With the Premier League fixtures having now been released, the countdown to the new season is officially on.

Of all 20 clubs, few have been handed a trickier start to the campaign than Arsenal, who will begin the new season against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 17 August.

After that, they also face Liverpool at Anfield, Manchester City at home and Newcastle at St James’ Park, all in their first six fixtures, so Mikel Arteta will be extra-eager to get his new signings in quickly, so could it be all change in his midfield department?

Arsenal targeting a new midfielder

While the Gunners desperately need to add in attack this summer, they are not neglecting their midfield either, with Martin Zubimendi ready to be announced as a new signing from Real Sociedad.

The Spaniard has been in London over the week to finalise his switch to the Premier League side and he could be joined in the English capital by another midfielder.

According to a report by TBR Football, Arsenal have ‘made an enquiry’ to Paris Saint-Germain, as they target a move to sign Warren Zaïre-Emery.

They cite Thierry Henry, who managed the 19-year-old with France’s youth teams, who asserts that “the sky is the limit’ for the “magnificent” midfielder, adding “I have never seen a player that young so mature”.

The French international, who joined PSG as an eight-year-old, made his senior debut against Clermont Foot in August 2022, accumulating 124 appearances for les Rouge-et-Bleu to date, most recently starting their Club World Cup defeat to Botafogo at the Rose Bowl on Thursday night.

However, this was something of a rarity, given that Vitinha, João Neves, and Fabián Ruiz are firmly Luis Enrique’s first-choice trio; those three were deployed for all nine Champions League knockout phase fixtures, as well as the Club World Cup opener against Atlético Madrid last Sunday.

So, could the teenager be tempted to swap Paris for North London in search of more regular game time?

The latest on Arsenal’s midfielders

As reported by David Ornstein and James McNicholas earlier this week, Martín Zubimendi has traveled to London to ‘complete the formalities’ ahead of joining Arsenal, with the Gunners paying his £51.7m Real Sociedad release clause.

Meanwhile, it is now just over a week until Thomas Partey‘s contract expires, with Matteo Moretto of ESPN claiming that the Ghanian international is now ‘expected to leave’ this summer, with Elis Buse Araç of Turkish outlet X Sports reporting that both Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray are ready to make an offer.

Partey made 52 appearances last season, starting 45 matches across all competitions, including 31 Premier League games as well as 11 in the Champions League, underlining that he was a pivotal figure who would need replacing.

Given that Jorginho has already joined Flamengo, putting in excellent performances for them at the Club World Cup, the arrival of Zubimendi alone will not be enough, so could Zaïre-Emery fill Partey’s void?

Well, let’s assess how the young Frenchman and Partey compare.

As the table outlines, Zaïre-Emery comes out on top for pretty much every metric included on a per-90 basis, passing, ball recoveries and duels, something Arteta will certainly like the sound of.

Jacob Whitehead and Peter Rutzler of the Athletic describe the teenager as a ‘promising prospect’, praising his ‘ability to survive physically’ at such a young age.

Meantime, Beth Limb of Total Football Analysis outlines that Zaïre-Emery is best when deployed ‘on the right side of the two-man midfield’, always showcasing a ridiculous ‘amount of composure’, which could see him slot into the Partey role alongside Declan Rice perfectly.

Thus, if Zaïre-Emery does agitate for a move away from European champions PSG this summer, Arsenal should do everything they can to convince him they are the right destination.

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