If not Mustafi, which CB will Arsenal sign?

I am starting to think that the Arsenal transfer rumours linking us with the Valencia and Germany defender Shkodran Mustafi might just be barking up the wrong tree. Either that or we are struggling to get the deal done because even before the bad news about Gabriel picking up what looks a serious injury, the Gunners were short at the back.

Now we are in a desperate situation and you would think that if Arsene Wenger really was going to sign Mustafi it would be now. So if it is not to be the classy German, who will the boss bring in to shore up our thinly stretched back line?

A report in The Mirror has put forward nine possible players and a few of them I like. Four of them, Winston Reid, Virgil Van Dijk, John Stones and Mamadou Sakho are already playing in the Premier League and I see that as a distinct advantage. The first three would not come cheap though, as Stones is very highly valued while the Southampton and West Ham stars are tied up to long term contracts.

The Liverpool defender may be easier to get after he fell out with Jurgen Klopp and he has played with Koscielny for France, but I am personally not a big fan. One EPL star not on the list is the Swansea captain Ashley Williams and we have been linked with him a number of times.

The other five players suggested by the paper are Antonio Rudiger the 23-year old of Roma, Kalidou Koulibaly, the 25-year old Napoli star linked with Chelsea, Jonathan Tah the 20-year old from Bayer Leverkusen, Lazio’s Dutchman Stefan De Vrij and Javi Martinez of Bayern Munich.

Which of these, if any, would you like to see come to Arsenal?

Bob.

Tags Sakho Stones Williams

31 Comments

  1. Forget striker, Wenger plz get us a decent CB. After all, being an Arsenal fan, I should be fine with lowering my demands. CB is must!!

    1. A the moment we need two cb, and for that reason I think we miss a trick with vermaelen who was available at half the price we sold him for.
      If United can swallow their pride and spend a world record fee to bring back pogba, I dont see why we couldn’t spen a small matter of 8million to bring back someone who is returning to form after his injuries worry and also have premier league experience.
      Mustafi vermaelen and koss would have given us the best defense in the league in addition to our midfield , and only a world-class striker to complete the puzzle for a serious assault on the

  2. I think it’s best to concede Stones is City bound, Koulibaby is set for Chelsea and we’ve then… Fingers crossed, got a clear run at Mustafi. Surely all managers involved see it’s best not to step on each others toes as they all, pretty desperately need a CB!!

  3. I’d go for Jonathan Tah anyday, similar style of play and built like Jerome Boateng and already on the fringes of the German senior team, went the Euros with them and is only 20!

    1. We already have 3 young centre backs on the verge of playing for their country chambers, holding and Bielik. What we need is a couple of experienced heads.

      1. Was thinking the same thing, may as well go with our own lads, than bring in any more 20 y old or there abouts.

        I’d go with V Dijk, over the other prem dudes. Of the foreign dudes, I’d go with Rudiger, Italians know there defenders. He’s a little young but he has some decent playing experience, would prefer someone older but going by that list, these are who I’d pick.

        1. Being on the fringes of the Italian and German teams is not the same as those of England or Poland as far as defenders go.

  4. One silly question : When we lost BFG we need one senior CB. Then Gab gone too. Don’t we need TWO CB’s now?

    1. I don’t think so. For me Gabriel was still a work in progress. Let Chambers, Bielik and Holding fight it out amongst themselves as to third and fourth choice. His composure and decision making was just as disastrous as any of the three’s lack of experience could be IMO…
      Bellerin was given a stint in the first-team and he developed and matured to the point it’s hard to picture a first-team without him. Can’t help but think one of the three has it in them to do the same. Holding and Bielik have exceeded my personal expectations by some margin this pre-season.

      1. You don’t think so to what?
        I said that was a silly question, we will be lucky if AW does buy one senior CB. Anyway, I still favor Benedict Howedes over Mustafi, Rudiger, Koulibaly, or Tah.

        1. I don’t think we need to buy two.
          Fair shout. But….
          Howedes – 28y.o captain, club finished 5th in Bundesliga by 3pts and will likely be looking to push for CL position. Why would they sell their captain for anything less than 30-35mil.
          Mustafi – 24y.o, brought through a PL academy and flourished in La Liga. Valencia finished 12th and need to balance their books, should wipe a few mil off his price. Chelsea have reportedly dropped from the race and are going in harder for Koulibaby. Re-sale value due to 4 years younger with three good to great prospects in Chambers, Bielik and Holding coming through behind him…

          Which do you think is more likely?

        2. We can’t buy a new player everytime one gets injured… If we sign two and mertesacker and Garbiel recover we will have 7 CBs. Squad is only 25 players and we can’t afford to pay wages for 5 people sitting on the bench. Besides it would be a morale killer for players knowing you are an injury away from losing your job.

