Alan Smith considers the signings that Arsenal should look to make after sealing a deal to land Willian from Chelsea FC

Alan Smith believes that Arsenal should consider deals to sign a new defender and midfielder in the summer transfer window after wrapping up a move for Willian.

The north London side completed a deal to bring the 32-year-old Brazilian attacker to The Emirates from Chelsea FC on a free transfer on Friday as they began their summer spending under Mikel Arteta ahead of next season.

Arsenal are believed to be on the lookout for a number of new signings this summer as Arteta prepares for his first full season in charge at the club after having been appointed back in December.

The Gunners’ struggles at the back have been well-documented over the last few seasons, and the future of on-loan Dani Ceballos also remains unclear as things stand.

Former Arsenal star Smith believes that the Gunners should look to make at least two new signings this summer as they prepare for the new campaign under Arteta next season.

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Smith said: “With a few quid to spend, another central defender must be on the cards. This area, in fact, is the most interesting of all.

“Will William Saliba, for instance, be given an early chance after finally coming over from St Etienne?

“Saliba, by all accounts, has tremendous potential as a classy defender in the Virgil van Dijk mould.

“I can just imagine Arteta on that training ground, working hard with the 19-year-old to instil good habits. Depending on how that goes, we might see the Frenchman let loose early on.

“Next to whom is another matter though. Will Arteta continue with three at the back, a system that helped bring about such huge improvement?”

Smith continued: “Plenty of questions there, as there are in midfield where the future of Dani Ceballos looks far from certain.

“I am sure Arteta would love to keep this clever ball player with an excellent work ethic who forged a useful understanding with Granit Xhaka. Real Madrid, of course, might have other ideas.

“Midfield would further benefit if Matteo Guendouzi can be used in a deal to recruit someone like Thomas Partey, the much-admired lynchpin from Atletico Madrid.”

Arsenal secured their place in the Europa League for next season thanks to their 2-1 win over Chelsea FC in the FA Cup final at Wembley at the start of the month.

The Gunners struggled to find consistent form in the Premier League all season as they ended up in eighth place in the top-flight table.

Transfer DONE DEALS and Updates, Sancho, Aubameyang, Willian, Joao Felix and Lacazette latest news

Nathan Aké to Manchester City is a done deal, and confirmed. There is total agreement between Man City and Bournemouth. The personal terms are okay and medicals are on the next few days.

Willian has rejected Chelsea's second two-year contract offer. However, he wants to wait a week before deciding his next destination. 

 BREAKING: Ferran Torres has signed his ManCity contract until 2025. The paperwork and medicals are all complete. 

Manchester United are set to pay Jadon Sancho's €120 million price tag in instalments according to Bild. Borussia Dortmund would be happy to accept. 

Arsenal are interested in signing Diego Carlos. 

Manchester City have enquired on Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix as part of their plans to bring a new attacker to Etihad. 

Arsenal owner Kroenke has given an okay to a three year £250,000 a week deal for Aubameyang as reported by Express. 

Juventus have started discussions with Arsenal on Lacazette. 

Manchester United are keen on signing James Rodriguez. Madrid are demanding a fee of £40m.

Wolves are interested in signing PSG midfielder Idrissa Gueye. PSG are ready to sell the player. 

Leicester have made a bid for Barcelona's Francisco Trincao for a loan and obligation to buy. 

CONFIRMED. Angel Gomes has signed for Lille on a 5 year contract. 

Brighton are interested in signing Maitland Niles from Arsenal who are demanding £20m fee. 

Juventus have entered race to sign Raul Jimenez from Wolves. 

REFEREE ANTHONY TAYLOR AND HIS TEAM WILL TAKE CHARGE OF THE HEADS UP FA CUP FINAL

Anthony Taylor will join a unique group of officials to have refereed the FA Cup Final twice

INTERESTED IN BECOMING A REFEREE? FIND OUT MORE

The team of match officials to take charge of the Heads Up FA Cup Final has been announced, with Cheshire FA’s Anthony Taylor being appointed as referee for the showpiece fixture.

Taylor will be joined by assistant referees Gary Beswick (Durham FA) and Adam Nunn (Wiltshire FA), fourth official Chris Kavanagh (Manchester FA) and reserve assistant referee Lee Betts (Norfolk FA).

Stuart Attwell (Birmingham FA) will be the video assistant referee (VAR), and will be joined at Stockley Park by assistant VAR (AVAR) Steve Child (London FA).

And having previously refereed the 2017 Emirates FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Chelsea, Taylor will join a unique group of officials to have taken charge of the Final on two occasions, becoming only the eighth person to do so and the first to repeat the duty since Arthur Kingscott in 1901.

While the appointment to officiate an FA Cup Final usually happens only once in an official’s career, the FA Referees’ Committee decided that, in this unique year, it was necessary to make an exception.

