I remember when we signed Olexsandr Zinchenko, the feeling was that the Ukrainian was seeking pastures new due to being fed up with playing left back.

With speculation surrounding Granit Xhaka’s long term future, and Thomas Partey’s questionable injury record, it was thought that the technically gifted full back was coming in to play a similar role as the one he undertakes for his country – as a central midfielder.

Injury to Kieran Tierney meant that he would begin his Arsenal career as a left back – and Mikel Arteta looked to get the best out of him by introducing the “inverted full back” to the Premier League.

18 months on, and whilst Zinchenko has performed well in the position, he has also shown a defensive fragility that other teams have looked to exploit.

This defensive fragility has led many to state that we need to be in the market for a new left back in January, but those calling for this are behind the curve ball. Arteta and Edu were aware Zinchenko’s issues in the summer.

They recognised that whilst Zinchenko was a great option in games at home, against lesser sides where we dominate possession, he could be exploited in the bigger games. They also realised that Tierney was not the answer as a more “defensive” option as he lacked the passing attributes needed to play in Arteta’s system.

To resolve the issue, Jurrien Timber was signed for £34million.

The Dutchman could play in any position across the back four and has a great balance to his game. Fantastic in defence, he also excels on the ball.

Timber’s recruitment would mean Arteta had 4 full back options available to him: Zinchenko, Ben White, Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Timber and Tomiyasu both provide Arteta that option of playing a more defensive minded full back at left back. The pair, alongside Ben White, also fulfil the “4th centre back role” with ease.

Unfortunately, Timber limped off on his debut against Nottingham Forest, with it later confirmed he had suffered an ACL injury on his right knee which would require surgery and keep him out of the game for a “period of time”.

Whilst he is seemingly ahead of schedule – expected to return to full training towards the end of this month – I would ber surprised if we see him in the Arsenal first team until late January. Players who suffer ACL injuries also tend to suffer a further injury as they return to football.

Tomiyasu’s Arsenal career has been stunted by injuries, and he picked up yet another calf injury in early December. Tomi is expected to be back in the middle of the month, just in time to fly out to Qatar for the 2023 Asia Cup.

If Japan make the final, he will miss 4 Premier League games: Crystal Palace (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Liverpool (H), West Ham (A). The hope will be that he gets through those games unscathed and that from Burnley to gthe end of the season he stays fit.

And this then creates the conundrum of needing a new left back.

As stated above, we have 4 left backs, all of whom offer something a little different. Do we really expect us to go out and buy a 5th full back?

Anyone that comes in would have to be a better option than Tomiyasu and Timber as a more defensive option to Zinchenko. That sort of level player will cost a lot of money, and will take some time settling in to a new club, new tactics and (possibly) a new country.

Were we to look at Premier League full backs (which will help someone settle a lot quicker), there is no one that really stands out as better than what we have.

By the time you get past the “already at a top club” players, you quickly end up on the likes of Pervis Estupinan (returning from injury), Antonee Robinson (average), Tyrick Mitchell (worse than average) and Aaron Hickey (btec Tierney).

Estupinan is the only Premier League full back that I would be interested in, but he is very similar to Tierney in the way he stays outwide and huge the bye-line. We dumped Tierney because he was unable to be involved in a narrower build up play. I am not sure Estupinan would be a better option than Tomiyasu.

We should not be looking to spend big on another left back when we have 3 that will all be better options than the new incoming one. Our issues at left back is caused by injuries. They are solved with time passing and players getting back to fitness.

“What about a short term option” is often said in January by kids who play far too much Football Manager.

Any left back that would be available on a 6-month loan deal in January is clearly not going to be good enough for The Arsenal. Why would another team let go a Champions League level full back on loan? It just will not happen.

As always when I hear fans crying for a certain position, I wil lalways ask the same question – who do you want to come in? And with the left back position, I doubt too many can be named that are better than Tomiyasu, Timber and Zinchenko, and would be available in January.

Feel free to name them in the comments…

Keenos