Recruiting Declan Rice from West Ham United earlier this year has proved to be one of Arsenal's biggest transfer masterstrokes of recent times.
The Three Lions international has been instrumental to Mikel Arteta's midfield plans and this was no more evident during the Gunners routine 2-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium just this weekend.
With club captain and king of pulling the strings Martin Odegaard at the top of the pitch, it is Rice's sheer knack to win the ball back that allows Arteta's side to be both so progressive and clinical at the top end of the pitch so far this season.
But what if Declan Rice had someone that made his life on the pitch so much easier? We saw at the World Cup and the European Championships how beneficial a Kalvin Phillips-ilk of player can be to the former Hammers man, and, if rumours are true, Arsenal are beginning to line up the perfect player to play alongside him.
Most wouldn't argue against the fact that Unai Emery and his Aston Villa side have been the most impressive team so far this season, posting home wins over both Manchester City and Arsenal in recent weeks at Villa Park.
Instrumental to those wins is a certain midfielder named Douglas Luiz, who, ever since his departure from the Etihad, continues to go from strength to strength for the Villans. Rumoured to now be of interest for his former club and for Arsenal too, it's a transfer that personally, doesn't make financial sense given Rice's arrival earlier this year.
Likely to cost, as mentioned, upwards of £100million, Edu and his team would have to raise a serious amount of cash in player sales to offset the potential transfer of a third midfielder after Rice and Kai Havertz both arrived at the club for big money deals this summer.
Under contract in the West Midlands until 2026 too, the more digging you do seems to point at the fact that Arsenal will likely turn their attention to strengthening the forward department, given the workload so far shared by Eddie Nketiah and the often injury-stricken Gabriel Jesus.
Furthermore, the Gunners are also said to be interested in Portuguese talent Goncalo Inacio in a deal that could cost the club upwards of £60m during the summer months.
Meanwhile, Arsenal suffered a hammer blow when new signing Jurrien Timber injured his ACL in their opening-day victory over Nottingham Forest but it seems plans are already being made for next summer.
Goncalo Inacio is a player capturing attention across Europe with the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and others already keeping close tabs on the 22-year-old talented defender.
In our eyes a move, which is reportedly being prepared according to the Portuguese media with Arsenal 'ready' to trigger the player's release clause, makes perfect sense given the transformation and upward rise seen by William Saliba ever since he returned from his loan spell with Marseille earlier this year.
Jakub Kiwior is another who should take note and see the plan Arteta is trying to lay out for these players who are all at the perfect age to provide a real solid foundation for the Gunners' backline across the years to come.
Should Edu and co bite the bullet so to speak and bring in the Portuguese international in the summer, chances are that could then end Cedric Soares's time at the Emirates, as his future again looks more and more bleak as the weeks pass by.
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