According to a recent report by Sport.es, Benfica defender Grimaldo could be on the radar of Arsenal if Monchi takes over as the club’s new sporting director. The same source has claimed that the Spanish left-back is high on Monchi’s wish-list so a move to North London might be on the cards for the player.
Grimaldo grew up playing football in Valencia before making a switch to play for the prestigious Barcelona academy in La Masia. He worked his way up the club’s youth ranks before featuring for their B team. However, he failed to break into the Catalans senior team and was sold to Benfica at the start of 2016.
The Liga NOS prospect has enjoyed a rich vein of form for the Portuguese giants of late and has already put in some dazzling displays for them during this campaign. He has featured in 42 matches for Benfica this term and has seven goals and five assists to his name across all competitions.
The Spaniard has also been defensively solid and has made an average of 2.2 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game for Bruno Lage’s side this season (Stats taken from Whoscored.com).
Grimaldo has decent pace and is a very productive dribbler down the left flank. He can also pass the ball quite accurately while under pressure in the opposition half. His crosses from the wide areas are often on the money which makes him such a potent threat going forward. Furthermore, the Spanish talent is also a good defender in his own half as he can make timely interceptions for his team.
The potential acquisition of a player of Grimaldo’s quality will undoubtedly bolster Unai Emery’s backline at the North London club. Arsenal have currently got the likes of Sead Kolasinac and Nacho Monreal vying for the left-back berth in Emery’s first-team. Stephan Lichtsteiner is also quite capable of filling in at left-back if required. So unless they are willing to let one of them leave, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for them to pursue Grimaldo next summer.
However, Monreal is currently in the final year of his contract at the Emirates Stadium. So if he leaves to become a free agent at the end of this season, then the Benfica full-back could be a fantastic replacement who could be a star under Emery’s guidance in the Premier League next season.
