Mohammed Kudus Arsenal transfer makes perfect sense as Mikel Arteta must find dream wide option

One of the key positions that Arsenal should be looking to strengthen this summer is in the wide areas. While the central midfield is understood by football.london to be the position of priority in this transfer window, it is paramount to Mikel Arteta’s title hopes that all areas are covered in terms of having a key competitive option.

The reason for its importance lies in the burnout and general rotation need surrounding Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal talisman is widely considered to be overplayed and too heavily relied upon without meaningful options to replace him in the side.

On the occasions where he has not been ready, Arsenal have used Gabriel Jesus in the 1-0 win over Manchester City and on the final game of the campaign against Everton they started Gabriel Martinelli in the role. Both games were won, but it was evident the style of Saka was missing.

Finding an option to bring in this summer is very difficult and that has been highlighted in the interest in a number of potential options. Most recently, Johan Bakayoko has been of reported interest of Arsenal but there are questions on the player’s side whether there would be enough available minutes in north London considering Saka’s presence.

Bakayoko is a left-footed right winger, the perfect match to replace Saka. However, what he lacks is the versatility to play other roles. In fact, he hasn't played outside of right-wing for around two whole years and has only a handful of senior experiences away from the right flank.

It is therefore key that Arsenal look to a player who can play across the front line so that the project they sell is not solely in competing with one of the most guaranteed starters in the Premier League. This is why I am surprised that so far West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus has not been mentioned.

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It was understood by football.london that there was an interest in Kudus last summer before he made the switch from Ajax to east London. Arsenal simply did not have the financial freedom to compete for a deal after already spending more than £200million on Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice, and Kai Havertz in addition to the loan signing of David Raya.

The £38million deal turned out to be one of the bargains of the summer and the Ghanaian international went on to contribute 14 goals and six assists in his debut season for the Hammers. This included a goal against Arsenal as West Ham knocked the title chasers out of the Carabao Cup in the fourth round.

During the campaign, where he made a few appearances for Ajax before the switch, he played the majority of his games (25) on the right. However, he added a further 10 appearances on the left flank, eight in attacking midfield and even three as a centre-forward.

If there is one word beyond talented to describe Kudus, it is versatile. Therefore if there is a chance that Arsenal could make a move for the former Eredivisie star, they should not be wasting any time whatsoever – sadly there has been very little to suggest this might be the case so far.