re: Arsenal's "Things Are Gonna Change, I Can Feel It! (lol, nope)" Summer Thread

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who would we go after to replace 2 starting spots in mid? Cesc should give us a hefty penny to spend on some immediate impact player at least.

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Identifying a player that fits our qualities is hard enough. We could go after Hamsik from Napoli, though I think we will have plenty of options in the team. An option I'd love to have is Javi Martinez, though I doubt he'll leave Bilbao. Nuri Sahin was my ideal replacement, but he went to Real. Kwando Asamoah from Udinese is another option I'd love. Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla is another player who could fill in. A more likely option would be someone like Marvin Martin from Sochaux. He played exceedingly well this year. Alan Dzagoev would be great here as well. Since we are looking to get bigger, Moussa Sissoko would add a lot. Christen Eriksen would be excellent. Ever Banega would be a dream signing, as would Pastore, though he's too expensive. Mario Gotze would be superb. There are plenty of options if Cesc leaves, although none would be immediately as good.

I imagine we'll go with a combo of Wilshere/Ramsey/Diaby/Song/new CM (and perhaps Lansbury) at first. Then we'll struggle because Ramsey likes to play deeper and is less likely to play the final ball, though his distribution to the wings is usually superb. Wilshere might move up higher on the pitch, a role where he might excel.

Tactically we might have a little more leeway, as we moved to 3 midfielders after it became obvious that Cesc couldn't play in a 2 man midfield due to his poor defending and lack of pace(2007-2008 was an anomaly due to the workrate of Flamini combined with the defensive discipline of Rosicky and Hleb). Basically without Cesc we'll be more mobile, which might help our counterattacking game.

As for Nasri, his future is on the wing whether he wants to admit it or not. The game is moving to the wing, players that once played centrally are now being played on the wing. That's where he wants to play, and that's to his detriment. He's excellent when he decides he wants to be on the end of moves, rather than the beginning of them.

I'd hope we get a winger, a real one, and not a converted attacking midfielder. I'd like to see someone like Hazard, Ayew, Gervinho, Menez, Mata, or Cazorla. If Miyachi can get a work permit, I think he'd add a lot to our wings.

So if we do sell Nasri and Fabregas, we might as well embrace our status as the finishing school for raw youngsters who frick off once they begin to look good.