Is Keisuke Honda the Man To Replace Fabregas and Lead Arsenal to Glory?

Arsenal have not had a great start to their season, and have dropped points against West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea and Sunderland, which has left them seven points behind table toppers and current title holders Chelsea. They have a huge task on their hands, and will be boosted by the return to fitness of their captain Cesc Fabregas.

Barcelona made two unsuccessful attempts to secure the services of the Spaniard, but Arsene Wenger stood firm, and convinced Fabregas to stay on for one more season. Fabregas has been frustrated by the lack of titles at Arsenal, and will be relishing the opportunity to return to his homeland.

He has made it clear that he wants to move to Barcelona in the near future, and to win titles with them. Another trophy-less season with the Gunners might be enough to convince that he needs to move to Barcelona in order to win trophies. In the case that this happens, who are the possible contenders to occupy his role in the team?

1. Jack Wilshere

Jack Wilshere has been one of the best players for Arsenal in this season, so far, and already, there are a lot of articles written by my friends on how he could be the natural successor to Cesc Fabregas. Wilshere has shown maturity beyond his years, and is already one of the most important players in the team. But is he the heir to Fabregas?

I have my doubts whether Wilshere can replace Fabregas on a regular basis, and in my opinion, he is best suited in his present role, playing as a deep-lying playmaker. He played as the offensive midfielder, during his loan spell with Bolton, and was influential for the Trotters.

Though he has the capability to play in the role, his lack of physicality makes it easy for defensive midfielders to harass him and in a lightweight team like Arsenal, the young teenager will be targeted, and might struggle to fill the role of Cesc Fabregas.

2. Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri is comfortable playing in the central attacking role and on the wings, but can he be as influential as Fabregas, when the latter does leave? Nasri is a different player to Fabregas, and drifts to the wings to pull the defenders out of position. His trickery and vision is good for beating defenders, but he lacks the precision and accuracy in providing through balls.

He does not take too many long range shots, even if he does have the space; he prefers to drive into the box, but does not do it very frequently. He prefers a square ball, as opposed to providing through balls to the strikers on a regular basis, but I do not deny that he can be a quality player in that role, if he is given freedom and improves over the season.

3. Aaron Ramsey

The young Welshman is one of the most promising youngsters for Arsenal, and has impressive talent. He is a two-footed player, and also can take shots from long range. His passing range is excellent and has great vision and ability in spotting incisive runs and producing defence splitting passes.

In my view, Aaron Ramsey is one of the most complete midfielders at Arsenal, and could have been the natural successor to Fabregas, if not for the horrific injury he sustained in February due to a horrific lunge by Ryan Shawcross, which has kept him out for more than nine months.

If not for that injury, he would have played in a number of games, which would have helped his development. Unfortunately for him, he has to start afresh and it will take time for him to reach the stage to where he was before the injury.

If Fabregas does leave next season, it will be too soon for Ramsey to be considered as a serious option for replacing him, which is why I still get annoyed whenever I am reminded about that terrible tackle by Shawcross.

4. Keisuke Honda

All the players mentioned above are current Arsenal players, but in my opinion, Arsene Wenger needs to take a bold decision and splash the cash to secure the services of Keisuke Honda, as soon as it is possible. Wenger was impressed by what he saw from Honda in the world cup, and labelled him as the best player in the world cup.

Honda was exceptional for Japan, and carried them, almost single-handedly to the knockout phase. He is a versatile player, who is comfortable playing as a second striker or as an attacking midfielder. Though he is a different player to Fabregas, he has the attributes need to be a success at the Emirates. 

He is a hardworking player, and tracks back to defend well, which is a quality that Arsenal need, because they do not defend well as a team. He also has the pace to be a threat on counter-attacks, and also, he has good passing range and vision. Honda is also a very strong lad, and can adjust to the physicality of the Premiership.

He has scored some sensational goals fro his previous clubs and Japan from long range strikes, and can provide an extra dimension to Arsenal in that regard. Also, he is an excellent free-kick taker, and being left footed, he offers a good option for Arsenal.

In the World Championship in South Africa, not many goals were scored from free-kicks, but Honda scored a stunning goal from a set-piece situation for Japan to take the lead against Denmark, in a game they eventually won.

It might not be a bad decision for Arsenal to attempt to sign the Japanese playmaker, currently plying his trade with CSKA Moscow, during the upcoming January transfer window as it will bolster their attacking options. But if not, then Wenger, who has expressed his admiration for the 24-year-old playmaker, should attempt to sign him in the summer.

Arsene Wenger's Options On Replacing Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal 

Cesc Fabregas' sale will bring a lot of cash to Arsenal, and Wenger should spend it on players like Keisuke Honda, who have impressive potential to be a success for the Gunners. At the moment, the other options are: Yoann Gourcuff, Mesut Ozil, and Riccardo Montolivo.

Both Gourcuff and Ozil have only just been signed by Lyon and Real Madrid on long term contracts, and it will take a huge sum of money to sign them, and in my opinion, Honda could be a better option than Montolivo.

Wenger could also trust Nasri/Wilshere/Ramsey to do the job for him in the absence of Fabregas and use the money from the resulting sale to contribute to the profits for Arsenal, but it would only leave Arsenal supporters frustrated. He needs to invest the money available to him on buying a quality defender and bringing in reinforcements when they require due to injuries.