Arsenal has been looking for a new defender even before they fired Unai Emery.
The Spaniard was blamed for his team’s woeful performances but just as we saw over the weekend, Arsenal’s problems, especially in their defence is beyond any manager.
The Gunners have been linked with several defenders on a regular basis, but one name that keeps getting into the conversation is Merih Demiral.
The 21 years old impressed for Sassuolo last season which earned him a move to Juventus.
He also started this season strongly for Juventus but he has since found chances hard to come by with a move away from Juve looking like the best option for him.
However, reports from Italy via Calciomercato claims that Juventus are undecided if they should sell him or not.
The report claims that Demiral has made a strong case for his inclusion in the squad but game time is not at a premium
The form of the likes of Mathijs de Ligt and Leonardo Bonucci has limited his playing time under Maurizio Sarri.
With a month left before the next transfer window, Arsenal will be hoping that Juventus agrees to sell him.
If Arsenal is unable to sign the youngster you have to think they will have alternatives. Things cannot carry on as they have been. It is clear that the Arsenal defence is very weak and reinforcements are required as a matter of urgency.
Demiral and Rugani can’t even compete with De Ligt and Bonucci, let alone protecting Arsenal from EPL attackers
If Arsenal want to get a new CB, he should be one of the best currently. For example, Upamecano
I know that expensive footballers are not always compatible with Arsenal, such as Pepe. But a French CB like Upamecano could form a good understanding with our upcoming French CB, Saliba
There is a silver lining to having 3 very poor central defenders; it should not be difficult to improve on them. I think we should look to poach some mid-table or non-top 5 teams for one or two solid, physical defenders who master the basics.
The PL should be flooded with central defenders better than Mustafi or Sokratis or Luiz.
Arsenal’s defensive problems are almost self inflicted. For a team that likes to play attacking football with both fullbacks bombing forward, it calls for a sitting defensive midfielder like torriera in front of the defence. Think of Madrid, city and Liverpool and your mind goes to casmiero, fernandinho and fabinho. What on earth is the problem with arsenal coaches????
Absolutely, we signed Torreria as a proven DM and he proved his worth last season…then UE decided to play him elsewhere and the rest is history.
Both AW and UE seemed to always dabble in changes for changes sake…we have a top DM already, let’s see if freddie will play him in the position that made him as a top footballer.
Ken, I could not agree more. I was a bit surprised and disappointed that Freddie didn’t play Torreira in his starting 11. For me, not only is Torreira our only real DM, but he also makes Xhaka look better than he is.
Let’s hope Freddie starts Torreira on Thursday as a real DM just in front of our back 4.
Truth, the problem is, it’s a simple decision to make and I was really surprised fredie AND per didn’t see it!!
As you say, Thursday will, hopefully, see them using Torreria properly, if not he will be gone…and who could blame him?
We should sign Ake and Tyrone Mings.
👍 Mings
You are the smartest Arsenal supporter lol. See my comments below. Get them before they become another VVK or McGuire.
Juve won’t sell him, he’s 21 and he’s there to learn under the likes of Bonucci. They won’t sell him without getting a proper look at him first, sure we couldn’t even prize the other lad Rugani away, they only brought this one in after his exploits with Sassuolo. I’d be very surprised if Juventus let him go without first trying him out, ever since P Vieira, D Bergkamp and T Henry Italian teams are not wanting to rush into selling to us, we made them look like clueless dingbats. I think we got Freddie from Italy too did we, not sure. Looked up the Juve team, that is some squad they have, depth.
Nathan Ferguson of WBA and Valery of Southampton are two young right backs who would be good acquisitions for Arsenal.When it comes to recruiting defenders we need to start looking closer to home .Johnny Evans at 3m was a steal for Leicester and is better by far than our centre backs.
With all respect for the great Italian defenders, they have not really been able to make it big in the EPL. I can see no reason to bring in another one. Being a good defender in the Italian league does not mean you will be great in the EPL. We should be looking for proven central defenders from mid-level clubs. Minds at Aston Villa is one of them. Nathan Ake is another one. These defenders are strong, young, internationals and have EPL experience. There are many more.
In the meantime, let Toreira do what he does best. Let him sit in front of the central defenders all day and period. Sergio Busquests does that for Barcelona, Fabinho for Liverpool, Fenandinho for Man City and Ngolo Kante for Chelsea. why is it so difficult for us to learn from the winners?