A Progress Report on Arsenal's Summer Signings

We're nearly a third of the way through the season now, so Arsenal's summer signings have had enough time to get fit, settled in and familiarize themselves with their new teammates.

Three of them also featured in Arsenal's crushing loss to Manchester United Saturday, so it's worth looking at how these five new additions to the squad have contributed so far.

Let's take a look at how one of Arsenal's most expensive summers in recent memory has panned out so far.

David Ospina

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David Ospina's progress this season is not measured in contributions on the pitch but rather in how far along he is in recovering from injury.

Ospina returned from the World Cup with a knock that kept him out for several weeks, and he only got to make two appearances before his body betrayed him again.

It only took a half-hour against Galatasaray for him to miss the next three months of football. That's how long he'll be out for after injuring the same knee that caused him problems in the first place, according to ESPN FC.

Hopefully Ospina will be allowed to recover fully this time so he can provide competition and relief for Wojciech Szczesny.

Calum Chambers

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Calum Chambers' dive into the deep end has not always been graceful, but he seems to be swimming quite nicely now.

He looked remarkably solid and mature at center back earlier this season, a position he had almost never played. Overall, Chambers looks like a player several years older than he actually is, with invaluable versatility.

Things have not always gone well for Chambers, however. Swansea's Jefferson Montero absolutely torched him the other week, brutally exposing his relative lack of pace. In time, though, Chambers will learn how to handle those situations.

Mathieu Debuchy

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Mathieu Debuchy added his name to Arsenal's long injury list against Manchester City way back in September.

Arsene Wenger said before the Manchester United match that Debuchy is about three weeks from returning to full training, which will go a long way toward solidifying a woefully unstable back four.

Debuchy only played four games in the Premier League before getting hurt, but he retained most of the stability in both defense and attack that Bacary Sagna offered last season.

He is a much better option than Calum Chambers at the moment, and Arsenal would really benefit from being able to play the Englishman in the center of defense.

Alexis Sanchez

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In a stolid team that has struggled to create chances or put them in the back of the net when they get them, Alexis Sanchez has been a godsend.

The Chilean consistently works noticeably harder than everyone else in both defense and attack, harrying opponents in all areas of the pitch to win the ball back and never standing still when his teammates have the ball.

Alexis needs to rub off on the rest of the Arsenal players, especially the defense. It's scary to wonder where the Gunners might be this season if they had not signed him.

Danny Welbeck

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Danny Welbeck has been a bit hot and cold since arriving at Arsenal, as three of his five goals for the club (in 13 appearances) came in one night against Galatasaray.

Though he does not look uncomfortable in the role, he is not as suited to the target man role as Olivier Giroud is, and that has affected Arsenal's attack this season. While midfielders frequently lobbed balls into Welbeck against Manchester United, he more often looked to run in behind the defense.

That is not bad in itself; Welbeck would just do better in a two-striker system. Whether Arsene Wenger will use such a system (at the expense of one midfielder) now that he has both his strikers fit is an interesting question that will be resolved in the coming weeks and months.

But for now, Arsenal fans can be content with the definite promise that Welbeck has.

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