Arsenal should be looking for defensive stability in the upcoming transfer market as they have been poor at the back this season. The Gunners also have a huge task on hand to replace their manager Arsene Wenger and this could be a huge summer for the London club.
As per recent reports, Arsenal are being linked to Napoli’s centreback Kalidou Koulibaly. The Senegalese defender has been on the radar of the Gunners for the last few transfer windows but nothing has materialised yet. Arsenal will have to fight for his signature as the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United are also after him and with their financial prowess, Arsenal might just struggle to get their man.
Arsenal has been shoddy at the back, to say the least, as their German defender Shkodran Mustafi has failed to live up to the expectations at the Emirates. Even the reliable Laurent Koscielny has had a poor season and one doesn’t need to look too far back at how his defensive errors have cost them dearly. In the first leg of the Europa League encounter against Atletico Madrid, Arsenal were undone by a simple long ball, which the likes of Koscielny and Mustafi failed to deal with and gave away a crucial goal and a huge advantage to the Spanish opponents.
Football fans across Europe would have heard his name recently, as Koulibaly scored a 90th-minute winner against Juventus to bring Napoli right back in the Serie A title race. The 6 feet 5-inch defender certainly uses his physical presence in both the boxes while defending and during set pieces. With such a huge frame, one would think he will be relatively slow on the pitch but that is not the case with Koulibaly. He has good pace and is comfortable on the ball, which allows the Napoli team to play out from the back.
However, there are certain shortcomings to his game as he makes some drastic errors once in a while and sometimes it feels his lack of concentration lets him down. At 26, however, he has enough time to eliminate such mistakes from his game and develop into a top-class defensive asset.
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Arsenal will have to go big in the transfer window if they want to get their man as the defender is being rated around £65m and if they fail to qualify for the Champions League, their task will certainly be cut out. The Gunners are in grave need of defensive stability and it will be interesting to see whether they will go for a big signing like Koulibaly to solve that issue or look for other cheaper options in the market.
