Very little chance Arsenal will strengthen defence in January

Despite rumours, Arsenal are unlikely to be signing defenders in January

Even though it is only October the rumour mill is working hard churning out Arsenal related rumours. Defence seems to be the area with the most focus. The same as it was in the summer.

The thing is this, Unai Emery is happy with his defensive roster. We know this because of comments from Arsenal head of football Vinai Venkatesham and unnamed sources in various online publications.

Obviously, if two defenders were to break their legs then the circumstances would force the club to change its stance. But as things stand right now, there will be no defensive signings in the winter transfer window.

Arsenal has William Saliba joining them next summer and already have two players for every defensive position. In better words, they do not need anyone new.

One could argue that the defence we have right now is not good enough but that is not the issue. The issue is what Emery thinks.

The Spaniard clearly feels he has a strong enough backline otherwise there would have been more signings in the summer. Emery was happy to bring in David Luiz but only because he lost Laurent Koscienly. If the former Arsenal captain had not left then chances are that Luiz would never have been signed.

Kieran Tierney was brought in on the left and Hector Bellerin is set to return on the right. Rob Holding is back in the centre and Calum Chambers is even laying down a marker.

So, read the gossip all you want but I would urge caution. Nothing is likely to materialise in January.

4 Comments

  1. Agree completely. With a back line of Bellern-Chambers-Holding-Tierney and Salibas, Mavropanos, Kolasinac, Luiz and Sokratis to back them up, the only position I would like to see covered, however, is at right back.

    Give these younger players their heads to for a partnership that will serve our club for years to come.

  2. We can improve if we change the personnel we are current using. I think Holding, Bellerin and definitely Tierney should make a difference. I think Emery should try using Torreira in place of Xhaka along with Ceballos, Willock/Ozil in midfield. Our transition from defense to attack is slow and predictable so when the ball eventually get to the forwards the opposing team have 9 men (sometimes 10)behind the ball. This is mainly why Pepe is not firing as he often has two players to contend with most of the times. I am not picking on Xhaka because I think he does try but unfortunately he lacks the requisite skill to be a top class CDM, which is no fault of his own. He lacks pace (which is why he fouls the opponents so much), he doesn’t have the skill to beat his man one on one which results in him and he taking a long time to move the
    ball forward. I know we sit third in the league but our current position is just papering over the chasms in the team.

  3. It’s okay because we have enough good players in all departments

    I even expect one or more departures in January

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors