 million to secure the long-term services of 20-year old Lazar Markovic, in another instance of proactive transfer dealings having a likely long-term boon for one of Arsenal's rivals.

£35 million is an awful lot of money, but Wenger and Arsenal will have regrets in spades should their interest in Carvalho wane to the point of not making an offer.

This summer has already seen Arsenal make a huge statement to the rest of the Premier League, through their signing of their prized Chilean. 

Securing Carvalho's future and painting it red and white wouldn't just add to that statement.  It would set the Gunners up for a season truly contending for the most prized silverware in both domestic and European competition.

All statistics from Squawka unless otherwise stated.

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