Arsenal must keep their eyes on this Scottish full-back

Why Hibernian’s Josh Doig should be under Arsenal’s radar this summer

Josh Doig. Remember the name. This is a player who is destined for prominence in five years’ time. Currently plying his trade at Scottish side Hibernian, the left-back has not even reached his 19^th birthday and is already being linked to clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal, Leeds United and many more.

As a result, the Scottish side who are currently third in the league, had to act fast and has extended his current contract for a further two years until 2025. Former Sunderland boss Jack Ross, who is currently the head-coach of Hibs said glowingly about Doig. “He takes it all on board and he is a really, really good lad to work with and I think people can see that in the way he presents himself and speaks. I think he has an authenticity about him.”

Josh is a patient lad says his current boss Ross

“Sometimes things are so fast-paced and people are in a rush to get where they want to get as quickly as they can but I don’t really sense that impatience in Josh. I think he is in a good place in terms of where he is as a person and where his football is at for the moment.” His down to earth and humble personality will surely be welcomed at the Emirates.

This is a hidden and rough gem which Arsenal should certainly at least have a look at. They have made countless mistakes in the past. By the summer of 2021 Arsenal will have let go Sanchez, Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, Wilshere, Sokratis, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan and Welbeck in the past three years. Money spent on fees: £190m. Money received: £0.

Although Arsenal have made some shrewd business in between those deals such as the additions of Gabriel Martinelli, Matteo Guendouzi, Kieran Tierney and Gabriel. Those types of signings have been far and few in between. Adding Josh Doig will be some clever bit of business by the club. The player is gradually garnering attention from some of Europe’s biggest clubs with pace, energy, the ability to tackle and dangerous crosses being some of his consequential hallmarks. He is not just a player who boasts about being fast but the Scotsman can also absorb information that elevates him even further according to his manager.

“He had started to get a bit of stick online and that was a new experience for him. What I had done, though, was get Calvin [Charlton], one of the analysts to put together a profile kind of thing which looked at what he had already achieved this season. At that point he had played against James Tavernier, Scotty Arfield, Calum McGregor, Scott Brown, Johnny Hayes and we rhymed off all these established Premiership and international players and reminded him of how good a job he had done, the minutes played. We looked at all these performance indicators, giving him, in reality, a bit of a boost, reminding him of the venues he had played in, teams and players he had played against and one of the points I made to him was: ‘Where were you 6 months ago? Where were you 12 months ago? Where were you 18 months ago?’

If Arsenal do end up signing him anytime in the future, Arsenal fans can expect a player in the mould of Kieran Tierney. And boy don’t Arsenal need such type of players!

Yash Bisht