Five January signings that could win Arsenal the Premier League title

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Sergi Samper (Barcelona B)

Sergi Samper has been on Arsenal’s radar for a while now, having made 88 appearances for Barcelona B without breaking into the first team. Given that Barcelona have had Busquets, Fabregas, Mascherano, Xavi, Iniesta and Rakitic to choose from in this area, that is no disgrace. At 20 years old though, Samper and Barcelona will have to make a decision about his future imminently; his age and talent demands that he starts playing first team football soon.

Arsenal and Barcelona have a history of doing business with one and other, and Samper would be a more ‘typical’ Arsenal signing than Wanyama or perhaps Cheikhou Kouyate of West Ham. Samper is an extremely attractive prospect with great scope for improvement. He already bears the hallmarks of a Barcelona product: accurate passing and the confidence and technical ability to retain the ball in tight areas when under pressure.

This is exactly the type of ‘defensive’ midfielder that Arsenal are looking for. They already have an energetic, destructive ball winner in Francis Coquelin. What they lack is a player who can receive the ball from the defence and give Arsenal mastery of the game (Coquelin was improving in this regard). The absence of this player contributes in part to Arsenal’s perceived schizophrenia; often scoring goals in flurries when they are on top in a game but firmly on the back foot at other times. Arsenal also struggle against well co-ordinated pressing (see their recent record against Mauricio Pochetinno’s teams). A player who can play through the press, given that Santi Cazorla is over 30 years of age now, would be a real asset for Arsenal. They just need to hope that Sergio Busquets goes on for ever and Samper gets fed up.