The easy answer to the question in the title is to say yes, any player of the calibre of Alexis Sanchez obviously fits into Arsenal’s lineup. The real questions are how and where.
The rumoured transfer of Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal has many fans salivating; the thought of adding a player of Sanchez’s calibre to the Arsenal attack is enough to make any fan excited. That the move would represent a complete change in transfer strategy from Arsene Wenger gives Arsenal fans reason to hope that this will be the year the team finally takes care of their business in the summer in order to launch a real challenge on the Premier League title this season. Rather than waiting until late August to conduct any business (aside from the usual signing of a few 15/16 year olds to the youth team), it appears, with the seemingly imminent signings of Right-Back Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle and Sanchez from Barcelona, Wenger is getting his business done early, and in doing so, addressing his needs with the players he wants.
However, the potential signing of Sanchez raises more questions than answers regarding Arsenal’s transfer activity and play on the field. The key question in the signing of Sanchez is where does Wenger intend to play him? Depending on the answer to that question, a number of other questions arise.
If Sanchez is brought in to play on the wing, as he typically does for Barcelona, then is Wenger still in the market for a striker? The Arsenal fan base has spent almost 2 years since the departure of the traitor who shall not be named, clamouring for the signing of a world class striker. Olivier Giroud, always the subject of debate, has actually been fairly good for Arsenal, but even if Arsenal had Zlatan at striker no team can go through an entire season with only one first team quality striker and expect to challenge for the title. So if Sanchez is going to play on the wing, what is Wenger going to do at striker?
If Sanchez is brought in to play on the wing, what does that mean for Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott, the men who most often man the wide midfield positions for the Gunners? According to WhoScored.com, every single appearance Sanchez made for Barcelona last season was on the right wing. Similarly, every appearance Walcott made for Arsenal last year was at RW. Cazorla meanwhile spent time at both RW and LW, making 21 starts on the left and 9 on the right. Assuming Wenger wants to play Sanchez and Walcott at the same time (which he should), it’s possible that either Walcott or Sanchez could be played on the left and I can’t recall ever seeing either of them lined up on that side.
Competing in the Premier League, Capital One Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League requires squad rotation, there simply aren’t enough games to rotate Sanchez and a healthy Walcott in the same position. Arsenal’s best attack would see both of them on the field. Simply the thought of having Ozil playing centrally, feeding through balls to Sanchez on one wing and Walcott on the other should be enough to make Premier League defenses tremble, but again, neither has ever consistently been played on the left.
It’s also possible that Wenger is indeed bringing Sanchez in to be a striker. Playing for Chile in the World Cup, Sanchez has been played as part of a two-striker partnership, but even then he still tends to play as a wide forward rather than centrally, as evidenced by his average positions against Australia, Spain and the Netherlands. Only against Brazil did Sanchez play more centrally, but that may have had more to do with Chile adopting a more defensive style of play.
The idea of Sanchez as a striker brings up even more questions, while failing to address the issue of depth. The most likely scenario involving Sanchez as a striker involves a tactical change to a two-striker system in which Sanchez would (likely) be paired with Giroud. Whilst an intriguing tactical option, it again leaves Arsenal without a viable secondary option at striker aside from Yaya Sanogo, who is clearly not ready to be a regular Premier League contributor. The alternative in this scenario is that Wenger plans to use Sanchez as a lone striker, though that seems incredibly unlikely.
It seems like the most likely lineup would have Walcott and Sanchez on the wings, with Giroud as the lone striker in the middle.
Regardless of where Wenger plans to field him, signing Alexis Sanchez has to be seen as a major coup for Arsenal. That being said, it doesn’t seem as if this potential signing fills any of the dearest needs for Arsenal. Sanchez does not, as it stands, play at Centre-Forward, holding midfielder, Right-Back, Centre-Back or Goalkeeper. Arsenal will surely be better off signing him than not and a signing of this magnitude will hopefully signal Wenger’s intentions to get his business done early this transfer season, but it had better not be the last business the team does otherwise Arsenal will again find themselves battling for fourth.
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