Arsenal midfield depth reveals two players competing for one spot in 24/25 squad

Arsenal have two central midfielders out of contract at the end of the season, but Mikel Arteta could decide to retain the services of one next summer

Arsenal's midfield options are set in stone for the season following a mini overhaul during the summer transfer window.

The Gunners broke their transfer record to sign Declan Rice for £105million and also spent £65million to recruit Kai Havertz from Chelsea. Despite the Germany international operating mostly as a forward during his time at Stamford Bridge, he's been used in the engine room by Mikel Arteta thus far.

It's safe to say the jury is still out on this deal but despite playing in the role vacated by Granit Xhaka after his £21.4million move to Bayer Leverkusen, the Arsenal manager has already insisted that the 24-year-old is not a direct replacement for his former vice-captain.

"He's [Havertz] not a replacement [for Xhaka]," the Spaniard said during pre-season. "He's not gonna be like-for-like because everybody’s going to be very different to what Granit gave us. It will be very different, but Kai has tremendous qualities for our way of playing."

With Emile Smith Rowe also an option along with Leandro Trossard, Arsenal are blessed with some serious depth in the more advanced midfield positions as captain Martin Odegaard is perhaps the only guaranteed starter when everyone is fit and available for selection.

Having said that, the likelihood of all four players being at the Emirates Stadium beyond this season does seem slim. Particularly as one can assume game time is going to be limited for one of Jorginho and Elneny, given that Partey has been used as an inverted right-back at times.

"Now we have three very good holding midfielders with him (Rice), Thomas and Jorginho," he said during pre-season. "I have to fit them in because they are so good and I love playing with midfielders. So, we are thinking of a few things we can do to maximize their qualities."

It should be pointed out that the Spaniard was speaking at a time when Elneny was unavailable for selection. That should change with the midfielder closing in on a return to action following knee surgery and his influence off the pitch is something which is greatly appreciated.

"It's totally deserved. It’s an absolute joy to have him at the club," Arteta said after the 31-year-old signed a new contract earlier in the year. "I think what the club has done is absolutely brilliant, it's not just with words that we say we value the people that we have and we stick together in difficult moments.

"Mo had a really difficult moment a few weeks ago when he had a pretty big injury, a serious injury and the club committed with him for what he gives to the team, for what he’s done for this football club. I think it’s a really strong message by everybody at the club to try to keep our best people and our best players with us in challenging moments."

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