Would this £12m ‘Swiss Express’ be a good fit at Arsenal?

Now that the Gunners’ season has come to a close, Arsene Wenger can start to look to the future. The Frenchman, who is now entering the last year of his Arsenal contract can now figure out how he’ll engineer things so that he goes out with a bang.

The truth is, however, I think it’s clear what Arsenal need if they’re to improve next season: reinforcements all over the pitch.

For my money, Arsenal need an experienced keeper, a right-back, a defensive midfielder and two new forward players. That’s a lot of upheaval, but there are a number of weaknesses in this Arsenal squad that need addressing.

The Gunners’ lack of cut-and-thrust moving forward has been particularly disappointing. Whilst I know this isn’t everybody’s opinion, I view Olivier Giroud as one big, outrageously French flop. Then there’s Gervinho, who only ever seems to bamboozle himself  and Lukas Podolski, who seems to have major fitness issue.

But let’s not forget about Arsenal’s mystery man Bacary Sagna either. The French full-back has gone from being one of the Premier League’s best, to being frustratingly inconsistent. Two leg-breaks in the space of a year seems to have put the dampeners on his career.

Bacary Sagna doesn’t seem to be that effective going forward any more and he’s also let mistakes slip into the defensive side of his game (just ask Robin Van Persie). It strikes me that Arsenal need to let Sagna go and snap up an attacking-minded right-back who can provide better support to the Gunners’ forwards.

Here enters Stephan Lichtsteiner, the right-back that TransferMarketWeb claims Arsenal are after this summer.

At 29-years-old, Lichtsteiner isn’t some inexperienced young buck. He’s a battle-hardened full-back, with experience playing at the top level with Juventus and Switzerland.

He’s better known for the attacking side of his game than for the defensive side of it. He’s even earned the nicknames ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘The Swiss Express’ for his energetic runs down the flank and his fitness levels.

In this sense, he’d be an improvement on Bacary Sagna, who never really breaks into a canter anymore.

Lichtsteiner has earned himself a £12m price-tag, which shouldn’t scare Arsene Wenger away. After all, he spent a similar amount of money on his new left-back Nacho Monreal. If the Gunners do trade Sagna for Lichtsteiner, they’re likely to come back considerably stronger next year.

What’s your take? Would you like to see Stephan Lichtsteiner bombing down the flanks at the Emirates?

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