It appears that Arsene Wenger is at least getting closer to adding to his only piece of Arsenal transfer business of the summer so far and his second signing cannot come quickly enough for the army of Arsenal fans who are beginning to get that usual sinking feeling that a typically quiet transfer window brings on.
With just a month left to go before the start of the new Premier League season the Gunners have added only the central midfield star of the Switzerland national team. As much as the performances of Granit Xhaka at Euro 2016 gave us Gooners plenty of reason to be happy, he is not going to fix all of the problems and transform Arsenal into a title winning team on his own.
The general consensus is that our minimum requirement is another centre forward and central defender and the papers today are suggesting that Wenger is close to completing the transfer of the latter and it seems like he has focused his attention on Italy’s Serie A to find the right player. Not a bad idea after Italy’s defensive strength this summer reminded everyone that they have always been skilled in the art of stopping other sides from scoring goals.
Only one of the two possible targets are Italian though, with CalcioMercato reporting that Arsenal have made an offer of 30 million euros to Juventus for their 21-year old centre back Daniele Rugani. The offer was apparently turned down but that does not mean the pursuit is over.
Meanwhile the 25-year old Roma and Greece international star Kostas Manolas is being tracked by Wenger and also by our Premier League rivals Chelsea according to Corrieredellosport. Manolas has honed his skills in the Italian top flight for the last two seasons and established himself as one of the best defenders in it.
If these are the last two centre backs on the list, which would you rather see come to Arsenal?
Bob.