Most Arsenal fans will have woken up on the morning of Deadline Day, hoping that they’d see Schalke 04’s Julian Draxler make his way to the Emirates, or at least a new striker. Naturally enough, Arsene Wenger confounded expectations, quashed all talk about Draxler and signed a midfielder that nobody was expecting him to sign.
With Arsenal’s best midfielder, Aaron Ramsey out for six weeks, Jack Wilshere nursing a difficult ankle injury and Mathieu Flamini suspended, I’m not surprised that Wenger was looking to add a body to this area of the pitch.
But is the man he went for, Spartak Moscow’s Kim Kallstrom, a good choice?
Time will tell, of course, but I can’t help but feel that this deal is a bit whiffy.
He’s joining the Gunners on loan until the end of the season, so he’s very much a short-term solution. But it’s not clear how much he’ll be able to offer Arsenal over the coming months.
For a start, he’s 32-years-old. He’s not exactly a sprightly young whippersnapper who has been brought in to freshen things up as Arsenal move into the business end of the season. It’s also worth noting that in 18 months with Spartak Moscow, Kallstrom has made just 28 starts.
Oh and to make matters worse, the Swede’s last start for Moscow was 84 days ago. Yes, he’ll be raring to go, but he’s also likely to be a little rusty. With his back injury issues, he’s not likely to feature for Arsenal for a while, any way. Do Arsenal really need to be nursing players back to full fitness at this stage in the season?
Don’t they have enough of their own players struggling to find form and fitness already?
Of course, there are some reasons to be excited. Before moving to Moscow, Kallstrom established himself at Lyon, where he made 269 appearances and found the back of the net 22 times. Whilst that’s not a dazzling return, it’s proof that he can contribute.
The same can be said of his 108 international caps for Sweden. You don’t make that any appearances for an international side without having a certain amount of quality about your game.
Whilst I’m keen to reserve judgement about Kallstrom, I can’t help but feel that Arsenal’s destiny lies in the hands of players like Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla. Let’s just hope that the Swede is able to pick up some of the slack.
What’s your take? Is Kim Kallstrom a good addition to this Arsenal squad?
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ope the boy will judge the critics wrong and deliver