Ozil and Ramsey out, £76million midfield duo in: Arsenal’s much-improved XI if Unai Emery lands top January transfer targets, including Juventus star

Arsenal look to be set for a genuinely busy January transfer window, which is certainly not always the case for the notoriously frugal north London giants. Still, needs must, and Unai Emery has a big job on his hands to get this current squad into the top four by the end of the season.


The Spanish tactician inherited a troubled squad from Arsene Wenger in the summer, but made some decent summer signings by bringing in Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi.

Others like Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Stephan Lichtsteiner have not been quite as impressive, so more spending is surely needed to sort things out.

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Luckily, talk over new signings is really gathering pace, with the player attracting the most attention probably Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez.

Sport claim the Spain international has agreed personal terms with the Gunners after talks with Emery, whom he played under at Sevilla.

Valued at around £20million, according to the Guardian, Suarez could well end up being a real bargain for Arsenal if they can this deal done.

Denis Suarez could be heading from Barcelona to Arsenal

This is because Emery has a problem in midfield, with Aaron Ramsey looking set to leave either this month or in the summer as he nears the end of his contract.

The Wales international will no doubt be a big loss, but Suarez could be a fine like-for-like replacement as a versatile midfield player comfortable in either penalty area and also pretty handy as an option out wide.

The latest from Ramsey is that he could well make the move to Juventus this January, though that would likely require defender Medhi Benatia being included in the deal, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, as translated by the Daily Mail.

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The Morocco international could be a fine addition for Arsenal given their defensive problems mentioned above, so the club could do well to allow that exchange to happen.

The 31-year-old may have fallen out of favour at Juve in recent times, but he’s long been one of Europe’s finest central defenders and could surely do a better job than the likes of Shkodran Mustafi, even if he’s slightly past his peak.

Finally, Don Balon are going strong on James Rodriguez being a priority transfer target for Emery in what would be a superb move.

James Rodriguez to leave Bayern Munich for transfer to Arsenal?

The Spanish outlet, known for some occasionally outlandish claims, have reported several times of the Colombia international being eyed up by Arsenal, and in fairness, this makes sense given the Mesut Ozil situation at the club.

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The German playmaker is no longer a regular at the Emirates and faces an uncertain future, with Don Balon noting Rodriguez is Emery’s preferred target to replace him, and that he’d cost around £56m – a pretty good price for a player of his quality, even if he has struggled somewhat in recent times at both Real Madrid and loan club Bayern Munich.

If these moves all go through, here’s a look at a much-improved XI Emery could field in the second half of the season in that hunt for a Champions League place…

 Arsenal XI after January transfer window changes?