There is both a need and a desire for renewal at Arsenal this summer. Given the level of turnover in the squad in the last two years, that the club is still very much in ‘blow it up and start again’ mode speaks very poorly of how the rebuild has been managed thus far. Arsenal’s squad is an ageing population, sucking up Champions League salaries on a Europa League budget. The summer ‘war chest’ is comprised of a couple of super soakers and an egg whisk. All of which is to say Arsenal are trying to replenish an ageing, underperforming squad on a shoestring. Yet at academy level, the U-18 and U-23 teams are flourishing and Freddie Ljungberg’s imminent promotion from U-23 manager...
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