    2. We actually need 3 CB’s.
      Mertz is over the hill.
      Chambers is a 16 mill flop.
      Gabriel is an erratic 16 mill risk
      who is also injury prone.
      With all this expensive deadwood Wenger
      can’t really spend any more good money after bad.
      Look for him to big up Chambers, Holding Bielik + Coquelin
      and if he does bring in it will be from the Kim Kalstrom bargain bin again.
      Injuries are set to be a big factor again this term.
      Wellbeck Jenkinson Mertz Gabriel already.
      Cazorla and Debuchy are injury prone.
      The usual suspects Wilshere Walcott Gibbs + Chamberlain to come.

      1. Oh please dear god don’t go back to the injury rants…..
        I’ll take the ‘we don’t buy stars we make them’ rants but please, please, please don’t go back to writing off every Arsenal player who’s stubbed their toe an ‘injury wreck.’
        I just can’t take it!!!! This window is already stressful enough….

    1. With only Kos as senior CB, this obstinate action is going crazy isn’t it?
      I think we need some poem inspiration from you now dude!

      1. There was a manager called Wenger
        He refused to sign a central defender
        He likes to referee games for the church
        Because signing someone would be too much paperwork
        He doesn’t want to builder a team that is a title contender

          1. There once was a man named Arsene, instead of buying a striker, he went out and bought a trampoline. Everyone called him mad, stupid, and crazy, but he didn’t care, because he had a striker you see, who was very lazy indeed.

    2. It’s far easier to predict negativity than positivity.
      Chelsea have dropped from the Mustafi race. I seriously think that deal is going to happen.

      1. True, complaining is one of the easiest things in the world to do. Complementary charming and hopefulness, these can be difficult at times. Even when you are on top of the world you could moan about something. I blame the force, I think the light side of the force is with you young Josh37. Soopa, Soopa has succumbed to the dark side of the force.

  5. If Arsenal do sgn a center back it probably won’t be any of the players being mentioned. Gabriel Paulista was on no one’s radar when Arsenal signed him. The obvious players; Kalidou Koulibaly, Mustafi, and Kostas Manolas, are all over priced and represented by agents known for their public flogging of their players. Arsene Wenger hates dealing with those people. If and when Arsenal sign a central defender, it will be someone unexpected and designed to fit how Arsenal want to play rather than someone to make fans excited.

    None of the players mentioned will be signed. Southampton just signed van Dijk and they’ll demand huge money for him. After all, they squeezed £27 million out of Liverpool for Adam Lallana.

    Winston Reid just signed a new deal at West Ham last year and the club sees itself as up and coming; ready to challenge for top 5. They aren’t going to sell their best defensive player to a rival.

    Jon Stones would cost £50 million. He also got benched last season for a series of mental gaffes that would have Gooners ripping their hair out and imploring the BFG to play on one leg. With experience Krystian Bielik and Rob Holding might both end up as better than Stones.

    Mamadou Sakho, please God no. Sakho is mentally all over the place. The “Not good enough for Liverpool” aisle is not where Arsenal want to go defender shopping.

    Ashley Williams would be a good fit, but he’s playing his bi-annual pay raise game with his flirtation with West Ham. He’ll never leave the Swans. If he wanted to go, all he had to do was refuse to sign new terms last time and he’d be in Arsenal Red. Now he’s two years older and no more likely to leave Swansea.

    Arsene Wengers reluctance to bring in a new center back may stem from the fact that he thinks he’s already got his next pairing in the team, they just need more time. Gabriel, Chambers, Holding and Bielik could be the center of the Arsenal defense for the next decade.

  6. Only 1 problem with the idea that Chambers, Holding and Bielik are the future Arsenal CBs. Reality and the word “future.”

    Chambers has proven physically imposing and mentally unreliable. He continually makes school-boy level defensive mistakes. I mean absolutely embarrassing mistakes. So he needs more work – on loan perhaps.

    That leaves 2 very promising but very young CBs in Holding and Bielik. They require some time training and performing with more experienced CBs before being trusted to hold off the attacks of LPool and ManU by themselves. And with the injuries to Mert and Gabriel those possibilities are far more limited.

    So, Mr. Wenger, you still need an experienced CB. Even an aging CB might work but you need one nonetheless.

  7. The defender will be the right player to fit in the team.

    The defender will be the right player to fit in the team AT THE RIGHT PRICE.

    The defender will be the right player to fit in the team at the right price with THE RIGHT RESALE VALUE.

    So this ruled out Vermaelen (no resale).

    Mustafi ruled out for wrong price.

    Ashley Williams is 32 in two weeks time.

    Jonny Evans is a possibility,

    We need two experienced defenders but Wenger will buy one and rely on Holding, Chambers and Bielik to fill the void until Gabriel and Mertesacker return like a “new signing”.

  8. Just read on skysports that Mangala and Bony are free to go by Man city also man utd are ready to part with blind, Mata, Rojo and Bastian this all came as a result of excessive recruits. There are some good players here too. I feel we could go for Mangala or Blind for defensive covers.

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