LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 25: Jack Wilshere of Arsenal looks dejected during the Carabao Cup Final between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on February 25, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Arsenal: Jean-Michael Seri to replace Jack Wilshere, not Aaron Ramsey
Arsenal are heavily-linked to Jean-Michael Seri yet again, but don’t worry, this has more to do with Jack Wilshere than Aaron Ramsey. Or at least it should.
Arsenal’s midfield has a lot of pieces in place. Once you fix Granit Xhaka into the middle, all you really need is to flank him with two athletic, able-bodied rovers. That’s what Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey accomplished, to positive effect.
But now there are links to Jean-Michael Seri, Nice’s own midfield rover, and people are questioning who he is meant to replace. Some speculate that he isn’t even needed unless either Wilshere or Ramsey makes way.
If the team is strict about player types and staying true to the trio they are presently building, then there can only be one midfielder that makes way for the Ivorian midfielder, and that midfielder is Wilshere, not Ramsey.
The logic here is simple – Seri is a rover, a box-to-box guy like both Ramsey and Wilshere. But like Wilshere and unlike Ramsey, Seri is better on the ball than he is off of it. Wilshere is a pivot midfielder who drives forward with a quick, determined first step while maintaining possession of the ball.
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That is similar to what Seri does at Nice. He is the centerpiece of their midfield, the guy through which play flows.
Ramsey, on the other hand, has the ability to drive from midfield, but is much better-served in an off-the-ball roll where he has the freedom to go where he wants, make late, menacing runs, and sneak into danger areas.
That isn’t Seri.
So, if we want to do a like-for-like replacement, Seri is more applicable to the role that Wilshere plays, meaning that, if you want to use that as the sole judge of who is staying and who is going, Wilshere goes and Ramsey stays. Which, if I had to pick one or the other, that sounds better.
Not least of all because Seri is even more athletic, agile, and capable to of nicking possession than either Wilshere or Ramsey. And, at just £30m, it’s hard to disagree with this potential move. Unless, that is, you are aware of just how much more sensible getting Max Meyer is.
Regardless, the prototype for this midfield is clear, and the ways to make it better are obvious. Seri is one such person capable of making it better. That said, no matter who comes in, losing Ramsey makes it significantly worse.
