Ask almost any Gooner, and the responses will be overwhelming. Mikel Arteta's midfield fulcrums have served him well this season, but with his engine room options ageing, Arsenal have earmarked reinforcements in the middle of the park as priority number one.
While Jorginho has proven to be an ideal stop-gap signing, the Italian is already well into his 30s alongside Mohamed Elneny, who has been beset by long-term injuries more often than not recently. Both players are out of contract in 2024 too, while Thomas Partey - whose form tailed off towards the end of the season - will turn 30 in a couple of weeks.
Furthermore, Granit Xhaka appears destined to end a turbulent seven years in North London with a summer switch to Bayer Leverkusen, and Arsenal have apparently given him their blessing to leave as they prepare for perhaps their biggest summer splurge yet.
West Ham United's Declan Rice and Brighton & Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo are understood to be Arsenal's top summer targets, and the consensus is that the former will certainly be on the way out of the London Stadium this summer - even David Moyes and David Sullivan have admitted that there is a good chance of a parting of the ways.
Despite Rice's contract situation, Arsenal may still need to break the bank and their own transfer record to win the race for the England international, whose yearning for Champions League football can be fulfilled in the red half of North London.
However, having failed with two January bids for wantaway Brighton star Caicedo - who confessed to wanting to leave the Amex on social media before performing a U-turn and signing a new contract - Arsenal may be given the cold shoulder by the Seagulls in any summer talks.
Whether Arsenal can indeed twist Brighton's arm remains to be seen, and the Gunners have been linked with cheaper, but older alternatives such as Ilkay Gundogan and N'Golo Kante ahead of an imminent midfield revamp, although the latter now seems destined for the Saudi Pro League. body check tags ::
