It is being reported in the British media that Arsenal and Manchester United are to battle it out for the services of Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng.
The reasoning behind this is that both us and United need strengthening in our respective defences and therefore we are interested in the German world cup winner.
Boateng will definitely be available in the summer because the Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has announced that he is surplus to requirements and should find a new club in the summer.
So, Bayern is offloading a defender, we need one so we must be interested, right?
Well, I have seen nothing to suggest that we are keen on signing the 30-year-old other than speculation and assumption from the press, however, that is not what I am actually interested in, gossip comes and goes, what I am interested in discussing is, would Boateng be an upgrade on Shkodran Mustafi?
It all depends on the player’s motivation, he certainly has the talent to be an upgrade, he did fail at Manchester City years ago but he has come on so much since then, he has huge experience at the highest levels of the game and on his day is a great player.
He can be volatile but is generally consistent and could easily be the leader in the defence that we have been lacking and in fact, could revitalise his career with us.
Boateng’s contract expires in 2021 but because Bayern are keen sellers there is every chance we could land him for a very reasonable price and while no fee has actually been mentioned other than speculation I would suggest he could be available for as little as £20 Milion, though that is purely a guess and like others in the media is just speculation on my part.
All things considered, I am of the opinion that Boateng would be a good buy at the right price.
We just have to see if we are genuinely interested in him.