Arsenal: There are worse ideas than a free Mario Gotze

Arsenal needs midfield help and, all things considered, there are worse ideas than Mario Gotze, who isn’t even technically old yet.

There was a time when Mario Gotze was one of the hottest young players in the world. Back then, Arsenal was linked to him now, but nowadays, Gotze is more of a “what if” situation, not unlike Jack Wilshere. So it only makes sense that the Gunners are linked to him again.

Arsenal is pretty set in two areas. Their attack is coming together nicely with youth and the potential for new additions and their defense, under Mikel Arteta, has proven to be a resurgent positive, not to mention the addition of William Saliba. But the midfield… needs help. And while Thomas Partey is the big fix, smaller fixes will be necessary too.

So, all things considered, there are far worse ideas than Mario Gotze, who would be coming for free, at the ripe age of 27, with a tremendous track record. He’s just begging for a chance for redemption and while that isn’t always an attractive proposition, this time it might be.

Arsenal can do far worse than Mario Gotze

Here’s the thing about Gotze—he’s a creator with absolutely zero risk. He’s free, he’s not old, he’s absolutely the kind of player that we need, we just don’t know how much we can count on him. But seeing as how we’re getting him for free, what’s okay.

Especially if we get a few other options like him on the cheap. Maybe loan in Ceballos for another year, I don’t know. But Gotze is an option that could pan out and even if he gives us 1200-1500 minutes and gets three goals and four assists, I’d take that compared to what we have now.

That’s the thing with Gotze. Even if you take his career average, downfall and all, he still averages 1.6 created chances per match. That would make him the second-best creator at Arsenal behind just Mesut Ozil.

Not such a bad deal considering, let me say this again—he’s free. He still has time too, that’s what has me kind of giddy about it all. If he can find a resurgence in his career at Arsenal, we’ll look like geniuses. The man still has the talent, perhaps all he needs is a little confidence from a well-balanced attack.

All Arsenal has to do is provide him with that. Which might require actual investment, not the free kind.