Granit Xhaka Is Solid Addition but Arsenal Now Need an Elite Player

Amid discussion of Jamie Vardy’s apparent decision to reject Arsenal’s overtures, it’s easy to forget that the Gunners have actually made a strong start to the transfer window.

According to David Ornstein of BBC Sport, the Leicester City striker is set to turn down the opportunity to move to the Emirates Stadium in favour of staying with the English champions.

The prospect of missing out on Arsene Wenger’s first-choice striking target has understandably frustrated some Arsenal fans. However, it should not be forgotten that before Euro 2016 even kicked off, the Gunners boss secured an impressive early signing: Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka.

Xhaka has been one of the standout performers of Euro 2016’s group stage. The biggest surprise has been that not everyone has been impressed. Former Celtic and Bolton Wanderers manager Neil Lennon told the BBC (h/t Evening Standard): “I've not been that impressed. [Xhaka] is alright. He reminds me of Charlie Adam.”

The comparison of the Arsenal new boy to, of all things, a Stoke City player has understandably riled Gunners fans.

However, Lennon’s assertion seems to say more about his capacity to judge talent than Xhaka’s own ability. The former Northern Ireland international is certainly in the minority, as the aggressive midfielder was named man of the match in both of Switzerland’s first two matches of the tournament. In the third group game, he came up against a top-class side in hosts France—yet he was equally as dominant.

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According to MailOnline, by the half-time whistle, Xhaka had made 48 passes—twice as many as any individual France player. He regularly took the ball under pressure from opposition midfielders, using his quick feet and brain to turn away from his markers and distribute the ball efficiently.

Arsenal have bought a midfielder who seems to relish responsibility. The fact he finished the match with his shirt torn to pieces illustrates the lengths to which the French had to go to try and contain him. 

There will be considerable excitement about seeing Xhaka ply his trade in north London. However, he does not represent the final piece in the Arsenal jigsaw.

Per Tencent Sports (h/t Evening Standard), Wenger has admitted his transfer business is not yet over: 

"

We've already bought one player – Granit Xhaka – from [Borussia] Monchengladbach, because we've lost three players. We've lost [Mikel] Arteta, we've lost [Tomas] Rosicky and [Mathieu] Flamini. 

So we've bought one midfielder and we're still in the market to buy one or two more players.

But it is not easy. It is not just buying. We also have to keep a good balance. If you buy too many players you destabilise your team. So three is the maximum.

"

One of those players, it seems, will be a new centre-forward. Wenger probably moved for Vardy because he thought the deal would be expedient—the player has a £20 million release clause, and the Gunners boss understandably assumed he would be keen to jump from Leicester to a club of Arsenal’s size.

That transfer may appear doomed, but it won’t halt the Gunners' search for a new striker. A centre-forward was likely already on Wenger’s shopping list before an injury to Danny Welbeck determined he would miss most of the 2016/17 campaign. Now it’s an absolute necessity. 

While missing out on Vardy would be frustrating, it might also prove to be a beneficial thing in the long run. In some respects, the Leicester man appeared a signing of convenience. His release clause makes him an affordable option, but doubts persist about his ability to solve Arsenal’s striking problems.

First of all, he is 29. His career may be at its peak, and he may be about to enter a decline. If Vardy were to lose his pace, much of his threat would disappear. It would not be a signing with significant long-term benefit. 

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Secondly, there is a question mark over whether his style is quite right to mesh with Arsenal’s. England’s most recent match against Slovakia, in which Vardy started, demonstrated the issue.

Roy Hodgson’s men came up against a tightly packed, deep-sitting defence—the precise strategy the Gunners have been frustrated by time after time. Denied space to dash into, Vardy cut a frustrated figure.

Arsenal may need to bounce back from their disappointment at missing out on Vardy by setting their sights even higher. This is the time for them to move for an elite player. In the past, they’ve managed to lure the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to the Emirates Stadium. They need to do all they can to buy in that bracket again.

Alan Shearer, who knows a thing or two about scoring goals in the Premier League, believes a world-class forward is what’s needed to help Arsenal end their long wait for the biggest prize in English football. He told the BBC’s Match of the Day (h/t MailOnline) that Arsenal “won't win the league until they sign a top-class, world-class striker, who can get 25 or 30 goals a season.”

That may have to be a player with a more varied set of attributes than those Vardy possesses. Certainly, he is not quite in the same calibre of striker Arsenal have been linked with in the recent past. In 2013, the Gunners were extensively associated with a bid for Gonzalo Higuainby the likes of Sid Lowe of the Guardian. Later that summer, there was an ill-fated approach for Luis Suarez.

Suarez, now of Barcelona, is obviously out of reach. However, Higuain needn’t be. After three successful seasons in Serie A, there are whispers, per La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t The Independent), that he could be ready for a move. 

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Alternatively, others stars are exploding on the Euro 2016 stage. Alvaro Morata is joint-top of the competition’s goalscoring charts with three goals for Spain.

Real Madrid have activated their buyback clause on the gifted forward, and according to John Cross of the Mirror, the Spanish club is investigating the possibility of immediately selling him on for a significant profit. Unsurprisingly, Arsenal are understood to be among the interested teams. 

A player from that bracket would surely force Arsenal to shatter their transfer record of £42.4 million, but that may simply be the price the Gunners will have to pay to land a forward of the requisite quality.

The addition of Xhaka will help them to control games, but they need someone with the ruthless streak required to help them win them.

After years of waiting, Wenger must finally land the elite striker he needs. With his contract set to expire in a year’s time, this could be his last chance to do it.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2016/17. Follow him on Twitter here.