It is generally assumed that Arsenal are going to buy a few players this summer. Who those may be is up for debate, however. I have been saying "I want Hazard." or "I want Gotze." etc ... and many others on here have said similar.

I wonder though, if you look at the roster and the players on loan, if maybe our spending will MOSTLY just be keeping our current players. Rather than buying new players (at a premium cost), doesn't it make more sense to just NOT lose current players?

We paid Rosicky. We are going to pay Song. I can't imagine we don't pay RvP. We paid Vermaelen... there is no transfer fee to keep a player.

Also, getting players back from injury is almost like a new signing (seems like I heard that somewhere before).

With our current roster and loan players, let's look at our starters (more or less).

RvP

Miyaichi / Wilshere / Ox

Song / Arteta

Gibbs / Vermaelen / Koscielny / Sagna

Szczesny

The bench, would look something like ...

Fabianski, Jenkinson, Rosicky, Ramsey, Gervinho, Walcott, Santos, Mertesacker, Djourou, Coquelin, New centerback, new striker, new left back?

Anyway, my point being, when healthy (when healthy), we are pretty close to having a roster that will seriously contend for the EPL title.

Podolski spells, RvP on occasion (like, almost every game for 20 minutes with the occasional start).

Miyaichi is the creative attacking force we are looking for in Gotze or Hazard and seems to be able to play wide or up with RvP.

I'd love to see another centerback (send Djourou out on loan), another left back (unless Santos and Gibbs can reasonably be expected to no longer be injured simultaneously), and really, what else?

Beyond that, improving the roster would involve costly transfer fees, high wages and the demotion of a current fan favorite.

Who's a regular starter now (when we are injury free) that you'd rather see on the bench? (For me, it is Walcott).

I'd like to see us sell Walcott while his value is high (relatively to his value 3 months ago).

I guess my point is, we are a lot closer to being 'set' than I originally thought (injuries notwithstanding) and most of these guys are still improving.

Thoughts?