Exclusive: “The more I see…” – Arsenal urged to make signing to complement new Declan Rice role

Arsenal have been urged to move Declan Rice into a number 8 role in midfield for the long term, meaning a new number 6 signing makes the most sense for the club this summer.

That’s the view of Arsenal FC expert Charles Watts, who has spoken exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column to provide us with some insight into what the Gunners could do in that position in the upcoming summer transfer window.

Martin Zubimendi is mentioned as a long-term target, while Watts also responded to the transfer rumours linking Arsenal with the likes of Youssouf Fofana and Bruno Guimaraes.

Fofana seems set to leave Monaco, according to Watts, who also says he’s a big fan of Guimaraes, even if he thinks the Brazil international’s release clause at Newcastle United could make things tricky.

In general, it seems the important thing for Arsenal is to get the best out of Rice, and so the kind of midfielder the club bring in this summer needs to complement the England international, who has broadened his game a lot under Mikel Arteta this season.

Rice position key to Arsenal transfer targets in midfield

“What Arsenal in terms of their midfield will be one of most interesting aspects of the upcoming summer window. They will certainly have to do some business, given there are doubts over the futures of both Thomas Partey and Jorginho, while the out of contract Mohamed Elneny will certainly leave,” Watts said.

“They have been tracking Martin Zubimendi at Real Sociedad for a while now and he does have quite an attractive release clause, but it is far from clear whether he actually wants to leave Sociedad at this point and other clubs are also interested. So that might not be the easiest deal to do.

“Several other names have been