Luiz dropped but wonderkid starts – Arsenal XI with Gabriel, Saliba, and Willian

Arsenal might have made members of their recruitment department redundant recently but they’re well on their way to finishing their summer rebuild.

Just over three weeks out from the start of the new Premier League campaign they’ve got two new stars ready to impress and a third possibly on the way.

Joining the Gunners in the coming days could well be Lille sensation Gabriel, although it appears Napoli are willing to fight as hard as possibly for his signature.

Adding him would put manager Mikel Arteta well on the way to signing a whole new spine for the FA Cup winners.

Such an overhaul was needed given some of the club’s struggles last term, which almost saw them miss out on European football, which could have had dire consequences.

Instead, a new deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is in the offing, Willian has arrived on a free transfer, and wonderkid William Saliba has joined up with his new teammates.

Outgoings are inevitable, a bloated defence is set to lose Sokratis Papastathopoulos at the very least with another exit likely too.

Matteo Guendouzi will be sold having been cast aside by Arteta following several moments of ill-discipline, culminating in him throttling Brighton ace Neal Maupay after a 2-1 loss to the Seagulls.

This sale should also allow another signing with a central midfielder set to be signed to replace Dani Ceballos if they can’t land the Spaniard who shone towards the end of the last campaign.

But how will the Gunners look if they do manage to get Gabriel, who Total Football Analysis have compared to Kalidou Koulibaly, in the coming days? talkSPORT.com takes a look.

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How Arsenal could look with Gabriel, William Saliba and Willian

4-2-3-1

It seems Arteta is incredibly keen on using new signing Willian as a No.10, leaving us to assume this formation is the most likely for the Gunners.

That means just two centre-back slots available. Gabriel should take one, although given Arsenal will be competing in four competitions he will rotate with the likes of David Luiz, William Saliba, and Rob Holding, while reports suggest Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi could be sold to balance the books.

In this XI Saliba starts but there is a good chance he will be given time to adapt and may be first choice for cup competitions alone.

Lucas Torreira for the time being would partner Granit Xhaka but a Dani Ceballos replacement like Thomas Partey would surely be preferred.

3-4-3

If we take the Gunners’ final…