Arsenal: A replacement and support for Saka

In terms of immediately improving the starting 11, a replacement for the all-but-washed-up Thomas Partey in midfield is the obvious move. He has shockingly been one of the club's most-used players after falling out of favor last season while the team ascended to new heights.

However, the recent injury to Bukayo Saka speaks to a more immediate need: both in replacing Arsenal's best player, Saka, and lessening the minutes load on his legs. He has played at least 75% of the league minutes in each of the past five seasons. Also, he's 23. It's not just that Arsenal need someone to play when Saka is hurt -- they need someone to play so Saka doesn't get hurt.

The problem with teams at Arsenal's level, of course, is that it's really hard to find someone who would be good enough to improve the squad. To my mind, Arsenal and Liverpool are currently the two best teams in the world. At the same time, Arsenal's chance creation from open play has been midtable quality so far, so maybe there's a wider group of attackers out there who could help this team.

I would give Brentford a call and check in on the availability of 25-year-old Bryan Mbeumo (€50 million on Transfermarkt). He's, by far, Brentford's best player, so the Bees might worry about his departure tanking their results, but relegation is still so far away. Perhaps they'd let Mbeumo leave for a premium, and then worry about replacing him over the summer. For Arsenal, he could slide in for Saka and also play with him once he's back.