Arsenal Transfer Prospects: Analyzing the Pros and Cons of Signing Blackburn’s Phil Jones

The Gunners have endured six long years of trophy drought and their frustration is also shared by the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who will look to strengthen his team by bringing in some additions to the squad. There have been a number of rumours linking some of their players to depart the club and Wenger would like to sort most of the deals before the pre-season starts.

Arsenal’s main problems in recent seasons has been their defence which has not been solid and this year, defending from set-pieces was particularly awful as the Gunners conceded a number of soft goals. Wenger will look to bring some taller players into the squad in order to mix it up and will hope that their defending is better next season.

The Gunners’ attack also did not fire towards the end of the season which is why Arsenal are linked with the likes of Karim Benzema and Gervinho. However, the defence presents a bigger problem for Arsene Wenger’s team who struggled in 2010-11 season although their best centre back Thomas Vermaelen was not present for most of the season.

However, it is not only the back four which has to be blamed for Arsenal’s shoddy defending as many of the attacking players have not aided in defence and also, the team’s average height is quite low which is another reason for their poor defending from set-pieces. As a result, Wenger has been looking to strengthen the team’s defending and he would prefer signing a defender who can cope with physicality of the Premiership and also, look for players experienced in the EPL.

One of the players who has been linked with a move to Arsenal in the summer is Blackburn’s promising youngster Phil Jones, who can play as a centre back or in the defensive midfield role. Wenger is a manager who is renowned for developing youngsters and could be interested in signing the Blackburn defender.

Phil Jones, who is only 19 years old, has been one of the best performers for Blackburn this season and will not come on a bargain for the Gunners. Arsenal should beat competition from many other clubs if they are interested in signing the England youth International. This article is on the advantages and disadvantages of signing Blackburn’s Phil Jones.

Advantages

Phil Jones is experienced in the Premiership and has made over 30 league appearances for the club despite only making his debut towards the end of the 2009-10 season. He has performed excellently against tough oppositions like Manchester United and Chelsea and looks destined to move to a bigger club in the future.

At a height of 6’ 2”, he possesses excellent aerial ability in addition to being decisive on the ground and also has decent technique on the ball. He has played as a defensive midfielder in a number of games for Blackburn and has displayed his battling qualities in the middle of the park and also, he showed that he can be adept with his passing and technique for a midfielder.

Arsenal do not have depth in the defensive midfield role with Alex Song the only natural holding midfielder in the squad. Though Abou Diaby can play in the role, he is not suited to the role and is better when he is proved with the freedom to surge forward from midfield. Though Song is currently not in the Cameroon squad due to off-field issues, there is every possibility that he could be in the squad for the African Cup of Nations which could mean he miss matches in January and February.

Jones is comfortable in the role of the holding midfielder and can be used in the role in the absence of Song. Also, he provides additional presence for set-pieces which will undoubtedly help the Gunners. Though his overall game can still improve, he certainly has shown a lot of potential and can go on to be an excellent ball-playing centre back in the future.

With Sebastien Squillaci being unimpressive in his first season at the club, there is a good possibility that he could be shipped out to accommodate new arrivals. Though Johan Djourou had a good 2010-11 season, he is still prone to errors and suffers from inconsistency. Laurent Koscielny had an extremely shaky start to the season but has also shown a lot of promise for the future and it is expected that he will have a better season next year when he is well accustomed to the Premiership.

Disadvantages

As is the case with many Arsenal targets, he could prove to be quite costly and though Wenger has said that Arsenal have the financial capability to make big signings in the summer but it is doubtful as to whether he will spend as much as the £15 million reported in the Mail to secure his services. Wenger has admitted he needs to bring in experience to bolster the squad and Jones does not fit the bill in that respect having played only 35 games for Arsenal.

Also, it is doubtful whether Jones will be the first choice centre back alongside Thomas Vermaelen because he is inexperienced at the highest level and Laurent Koscielny has shown a lot of promise in his debut season. The Blackburn defender could however be an excellent back-up and add quality depth to the squad.

If a youngster like Phil Jones, it could possibly mean the departures of promising youngsters Kyle Bartley, who was impressive on loan this season, and Ignasi Miquel who will enjoy lesser playing time. Bartley in particular has shown that he can be a part of Arsenal’s first team in the next season and he can also play as a defensive midfielder.

 

However, Phil Jones is considered to be a better talent and has been touted to be one of the best defenders in the future. Arsenal would certainly benefit by having a promising youngster like Jones in their team and the England U-21 player would certainly improve Arsenal with respect to dealing with set-pieces along with providing more depth and competition to the squad.

