Arsenal prepared to use Hector Bellerin in a defender swap deal with Juventus for Merih Demiral.
Over the last week or so there have been rumours linking Arsenal with a move for Juventus defender Merih Demiral.
Well, now there is a new twist. According to Calciomercato, Arsenal is ready to use Bellerin as part of a swap deal with the Italian champions for the signature of Demiral.
It is well known how poor the Arsenal defence is and it is expected that an overhaul will take place sooner rather than later.
Demiral, who is only 21-years-old has failed to nail down a first-team spot in Turn following his summer move from Sassuolo.
The young Turkish international is clearly highly rated and there is no guarantee that Juve will sanction such a deal.
For his part, Bellerin would welcome a move to Italy according to his agent Albert Botines, who told Sky Sports Italia as cited by TeamTalk:
“At the moment he is focused on the team’s commitments, comes from a bad injury and is returning to his levels,”
“He likes Italy, the interest of an Italian club has been there but I can’t reveal it,” he added. “He has a long contract and it won’t be easy to take him away from Arsenal. He is vice-captain, we will see how the season will go.”
So, Bellerin who welcome a move to Italy and Demiral is desperate for first-team football. A match made in heaven. Not quite.
The same report in Calciomercatio claims that Juventus are reluctant to allow Demiral to leave. They apparently rate him very highly.
But a lot will depend on the player himself. If he starts to push for a move he may be able to force the hand of Juve.
I suspect that we have not heard the last of this one.
The way they value their center-backs there is no way they’re letting a prospect of his age to go for an oft-injured RB, who can’t even crack our linuep on a regular basis…if they’re willing to do so we should tread very carefully because they certainly wouldn’t let someone they rated so highly to leave unless their thoughts on the matter have changed greatly since his arrival at Turin…what we need now is an experienced CB who can captain what should be a relatively youthful back-line moving forward(Bellerin, Tierney, Saliba, Holding etc…) just think of the kind of CB we could have had if we simply targeted the best of the best and took one substantial monetary hit instead of shelling out more money on a myriad of poor choices…shit we could have had Van Dijk from Celtic for well under $15…this is what happens when you have an untenable business model imposed upon a club by a money-grubbing billionaire who wants the most return for the least amount of investment or risk…it forces those in charge of the footballing operation to make decisions out of a position of desperation, not strength…this invariably led to a series of poor decisions, each more short-sighted than the last, until we’re literally signing Luiz in the 11th hour and now we can’t even get him out of our lineup no matter how much he shits the bed…the time for finding a needle in the haystack is over, we need to finally be big game hunters and just stop all this foolishness
The craziest rumor I ever read this year, Swap our best RB for a player who can’t nail a starting Eleven.
I say yes. Demiral is a beast! I don’t know why he isn’t getting on well in Juventus but have you guys looked at him? At 6’3, and he is a tackler, and a good man-marking player and with that height will definitely be good in aerial duels. Just the kind of player we lack in defense, doesn’t shy away from tackling, very physical RB. He could well play as a CB even considering his physique.
Bellerin on the other hand, I was never impressed by him, except for his pace. I wouldn’t think twice if this deal materializes. But I doubt they will let Dmiral go. Guy is a beast at 21.
Why is it that Juventus, Dortmund, Leipzig, Leicester et al can scout and recruit these defenders and Arsenal can’t?
Bellerin is poor defensively than Chambers and even AMN, what are you talking about? Bellerin suddenly became world class, by NOT PLAYING last season. Before that, fans used to treat him as a crap RB. He has pace and is good going forward but very poor defensively. ANd defensive qualities are what Arsenal dearly needs. Bellerin can’t tackle, isn’t physical enough to man mark properly, isn’t tall enough to be good aerially.
I doubt very much if Juve rate Demeril they will want the underwhelming Bellerin. He hasn’t looked good for over 4 years and looks lost since his injury. I doubt we will get rid of him that easy.
Bellerin wasn’t exactly setting the world a light before his injury. Yes he was quick, but couldn’t cross a ball to save his life and often neglected his defensive duties. Following his injury he has seemed to have lost a yard of pace. Swap or sell… You betcha.
Well then we would be short of a RB. Not very smart deal.
How about we loan Demiral with an option to buy? He’s not getting games at Juve ahead of Bonucci, De Ligt, Chiellini, maybe not even Rugani. Make the buy option about £25-30m and it would double Juve’s investment in a year.
When will we learn keep bellerin, he can offer the young lads some experience on the pitch and we need to pay top dollar for a top cb. Just once, someone who can dominate. They don’t come cheap!!
Whatever said and done, we have got to improve our defence and that too asap. Or else, God forbid, we may be looking at relegation . Already we have shipped in 21 goals this season, and heaven knows what will happen next. We have to tighten our defence at any cost no matter what. Great teams are made of strong defences.
Watch Bellerin have a blinder at his next club while the one we get to replace him, sabotages us as usual. Same will happen when mustafi, holding, chambers, anyone that was crap for us, leaves. Only those reaching the end of their careers fare worse without us for obvious reasons lol!