Why this is the man we need to acquire

Now this may not be the most popular of transfer rumours with the Arsenal faithful looking for a Marquee signing, but there is a great deal of sense in a move for Everton’s playmaker Mikel Arteta to replace the departed Cesc Fabregas.

I for one would favour the move and at the end of this read you might be surprised at the compelling arguments in favour.

Arteta like Fabregas was schooled at Barcelona, in his case in the late 90’s. Like Cesc, he too could not make the breakthrough at the Camp Nou, but given his peers at the time there is no disgrace in this.

After a loan spell with PSG, it was at Rangers between 2002 and 2004 that Arteta came to prominence, winning a domestic treble before moving back to Spain with Real Sociedad. The return to Spain was not a great success, so at the start of 2005/06 he returned to the UK, but this time to the Premier League with Everton, where he has played with distinction ever since.

In my view, Arteta is the most similar player to Cesc Fabregas in the Premier League and therefore a totally logical player to slot into the position Arsene Wenger effectively created for our ex-skipper. I was very hopeful that Ramsey could fill this hole behind RVP and I feel he will do in time, but the first 3 games of this season have suggested he is not quite ready for the responsibility full-time.

At 29 years of age, Arteta now has the authority and quality to be the quarter-back of our team, whilst allowing Ramsey to learn from him. It was the same for Cesc learning from Gilberto and Vieira. It is this established star we have been looking for and that we have missed. An old head, in amongst our young talents of Ramsey, Wilshere, Song and Frimpong.

You might say that he is not a star-studded name and not an international, but we all know just how strong the Spainish midfield has been in the last 6 years. Even Fabregas has to make do with star cameos from the bench for his country and I am certain Arteta would have accumulated many caps had he been, for example, English.

Not being Everton fans, his talent and performance levels season in season out may have gone unnoticed, but a close look at his stats are hugely compelling. His assists per game ratio are bettered only by Giggs and Nani amongst current Premier League players. Arteta has 76 assists in 172 games for Everton and many of these have been provided from intelligent through balls and neat incisive passing around the box, in the same style as we had enjoyed with Fabregas. Having seen the awareness and timing of Gervinho’s runs behind defenders in pre-season, this is exactly what we need right now. Indeed, even Cesc cannot match the early success of Arteta in this crucial aspect of the game. Only 2 players have provided 50 Premier League assists in fewer games than Arteta, who did it in 99 games – only Cantona and Nani have reached that landmark in fewer games.

Arteta also chips in with a reasonable number of goals, although he has not hit double figures with his best tally being 9 in the league in the 2006/07 season. However, this is perhaps because he has been more of a provider at Everton, and the high percentage of his assists coming from set plays backs this up. For example, in 2007, he made 23 goals for Everton and 16 came from set-pieces.

Arsenal have been crying out for some consistency of delivery from corners. At present, we have a main goal threat, RVP taking corners as Arshavin and Walcott rarely manage to beat the near post defender – I would see Arteta taking corners from both flanks.

It has been suggested that he is injury-prone, but again this is largely a myth. He has had one serious injury which ruled him out for most of the 2009/10 season, when he only played 13 times in the league. But, in every other full season, he has played between 26 and 35 games from 38.

A strong case so far, but what I feel is most important for Arsenal right now is that Arleta would fit seamlessly into our system and play where Fabregas has starred for the past few years instantly.

He has bags of Premier League experience, is tough in the tackle, has a phenomenal passing range and probably desperate to play in the Champions League. It’s not about signing Kaka for silly amounts of money just to appease the fans and the press it is about rebuilding a team with the correct blend. Arteta is an Arsenal style player and would hit the ground running in a midfield 3 with Wilshere and Song.

He would not cost a fortune, which would suit Wenger, but this is not the reason I am in favour of this player being targeted. He would be the perfect role model for Rambo and Jack, and given our early season form, injuries and suspensions, I truly believe Arteta could provide the cool head and creative spark that we desperately need, and would, in my opinion, have an immediate impact to our season.

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