Nigel Winterburn claims Arsenal don’t have to buy a new centre back because they already have one
Despite their obvious frailties at the back, Arsenal does not have to sign a new centre back this month to be ok, that is the opinion of Nigel Winterburn.
The Arsenal legend who was a member of the club’s title-winning sides in the 1990s claims that although the Gunners have struggled in defence this season, they do have a solution to that problem.
He claims that Granit Xhaka is a good option to fill in at the back when the club is short of defenders and he backed the Switzerland captain to replicate his defensive performance against Chelsea if called upon again.
Xhaka was drafted to the back against the Blues after Arsenal had David Luiz sent off inside 27 minutes.
Although the Gunners didn’t keep a clean sheet at the end of the day, Xhaka did well enough and Winterburn believes that he can do a job in that position again.
“I think it’s obvious that Arsenal do have a lot of problems particularly at centre-half,” Winterburn said per the Star.
“At the moment, everyone is trying to second-guess what Arsenal are going to do.
“Will they buy a centre-half? Will they go for a full-back? Or a holding midfield player?
“I’ve got to say, I thought Xhaka was outstanding when he went back to centre-half at Stamford Bridge, maybe there’s the option to play him there again and see how things go.
“But hopefully Sokratis will be back soon, Rob Holding too.
“There is a supply of centre-halves but getting them all fit and keeping them fit is the problem, because it stops you from settling on the best pairing.”