"Refereeing an FA Cup Final is a dream but, unlike the players, a referee usually only does the Final once,” explained FA Referees’ Committee chairman David Elleray.

“This makes the appointment very special and a significant part of the Cup Final appointment is the opportunity to share this – the English refereeing pinnacle – with partners, family, friends and those who have been an important part of their long journey to the Final.

“Sadly, this year’s Final will be very different and will be held without all these elements in an empty stadium. With this in mind, the Committee decided it would be unfair to appoint someone who has not yet done the Final and have, instead, appointed Anthony Taylor to his second FA Cup Final.”

Altrincham-based Taylor, who is regarded as one of Europe’s and England’s top officials, will next month referee in the UEFA Champions League or Europa League with the same team of assistants, Nunn, Beswick and Attwell (VAR).

And he spoke of his honour at being able to take charge of this year’s Final, ironically featuring the same clubs from his last Final appearance in 2017.

“Of course, any Final is obviously a huge honour and privilege for the whole team to be doing and I sincerely mean that about the team because I’m in the fortunate position where I get to work with the same two assistants on every game both at home and abroad,” he said.

“It’s just an iconic occasion at the best of times, but this year is a unique one with no spectators. We know there are different circumstances this year and the 2020 Final will always be remembered because of this.

“But it was a little bit unexpected to get the call, having already refereed the FA Cup Final a couple of years ago, so I’m very humbled and equally honoured to have been asked to take charge of the Final again.

“It’s ironic that it’s the same clubs, but it’s now two different teams. Clubs who reach the Final don’t get there by fluke, and whichever teams end up in the FA Cup Final, it’s always going to be an intense occasion to officiate.

“However, any official who has refereed the FA Cup Final will say that when you’re appointed to the game, it’s not just recognition for you as an individual, it’s a recognition for all of the people who’ve supported you over the years and helped you to reach the elite level.

“That’s what makes the occasion so special, not just the match but that you get to share it with your close friends and family who will be there supporting you. Obviously, that’s not going to be possible this time, but there’s other ways and means that friends and family can be supporting us on the day.”

Source: FA Official Website 

History may repeat itself between Arsenal fc and Chelsea fc in FA Cup final

Lampard's Chelsea football club, got a rare win against Manchester United this season when they played in their FA cup final tie at the Old Trafford. Manchester, has won all their previous meetings this season against Chelsea, which left many Manchester fans believing that it could have been an easy win against Chelsea to book their hopes of winning the Cup 13th times. It was a very poor performance from Manchester players which show them lose 3-1 to Chelsea at their home ground.

"Olivier Giroud and Mason Mount scored the two goals for Chelsea, while Harry Maguire from Manchester United scored own goal. Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty for the Red Devils.

Arsenal in the other hand, showed an excellent job against their big rivals Manchester city a team they have lost against in several occasions. The last time arsenal beat Manchester city, was 2017 when they came across them in the same competition also in the same level, the semifinals. Arsenal won against City and booked a place in the finals when they met their London rivals Chelsea. Arsenal went ahead to win the cup in an exemplary beautiful game they played against Chelsea by wining 2-1.

Aubameyang scored both goals for Arsenal in his first appearance in the competition this year while Manchester city failed to see the back of the net.

In this year's Emirates FA cup, the same has happened. This is a repeat of what happened in the last 3 years, but we will have to wait and see if Arsenal wins the cup again.

The most interesting part, Arsenal have rarely lost in the Emirates FA cup which puts them with much hope of winning the cup once again. Considering their position in the premier league, Arsenal have minimal chances of qualifying for Europer league ahead of Sheffield United, wholves, Burney and their north London rivals Spurs.

Chances are, if Arsenal are going to win this Emirates FA cup this year, they will automatically qualify for Europer league next season despite their league position.

Arsenal have missed champions league for consecutive years and they have been left praying in the Europer league instead, in all those years. Last year, it's the year they almost qualified to champions league, when they reached in their Europer league final but lost the chance against Chelsea.

History may repeat itself once again. This is the reason; if Arsenal can not qualify for Europer league by finishing in a good league position, they will be left with only one option of qualifying for Europer league, and that's Winning their FA cup final against Chelsea. But if they fail to win, and lose to Chelsea, it will be the second time Arsenal are denied the European championship by Chelsea after they were denied the same chance last year when Chelsea won their Europer league final. If Arsenal could have won, they could have played in this year's champions league.

It will go in history that Arsenal, for the first time in years, have not qualified for a European competition. Though Arsenal have a chance to redeem themselves. They have shown that they can beat any team in English premier league by beating Pep's City and Liverpool in the same week.

Arsenal is the only team that has qualified in the most FA cup finals with a 21 times record wining the cup 13 times lossing 6 times in their finals. They have a chance to extend their win record if they win it 14th times. Meanwhile, Chelsea qualified for the finals in the 14th round and they have won the competition 7 times lossing in their 6 finals.

What's your opinion in this year's Emirates FA cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea?

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