Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal need to add another central defender to the squad this summer, following the loss of Shkodran Mustafi to injury.
Our team has struggled for numbers at centre-back in recent weeks, with Shkodran Mustafi joining the likes of Calum Chambers and Pablo Mari on the sidelines, while Sokratis has been overlooked since the return of football, sitting on the bench bar one very late substitute appearance in the FA Cup.
Arteta has been using Rob Holding, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac in a back three, while two wing-backs help out with defensive duties, which leaves little room for rotation at present, and Chelsea will have a pretty good shot at guessing the defence they will be coming up against come Saturday.
The coach has now confirmed that he will be looking to add another option at centre-back in the coming window.
“I mentioned three central defenders that are not available and we haven’t had [two of them] them available for a long time during the season,” said the Spaniard after the Watford match (via the DailyMail).
“We will have to address that.”
William Saliba will also be joining up with the playing squad for the new season, having completed his loan deal with St Etienne this term, and it was recently confirmed that he will be wearing the number 4 shirt.
It remains to be seen whether Mikel Arteta will be sticking with his formation going into the new season following the success in reverting to a back three plus two wing-backs, but either way more numbers are definitely needed.
Should Arteta look to strengthen the squad around the current system or will he have bigger ideas?
Patrick
