Arsenal’s Trip To Swansea Previewed And New Signing Imminent

It’s back to Premier League action for Arsenal tonight after they came from behind to beat Chelsea and progress to the Carabao Cup Final in their last game. They say a week is a long time in politics and so it seems it is in football too. This time a week ago I could only dream we actually had any real intention to or hope of signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but it appears those hopes and aspirations are about to be fulfilled.

If the reports are true he’s arrived in London to hammer out the final details of his contract and we can expect an announcement of his arrival very soon. Usually we leave our business until the very end of the transfer window, but it appears he could even arrive a day early. I’ve long been an admirer of his and he is certainly an upgrade on any striker we have had in a long time. 

The departure of Alexis Sanchez might have left a hole in the team, but surely the arrival of Aubameyang would more than fill that hole when you consider we have already signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan. It looks like Olivier Giroud could be on the way out when Aubameyang arrives and he could go to either Chelsea or Dortmund. Personally I would prefer if it was Dortmund of course, but I think we have to do everything we can to secure Aubameyang even if that means Giroud ends up at Chelsea.

With the impending news hanging in the air it’s hard to concentrate on the game at Swansea tonight, but it’s something the players have to do. We need the three points from this game and then from our game at home to Everton on Saturday to put pressure on a Spurs team who have some very tough fixtures coming up and a Liverpool team who have had a disastrous week. Fourth place is still not beyond us with the quality we look to have coming in and it could be an awful closer after Saturday’s game with Everton.

We need to get over the first hurdle tonight though and Swansea showed they are no mugs when they put an end to Liverpool’s long unbeaten run last week. They might still be bottom of the table, but they can be hard to beat if we don’t take the seriously enough. Since their promotion a good few seasons ago they have got the better of us far too often for my liking.

I expect to see a pretty similar team to the one that beat Chelsea on display with the exception of Petr Cech returning in goal. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mkhitaryan started on the bench as Arsene Wenger usually likes to ease new signings into the team and Aaron Ramsey will probably have to wait for his turn too. We will have some genuine quality on that bench with those two players and they can both change the game if called upon.

Of course Mesut Ozil is still the player most likely to make that difference for us and we need Alexandre Lacazette to find some goal scoring form again too. The chances are Lacazette could be pushed wide if Aubameyang arrives and I just hope it’s a role he can operate in. We have a shortage of genuine wide players and the inclusion of Lacazette and Aubameyang might just see one of the younger players get a chance in a role where crosses can be whipped in for Aubameyang.

That won’t happen tonight though and we just have to make sure we take the three points home before hopefully introducing the new man to the fans on Saturday evening. I hope all of this activity gives the players a boost and helps them to get the result we quite simply have to get tonight.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.