Which German Players Should Arsenal Be Looking To Sign?

With the arrival of Mesut Özil, the north Londoners have added one to their five German players; Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker, and youngsters Gedion Zelalem, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Eisfeld. Some reports have mentioned lately that the club is interested in adding Marco Reus, Ilkay Gündogan and Lars Bender. The French reign at Arsenal has not yet come to an end, but will the Germans come into the picture and become vital influencers on the English club? 

Setting sight on German talents is definitely a much better idea than focusing on French players, at least for the moment. If they succeed with their pursuits, the Gunners would seemingly be overcoming their previous transfer window failures in the best possible way.  It’s true that Germany has a lot to offer, but where should Arsenal look exactly?

After signing Özil from Real Madrid, the Londoners turned their attention to three other Germans of which Reus and Gündogan are considered two of the best in Germany and play for Dortmund, one of the country’s biggest clubs. However, I think Arsenal got a bit too cocky here and maybe they’d better be patient, take a step back and chase more realistic targets.  Okay, Bender’s pursuit seems more realistic, and that is in fact a very clever choice. So where should Arsenal look in Germany to reinforce their squad?

Arsène Wenger is still doing what he does best; signing young promising players from other clubs’ junior teams and developing them. And he’s now decided to focus on German players, which is good in my opinion. But even so, that’s a long-term solution and fans will have to wait a bit more for outcomes, they’ve been waiting for a long time now, but they could wait a bit more if they know that this time it’s worth it. Also, they’re getting frustrated with trying to sign big names without success.

Instead of going from signing juniors to signing big names, Arsenal can find themselves a middle ground. They can sign potentially outstanding first-team German players who are less expensive than Reus and Gündogan, and at the same time more established than Eisfeld and Gnabry.  Now, I will suggest three of those most exciting German youngsters who could bring great benefits for the Gunners.

•  Striker/Winger: Kevin Volland (21) from Hoffenheim
•  Defender/Midfielder: Matthias Ginter (19) from Freiburg, who is already believed to be on Arsenal’s wish  list
•  Winger: Patrick Hermann (22) from Borussia Mönchengladbach

More about each of these three players and how they would fit at Arsenal will follow in the coming weeks.

Simon Sammour