3 Transfer Targets Who Would Fit the 'Leaders' Tag for Arsenal

In recent seasons, Arsenal have been accused of lacking leadership. It’s easy to see why the charge is levelled at the Gunners: When it comes to the crunch, they have a horrible tendency to choke.

At times it can seem as if the club lacks the sort of charismatic figureheads on the field to help drive the team on to victory. 

After this season’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, former Gunner Ray Parlour lamented to Sky Sports:

"

I didn't see anyone on that pitch demanding more from the players. The big players didn't turn up and at the back they were all over the place.

The most important thing is the leaders. When the going gets tough you need people like that; when I played we had Tony Adams and guys like that demand more from you when you're up against it.

"

Parlour clearly yearns for the days when Arsenal sides were led by the likes of Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira. There simply isn’t that sort of towering presence in the squad at present.

Manager Arsene Wenger does not feel the same way.

Speaking to Arsenal.com in defence of his team’s mentality, he said: "In a collective psyche you always think you need a saviour when you have a bad result. We have won big games this season, many big games with exactly the same players. I don’t feel that I lack leaders."

However, results seem to contradict Wenger’s assertion. If the Gunners are to mix things up and try something new, they may need to add more conventional leaders. In this piece, we identify three potential targets who could fit that particular bill.

Granit Xhaka 

PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty Images

Arsenal know better than most clubs that it’s possible to lead from a young age. Back in 1988, Gunners legend Adams became club captain at just 21. At 23, Granit Xhaka is already the skipper for Borussia Monchengladbach.

Not only is he an intelligent and vocal presence on the field, he is also the natural conductor of the side from his deep-lying midfield role.  

Arsenal are sure to need a central midfielder this summer, with Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky all set to reach the end of their current contracts.

Xhaka would make for an ideal replacement for Arteta—like the Spaniard, he combines disciplined positioning with a metronomic ability to keep the ball moving. 

The player seems interested in the possibility of a switch to the Premier League, having told sport1.de (h/t the Independent):

"

Everybody has a childhood dream, and for me it is England. 

That doesn't mean that I have to or would like to go there—I'm extremely happy here and everything suits me down to the ground—but you do have to take a look around and talk with the club. 

"

Now it seems that Arsenal might be prepared to help Xhaka’s dream come true. Reports from Sky Germany (h/t the Metro) suggest the Gunners are prepared to bid up to £34 million for the Swiss midfielder’s services.

Sign Xhaka, and Wenger won’t just get a cultured midfielder—he’ll get a potential future captain.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

FRANCK FIFE/Getty Images

Arsenal have already come close to signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic once before. Back when the Swede was a talented teenager, he turned down a trial with the Gunners to join Ajax Amsterdam instead. 

Ibrahimovic told Rob Beasley of the Sun:

"

[Wenger] never actually made me a serious offer, it was more ‘I want to see how good you are, what kind of player you are. Have a trial’. 

I couldn’t believe it. I was like ‘No way, Zlatan doesn’t do auditions’.

I thought ‘You either know me or you don’t and if you don’t know me you can’t really want me’.

You see, even back then I had great faith in myself, even though I was still young.

"

That unshakeable internal faith is part of what makes Ibrahimovic an obvious leader.

While he was occasionally petulant in his youth, he has matured significantly and is now the skipper of his national side. He led Sweden through their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and will be wearing the armband again this summer in France—the country where Ibrahimovic currently plies his trade with Paris Saint-Germain.

But for how long? Rumours continue to swirl about his potential departure, and Wenger was recently forced to deny interest in signing the striker, per the Press Association (h/t the Guardian).

The Arsenal manager said: "Look, at the moment, no. We are not on that case. We have other worries at the moment. It’s short-term. We are not on Zlatan’s case. Even at 34, he’s had a great season at PSG."

It would be an unusual move for Wenger to sign a player who turns 35 later this year. However, his numbers are fantastic: 25 Ligue 1 appearances have yielded 27 goals.

If the Arsenal boss does want to address the leadership issue in his squad, then bringing Ibrahimovic in would certainly be one way to do that.

John Stones

Arsenal’s current club captain is Arteta. However, injuries have largely prevented him from competing regularly this season.

In his stead, the armband has predominantly been worn by Per Mertesacker—until recently, that is. In the last few weeks, the lumbering centre-half has found himself dropped from the first team, with Gabriel Paulista coming into the side.

That chopping and changing suggests there could be room for a new signing at centre-half. Controversially, Harry Redknapp suggested in the Evening Standard that it should be Chelsea’s John Terry: 

"

In the summer, City, Arsenal or Manchester United might look at Terry and see the benefit of signing him for a year. Arsenal took Petr Cech, which many people thought inconceivable at this time last year, so why not John as well? He’d walk into Arsenal’s team even now —they need his character.

"

Although Terry is a player with great leadership qualities, it’s impossible to imagine him being accepted by the Arsenal fans.

Instead, perhaps Wenger should look to a player who could one day emulate Terry by captaining England—Everton’s John Stones. 

Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

While Stones’ form has dipped across the course of the season, his potential remains enormous.

Per BBC Sport, Toffees manager Roberto Martinez said earlier in the season that he sees him as a potential national team captain at some stage, and he could prove an ideal long-term successor to Mertesacker.

Steve Stammers of the Mirror suggested the England international was a target for Arsenal last year, and they should consider reviving that interest this summer.

Stones may only be a young player, but he seems to possess a natural authority that would make him extremely valuable to Arsenal.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.