How Arsenal could line up after £180m summer revamp

Arsenal are reportedly preparing to fork out a mammoth £180m on three big names during the summer transfer window.

The Gunners lost out on the signature of Dusan Vlahovic to Juventus and also failed to land Dominic Calvert-Lewin or Alexander Isak in January, but Mikel Arteta has supposedly earmarked the two strikers as primary targets for the 2022-23 season at a combined price of £135m.

Furthermore, with Granit Xhaka's future still shrouded in uncertainty and continued questions over their midfield stability, a £45m swoop for Wolverhampton Wanderers' Ruben Neves is also rumoured to be in the pipeline.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Arsenal could line up should they manage to convince all three players to move to the Emirates Stadium.

Gone are the days of the Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang partnership, but the two friends very rarely started as out-and-out strikers together, unless Arteta opted to deploy a three-at-the-back system.

Such a formation may have to be utilised to get the best out of target men Isak and Calvert-Lewin if they both establish themselves as regular starters, with a 3-4-1-2 formation seeing Martin Odegaard or Emile Smith Rowe feeding the two strikers.

Bukayo Saka may therefore be forced to revert to his wing-back duties - although his qualities in that role are not up for debate - as Kieran Tierney continues to bomb up and down the left flank.

With Xhaka still thought to be a target for Roma, Mohamed Elneny expected to leave and Albert Sambi Lokonga far from the finished product, Neves would undoubtedly come in to partner Thomas Partey in the engine room.

William Saliba's expected return from Marseille means that Arteta will not be too short of centre-backs for this potential three-man defence, especially with Takehiro Tomiyasu more than capable of playing on the right-hand side of a back three.

Saliba will struggle to force his way into the XI on a regular basis over Ben White or Gabriel Magalhaes, but a formation change could at least present the 20-year-old with more opportunities to make a name for himself at the Emirates.

Furthermore, this system presents Arteta with some clear tactical tweaks should Smith Rowe continue his role as a super sub on the left-hand side, with Tierney shifting back to form a four-man defence and Arsenal reverting to a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 depending on who is hooked.