Mikel Arteta feels he has a solid defensive midfield at Arsenal, with Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, and Jorginho fighting for the holding midfielder role, and he believes that increased competition for starting places can only makes the Gunners even better.
There’s been a revolution in Arsenal’s midfield. A few weeks ago, Arsenal convinced West Ham to sell them their midfielder Declan Rice, submitting a £105 million offer that the Hammers found too hard to reject.
With Rice joining, there were speculations of Thomas Partey leaving, moving to Saudi Arabia, or joining Juventus; however, nothing came out of those rumours, and he is almost certain to stay. Jorginho was also not long ago linked with an exit from the Emirates; months after joining, Turkish giants Fenerbahce linked with his signature; however, he is also set to stay.
Arteta now has three options for his defensive midfield, which he is satisfied with. Hinting that signing another central midfielder isn’t in his plans, he said (in his press conference for the Crystal Palace game): “To have two excellent goalkeepers is great. Nothing is wrong. We have two great left-wingers, two great strikers, and three great holding midfielders with Jorginho, Thomas, and Declan. That is not a problem, and it should not be a problem.
“We want to be better, and to be better the environment has to change. We tend to always be at a certain level because it is in our nature. When you change the environment to one that you have to be 100% percent every day, the level is going to increase. I have seen that up close with my own eyes, with the players we have now and what we had two years ago. But we have to create that environment.”
Artta certainly seems to be on his way to getting at least two quality players for every position on the pitch. Now it just remains to see them all improve again this season…
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