Possible from XI with Ivan Perisic and Christopher Nkunku

Unai Emery said Arsenal was trying to recruit two more players in January. Assuming they are Ivan Perisic and Christopher Nkunku, here's how the Gunners could line up next month.

I have never really hoped for Arsenal in the transfer market. Even when all the fanciful rumors fly around me, I tend not to pay so much attention to it. Years have taught me that gunners are rarely very active in a window, especially in winter.

So when the January transfer window started this year, I was not really expecting much. But, just days from the end, it seems that Arsenal will end with the window of loan acquisitions. As Unai Emery confirmed at a press conference Monday:

"We are looking at two different players and the possibility that they can come."

In view of the current information, I suppose that these two players are the winger of Inter Milan, Ivan Perisic and the versatile midfielder of Paris Saint-Germain, Christopher Nkunku. Denis Suarez could also be the subject of Emery's comment, but this agreement seems blocked, Barcelona refusing to accept an option rather than oblige to buy the summer.

Assuming that the couple arrives in North London, the question then is: how will Emery create his Arsenal team with two new players?

Due to injuries and a meager team, Emery has found it difficult to change teams this season, with somewhat limited options. Perisic and Nkunku would open more avenues to explore, that's for sure.

It would be fair to expect Perisic to fit on the left wing. The Croatian international has forged a creative career and scorers off the flank and it has proven to be more productive than Alex Iwobi, the current left winger leaving. That would probably leave Alexandre Lacazette in the center and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the right.

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Nkunku is however a more difficult prospect to establish. Because of its versatility, it can be used in different ways. It could be that he does not make the starting lineup, with Emery happy with Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira in midfield. Chances are he could push Aaron Ramsey out of the team or even line up on the right wing, though Emery prefers a more natural striker to Aubameyang, but he thinks that Nkunku would be in the Emirates simply to provide a flexible depth.

If there is a position that is there for taking, then it's just back. Hector Bellerin is absent for the remainder of the season, Stephan Lichtsteiner was submerged all year and Ainsley Maitland-Niles was poor against Manchester United. I am not sure that Nkunku has the defensive position to play at the back. But it's perhaps his best path in a starting role.

It remains to be seen how Emery would use Nkunku and Perisic. They might not even be in the starting lineup, as far as I know. But one thing is clear. Arsenal now has flexibility and alternative options. And that's all this poor man could ask for at the beginning of January.