Manchester United signed Chris Smalling from Fulham for around £10 million and though it was too much at that time, Smalling's performances have meant that United have made an excellent investment for the future. Similarly, the spending on Phil Jones could prove to be an important investment for Arsenal who need to sign quality players in order to end this frustrating title drought.

English players are generally over-rated and cost much more than their counterparts in foreign leagues which is why Jones might cost more than his market price. However, if it is possible for Wenger to sign the defender at a price which is affordable, then he should make efforts to sign the Blackburn defender who could be a future England International.

If interested, read Arsenal Transfer Prospects: Pros and Cons of signing Falcao, Ricky Alvarez, Scott Parker and Gervinho in this series of Arsenal Transfer Prospects

Arsenal Transfer Prospects: The Pros and Cons of signing Christopher Samba

Arsenal endured a frustrating night against Ipswich Town as they lost to the Championship by a goal to nil and will have to be more consistent. They still have the second leg of the Semi-final at the Emirates where one can expect the Gunners to dominate considering it will be a slick surface and with the support of the home fans, the Gunners could yet feature in the Final.

Arsene Wenger has made it clear that he needs another centre back in January to ease the pressure on his defenders because of the long term nature of the Achilles injury to Thomas Vermaelen. They have been linked with many centre back including the likes of Per Mertesacker and Gary Cahill but the French tactician has admitted that he would prefer if the defender was playing in the English Premier League.

Djourou has been in excellent form this season but the problem is that it is still a risk to play him three times a week because he was injured for over a year. He has already played three games in the last week which means that there is a good chance that he could be rested before the important Premier League game against West Ham United. If that is the case, young Ignasi Miquel will start for the first time for the Gunners alongside Laurent Koscielny who has been impressive in the last few weeks.

The Gunners are clearly short of numbers at the back and Arsene Wenger has admitted that he will look for a defender in January to ease the pressure on Johan Djourou. Arsenal have been linked with a number of centre-backs including the likes of Per Mertesacker and Gary Cahill. However Wenger could also make a move for Blackburn defender Christopher Samba who wants to leave the club following the departure of Sam Allardyce.

Samba will cost the Gunners in the region of £8 million and will be allowed to leave the club. Blackburn could be tempted by offering one of Jay Emmanuel Thomas or Carlos Vela on loan in addition to the cash in order to secure the services of the physical defender. Let us analyse what are the advantages and disadvantages of signing the former Hertha Berlin defender.

Advantages

Samba is only 26 and is certainly one of the most consistent performers in the last few seasons in the Premiership. The defender has decent pace and has also been rated highly by many experts and managers. He has immense physical presence which Arsenal have lacked in the recent past and is a no-nonsense defender. The Blackburn defender is also experienced in the Premiership and his battling qualities could be important for the Gunners.

In addition to this, he was Blackburn’s Captain until recently and has got good leadership at the back. He has got enough experience and can command the backline. Arsenal have conceded a number of goals from set-pieces and this is where Samba will help the Gunners improve drastically as he will win a number of aerial battles. He is also a goal scoring threat on set-pieces and Arsenal have not scored too many goals from set-pieces although they have Robin van Persie who can deliver the ball brilliantly into the area.

Disadvantages

Though the Blackburn defender offers a lot of physical presence and is good in dealing with set-pieces, he is not the best reader of the game. Also, he has not played for a top European club and he might be exposed in high profile Champions League matches. The former Hertha Berlin defender could struggle to cope with the intricate play of many quality teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid in the European competitions.

Christopher Samba does not have great technical ability and the Gunners style of play requires the defender to bring out the ball from the back and they have defenders like Vermaelen and Koscielny who are capable of doing that. However that will not be a problem since all other defenders at Arsenal have the ability to do so and Samba could be asked to stay back and do the defending.

Will Arsene Wenger spend £8 million on Christopher Samba?

The French tactician is a person who does not spend much on the transfer market unless there is a necessity to do so. In this case, Arsenal do need a solid defender but when Vermaelen does return from injury, Arsenal could have four fit centre backs without any new defenders which would mean very less playing time for some of the defenders. Vermaelen is the established defender while one amongst the rest will partner him.

If a new defender of the quality of Christopher Samba is signed, it does signal the end of Sebastien Squillaci’s Arsenal career because the Gunners will have four young defenders while the club also has some talented youngsters like Ignasi Miquel. The question is whether Wenger will spend the money required to buy Samba who is essentially going to be the fourth choice defender when all the others are fit. Having said that, Samba is a player who could add a lot to the Gunners and could be extremely effective in many games in the Premier League.