This Is The One Player Arsenal Must Sanction Transfer For In January

Unwelcome news followed an unwelcome result this weekend for Arsenal, with Southampton breaking the North London club’s 22-match unbeaten run, the agony exacerbated to an extent by star defender Hector Bellerin being wrenched off at half-time.

"Bellerin has a small injury - he is going to be some weeks off I think," Emery told the BBC, but with no new signings in the upcoming January transfer window reportedly forthcoming to the club, as per The Sun, and replacements unflattering to the direction Arsenal are currently taking – the ageing Stephan Lichtsteiner and Carl Jenkinson are the two likely candidates with Rob Holding out for the season - there is no doubt a real concern that there is now a very real area of weakness.

At St. Mary’s Stadium, Bellerin was replaced by forward Alexandre Lacazette at the interval, who admittedly made a startling impact, teeing up Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the Armenia’s second just seven minutes after coming on for the injured right-back.

Despite the recent set-back in their campaign, in many a Gooner mind it seems that Emery has steered a weary Arsenal ship out of the maelstrom that blighted the end of his predecessor's career. However, it fundamentally still reverberates there are still clear echoes of the Arsene Wenger era and that the ‘Emery-team’ has yet to be fully constructed.

Football fans alike, impressed by the way the former PSG manager has guided the club so far, would like to see Emery relatively improve on the shrewd summer signings that saw Matteo Guendouzi and the extremely impressive Lucas Torreira arrive at the club.

To fill in the right-back position – regardless of the extent of Bellerin’s injury - Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka would be an extremely astute purchase. The 21-year-old Englishman has impressed so far in a still undecided season for the Eagles.

The dismissal early on in the campaign for the defender belies an increasing sense of maturity in the young Wan-Bissaka, a bright-spark in a trepidatious latter half of 2018 under Roy Hodgson. A particular highlight was to be seen at Old Trafford, where the England Under-21 contained Anthony Martial, with Palace unlucky to leave Manchester without all three points.

He has featured in 16 out of 17 Premier League matches – the one absence through suspension – but Palace will be certainly be reluctant to part company. With a relegation battle expected by many to beleaguer Palace this season, an attractive prospect not too far away at the Emirates may be enough to turn Wan-Bissaka’s head.

Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi would also be an ideal replacement for Bellerin, though far harder to acquire after the 27-year-old signed a five-year contract the past August. Exploiting the precariousness of Eusebio di Francesco’s tenure with the giallorossi would still take a probable monumental some to bring him to the English capital.