Noel Whelan has hailed Arsenal’s transfer target, Tariq Lamptey and says he is confident the Brighton man will deliver at the Emirates.
Lamptey is one of the finest right-backs in England and he has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time.
The Gunners signed Takehiro Tomiyasu in the summer and the Japanese star has been in fine form.
However, there is no quality backup for the former Bologna man and Lamptey could move to the Emirates to support him.
Former Leeds United star, Whelan enjoys watching the former Chelsea youngster and in a recent interview, he maintains that the defender would be a good fit for the Gunners.
He tells Football Insider: “I think Lamptey would slot straight into Arteta’s plans. Box-to-box, very exciting going forward, can defend.
“When he goes forward, he goes forward with real intent. The pace of him will frighten most full-backs in the Premier League – he’s so exciting to watch.
“He’s one of the best talents in the league, and I’m sure Arsenal would have some real competition to get him.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Lamptey has shown great form at Brighton and has been exciting to watch.
At 21, he still has a lot of development to do, yet he is one of the best players we can sign now.
However, because he would not come cheaply, it is probably better that we focus on signing players into positions that are a necessity first.
Cedric Soares is not the best right-back around, but the former Southampton man can deputise for Tomiyasu until the end of this season.
Nah why wait till players are worth 40mill before signing them?
Go find the next Lamptey in one of the 50 academies around the place and buy him for 1 mill. In short only bring in new players from the academies. In fact that should be how the league is run. You should only be able to use players from your own academy. There should be no signing on fees. Players going between clubs should all go on a free. Save a heck of a lot of crazy spending on players half of whom will be flops.
Lamptey is a very good player but a bit of midget size wise and in any case would he really join us to be a back up to one of the best right backs in the league?
Much prefer the lad Spence currently on loan from Middlesbrough to Forest.Tall, quick, good offensively,and, unlike Lampety he can defend as Martinelli discovered.The fact that he would cost considerably less is yet another bonus.
Good shout Grandad.